FactoryBase

FactoryBase is an independent online directory and supplier-intelligence platform focused on Chinese export factories. It is operated by Guangzhou ModalCube Technology Co., Ltd. (广州模酷科技有限公司), a Guangzhou-based studio that builds websites and runs SEO for Chinese manufacturers. FactoryBase positions itself as the buyer-side answer to a familiar sourcing problem: when an overseas buyer searches for a product, hundreds of "factories" appear, and it is difficult to tell a genuine manufacturer from a shell, a re-labeller, or a single trader behind a borrowed catalogue. The platform assembles an evidence-based dossier on each supplier so that buyers can vet a Chinese supplier before a shortlist, before a sample order, and before wiring a deposit. The service is free for buyers, with a stated limit of five scans per day and email registration unlocking more. Its core interface is a map of China with supplier dots sized by count and clickable by city, plus category browsing. The homepage cites 5,580 suppliers mapped to their home city, with top concentrations in Taizhou (293), Shanghai (217), Hangzhou (215), Foshan (199), Wenzhou (144), Guangzhou (139), Shenzhen (132), Qingdao (127), Changzhou (115), Fuzhou (115), Linyi (114) and Nanjing (90). Category pages show supplier counts and factory/trader/unverified labels; for example, the Plastic Products category lists 22 suppliers, 17 marked as factories, clustered in Guangzhou, Taizhou and Yangzhou, while the Steel & Metal Products category lists 338 suppliers, 258 marked as factories, clustered in Foshan, Tianjin and Hengshui. FactoryBase says its dossiers are assembled by AI from public evidence, identically for every company, and that nothing is self-submitted and placement is never sold. It lists its signal sources as Canton Fair exhibitor records, US customs bills of lading, IAF CertSearch, the SAMR business registry, and live RFQ testing. The platform also advertises that it works with AI assistants, so that when buyers ask their AI a sourcing question, the assistant can pull FactoryBase's independent dossiers directly into the answer. Because the parent company also sells websites and SEO services to Chinese factories, FactoryBase explicitly addresses the potential conflict of interest. On its About page it states that it maintains a hard wall between the two businesses: dossiers are built by AI from public evidence in the same way for every company, and the platform's independence is presented as the reason factories benefit — genuinely good factories get found by serious buyers. The brand is therefore best understood as a buyer-side due-diligence and discovery tool layered on top of public Chinese and international trade data, rather than a marketplace or a sourcing agent.

FactoryBase was created by Guangzhou ModalCube Technology Co., Ltd. (广州模酷科技有限公司), a Guangzhou studio that builds websites and runs SEO for Chinese manufacturers. The About page explains the origin directly: while working on the factory side of the market, the team observed two problems at once — factory clients squeezed by a red-ocean market with thin inquiry volume, and overseas buyers with no independent way to tell a capable factory from a facade. FactoryBase was built as the answer to the buyer-side problem, on the reasoning that the surest way to fix the factory-side problem is to help genuinely good factories get found by serious buyers. The platform's stated premise is that sourcing from China still starts the same way: a buyer searches a product, and a hundred "factories" appear, with no easy way to distinguish real manufacturers from shells, re-labellers, or a single trader behind a borrowed catalogue. The evidence needed to tell them apart is scattered across business registries, customs records, marketplace stores and company sites, much of it in Chinese, much of it slow to answer, and plenty of it with no English site at all. The About page notes that domestic Chinese business-data platforms such as Tianyancha and Qichacha hold the records but are built for domestic users, not for an overseas buyer doing due diligence the night before wiring a deposit. FactoryBase's method, as described on its own pages, is to assemble every dossier by AI from public evidence, identically for every company. The homepage lists its signal sources as Canton Fair exhibitor records, US customs bills of lading, IAF CertSearch, the SAMR business registry, and live RFQ testing. Category pages carry a "last sweep" date and a methodology link ("how suppliers earn their place"), and state that profiles are assembled from public evidence, nothing is self-submitted, and placement is never sold. Suppliers are labeled as factory, trader, or unverified, and can be filtered by type, city, and whether they have a website. The product surface includes a China map — the "radar" — where dot area equals supplier count and cities are clickable. The homepage cites 5,580 suppliers mapped to their home city, with top concentrations in Taizhou, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Foshan, Wenzhou, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Qingdao, Changzhou, Fuzhou, Linyi and Nanjing. Category browsing spans groups such as Agriculture & Feed Machinery, Pumps & Fluid Handling, Power & Engines, Metalworking & Fabrication, Food & Packaging Machinery, Garden & Outdoor Power, Compressed Air & Hydraulics, Plastics & Rubber, and Materials & Chemicals. Individual category pages report counts and factory shares — for example, 22 Plastic Products suppliers with 17 marked as factories, and 338 Steel & Metal Products suppliers with 258 marked as factories. Access is free for buyers, with a stated limit of five scans per day and email registration unlocking more. The platform also advertises integration with AI assistants: buyers can ask their AI a sourcing question and it can pull FactoryBase's independent dossiers straight into the answer. Because the parent company sells websites and SEO to factories — and FactoryBase rates those same factories — the About page devotes explicit space to the conflict of interest. It states that the wall is absolute and describes the arrangement plainly: "We sell to factories. So the wall is absolute." The independence claim rests on the AI-assembled, identical-for-everyone method and on the refusal to sell placement. The brand's public materials do not disclose a founding year, funding, headcount, or named executives.

• FactoryBase is operated by Guangzhou ModalCube Technology Co., Ltd. (广州模酷科技有限公司), a Guangzhou studio providing websites and SEO to Chinese manufacturers.

• Homepage reports 5,580 suppliers mapped to their home city, with top concentrations in Taizhou (293), Shanghai (217), Hangzhou (215) and Foshan (199).

• Category pages carry a 'last sweep' date of 2026-08-04 for the Plastic Products and Steel & Metal Products lists.

• Plastic Products category lists 22 suppliers, 17 marked as factories, clustered in Guangzhou, Taizhou and Yangzhou.

• Steel & Metal Products category lists 338 suppliers, 258 marked as factories, clustered in Foshan, Tianjin and Hengshui.

Independent, evidence-based China factory intelligence for overseas buyers; free for buyers, never selling placement, with a hard wall between its rating service and its parent company's website/SEO business.

• Supplier dossiers

  AI-assembled, evidence-based files on individual Chinese suppliers, built identically for every company from public evidence.

• China factory radar map

  Interactive map where dot area equals supplier count and cities are clickable to see who operates there.

• Category directories

  Browsable supplier lists by product category, with factory/trader/unverified labels and city filters.

• AI-assistant integration

  Buyers can ask their AI a sourcing question and it can pull FactoryBase dossiers directly into the answer.

1. 1FactoryBase — China factory intelligence for buyersfactorybase.ai
2. 2About FactoryBase — who builds it, and why it stays independentfactorybase.ai
3. 322 Plastic Products Manufacturers in China — Verified Listfactorybase.ai
4. 4338 Steel & Metal Products Manufacturers in China — Verified Listfactorybase.ai
5. 5FactoryBase — Wikidatawikidata.org