Packaging & print sourcing in China
The box is seen before the product, so it is specified like a product.
Rigid boxes, kraft, tubes, point-of-sale displays: packaging usually goes to production on a single artwork file, with no written specification.
That is why it arrives off-colour, under-engineered, or without the document proving it is fit for food contact.
We settle the file before anything is printed.
We treat packaging as a product: a written file (structure, board weight, reference colours, finishing, packing standard), a sample approved before launch, a signed press proof. Our Chinese-speaking team in Guangzhou deals with the printer directly.
Printed packaging clusters in Guangdong (Dongguan, Shenzhen) for rigid boxes and folding cartons, and in Zhejiang and Jiangsu for corrugated board and tubes. These are two distinct trades: the board converter works structure and strength, the printer works colour and finishing. Some factories genuinely hold both; many claim to and quietly subcontract the half they do not master.
In this sector, colour is the leading cause of dispute. The same file will not reproduce identically across substrates: kraft absorbs, coated stock returns, matt lamination dulls. Colour is settled by a reference approved on the actual substrate, then by a dated press proof signed by the factory. Without that document there is nothing to argue with on arrival, and the conversation always ends the same way.
The European framework has moved. Regulation (EU) 2025/40 on packaging and packaging waste applies in substance from 12 August 2026, and the extended producer responsibility scheme for commercial packaging has been live in France since 1 July 2026. Packaging ordered today is therefore designed for that framework: material, over-packing, recyclability and declarations are decided in the specification, not when the container lands.
- Rigid boxes & folding cartons
- Corrugated board & kraft
- Tubes & cylindrical boxes
- Displays & point of sale
- Labels & brand print
Often 1,000 to 5,000 units per item on printed cartons, 500 to 1,000 on rigid boxes; kraft and tubes go lower. Cutting dies are paid once and stay with the factory.
Mock-up and sample 2 to 3 weeks, press proof within a week, production 20 to 35 days, then transport.
Colour approved on screen and never on the real substrate, board weight quietly reduced mid-run, a food-contact declaration missing or written for another item, and outer cartons too weak to stop rigid boxes crushing. Each is blocked by the written file, the signed press proof and an inspection before loading.
- Food contact · (EC) 1935/2004
Any material intended to come into contact with food falls under Regulation (EC) 1935/2004. The factory must supply a written declaration of compliance covering your item, not a verbal assurance.
- Good manufacturing practice · (EC) 2023/2006
Regulation (EC) 2023/2006 sets good manufacturing practice for food-contact materials, inks and varnishes included. It is the document most often missing from the factory file.
- PPWR · Regulation (EU) 2025/40
The European regulation on packaging and packaging waste applies in substance from 12 August 2026. It shapes choices of material, over-packing and recyclability from the design stage onwards.
- Commercial packaging EPR
The extended producer responsibility scheme for commercial packaging has been live in France since 1 July 2026. The importer is liable: the declaration is prepared before the first order, not after it.
- Colour reference & press proof
Not a standard, but the piece that settles a dispute: a colour reference approved on the real substrate and a dated, signed press proof kept until delivery is accepted.
Marseille packaging
Packaging file handled for a client in Marseille.
Custom-printed packaging
Packaging printed in a client's own brand colours.
What you can order for this sector
Within 10 working daysRegulatory compliance study
Food contact, mandatory markings, packaging EPR, customs classification: the study states in writing what the factory will have to prove.
Within 10 working daysSupplier search · full
Board converting and printing are two trades. Competing factories on real samples separates the one that produces from the one that subcontracts.
Within 24 hFactory quotation review
On packaging, the proforma often hides the cutting die, the number of colour passes and the packing standard.
On loading dayPre-shipment inspection
Colour against the signed proof, board weight, markings and outer carton strength, checked before the container leaves.
Excluding tax · Launch pricing until 31 December 2026
01Is my packaging fit for food contact?
Only if the factory supplies a declaration of compliance under Regulation (EC) 1935/2004 and applies the good manufacturing practice of Regulation (EC) 2023/2006, inks and varnishes included. We ask for both before the order and check they actually cover your item.
02How do we avoid a colour shift?
By approving a colour reference on the real substrate, never on screen, then requiring a signed press proof before launch. On arrival that document is what counts, and it is the only one.
03Who pays for the cutting die?
It is paid once, on the first order, and it stays with the factory. We have it quoted as a separate line so it is not buried in the unit price and charged again on every reorder.