Gabriel group

Who Stands Behind Gabriel Group and the “Uvoz iz Kine” Website

Gabriel Group is your on-the-ground partner in China. We help companies outside China safely import goods from China and, when needed, place their products on the Chinese market, backed by local presence, experience, and a deep understanding of the Chinese business environment.

Who Is Gabriel Group?

Gabriel Group consists of companies registered in China that specialize in sourcing and shipping goods from China for international clients. Our team lives and works in China, which allows us to work daily with factories, suppliers, and logistics partners.

Gabriel Group was founded by Josip Glušac, who has been living and working in China since 2009. Together with his wife, Xiaobo Liu, he manages the companies based in Hainan. Local offices, licenses, and on-the-ground presence provide extra security and reassurance for our clients.

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How the “Uvoz iz Kine” Website Was Created

The idea for the Uvoz iz Kine website was born in 2007, at a time when there was almost no reliable information about importing from China available in our language. That is why the Uvoz iz Kine website was created.

Over the years, we have collected data, vetted Chinese companies, explained customs procedures, and shared practical experiences with importers from across the region. Since 2020, Gabriel Group has owned the uvozizkine.com website and continues to develop it as a central resource for importing from China.

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Media articles about the Uvoz iz Kine website

Living and Doing Business in China – CRI Interview

What does it look like when someone from our region moves to China with a one-way ticket and the intention to live and work there? In an interview for CRI Hrvatska, Josip Glušac talks about his first years in China, his business beginnings, and the development of Gabriel Group.

The interview covers his move to Hainan, the growth of companies in Guangzhou, Hong Kong, and Sanya, importing Croatian wines, and what everyday life looks like in the “Chinese Hawaii.”

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Academic Expertise and Lobbying in China

Gabriel Group does not rely only on practical experience, but also on formal education. The founder, Josip Glušac, holds a master’s degree in economics with the thesis “How to Lobby in the People’s Republic of China”, analyzing the Chinese political and business system, guanxi networks, and how to represent business interests in China.

We apply this knowledge in our work with clients – from negotiations with partners and entering the Chinese market, to building long-term relationships with suppliers and distributors.

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Why Companies Choose Gabriel Group

More than a decade of life and work in China.
Local presence – offices, licenses, and a team based in China.
A combination of hands-on experience and academic knowledge of the Chinese market.
Support from supplier sourcing and quality control to logistics and market entry.
Experience with clients from Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro, as well as partners worldwide who do business with China.

Want to Do Business with China?

Send us a short description of your project – we will get back to you within 24 hours on business days.

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Nine years after Miroslav Mihić (www.uvozizkine.com) gave an interview for CRI (Chinese Radio International for the Serbian-speaking region), Mr. Josip Glušac recently gave an interview for CRI Croatia. We are presenting the full interview here.

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The Interview of Mr. Glušac for CRI Croatia

One tourist visit to the People's Republic of China was enough for Josip Glušac to decide to live and work in this most populous country in the world. He also became a successful entrepreneur. This all happened 12 years ago, in February 2009, when Josip arrived at Beijing International Airport with a return ticket and just 1,000 euros in his pocket.

The idea behind the Uvoz iz Kine (Import from China) website was born back in 2007. At the time, if you wanted to import goods from China and searched the internet, you wouldn't find a single resource in the Serbian language. That is exactly why uvozizkine.com was created. Our goal was to demystify importing from China, show that it is nothing to be afraid of, and highlight the sheer scale of the Chinese economy and its competitive pricing.

We began gathering data essential for importing from China and vetting Chinese companies in 2008. The entire process took two long years of hard work, culminating in the official launch of the uvozizkine.com website on October 31, 2010.

Secure Importing from China

Our core mission from day one has been to make international trade safe and secure.

Back then, Alibaba was nowhere near as well-known as it is today, and trading through the platform was quite stressful. Because of this, we cataloged tens of thousands of companies listed on Alibaba that also maintained an independent, Chinese-language version of their own website—as this is a strong indicator of a company's quality and credibility. Today, over a decade later, it is telling to see how many of those companies are still operating, and how many have gone out of business or at least taken down their websites despite once having an Alibaba presence.

Whether due to scams or outright business failures, a significant portion of these companies no longer have working website links. You can find a comprehensive analysis and data regarding the decline in the number of Chinese suppliers on Alibaba in our detailed article "Buying on Alibaba – A WARNING!".

All the verified companies we have cataloged can be found in the main menu under Chinese Companies, neatly organized by category.

Furthermore, we reached out and established partnerships with three companies owned by expats from our region who live and work in China. One of them is Mr. Glušac, the founder of Gabriel Group, which officially took ownership of the uvozizkine.com website on January 1, 2020.

In 2017, Mr. Josip Glušac and his wife, Mrs. Xiaobo Liu, founded a new company, Aoluola International Trade Limited, in Hong Kong to expand operations and meet the business demands of broader global markets.

On June 1, 2020, Chinese authorities announced the Hainan Free Trade Port project (the "Masterplan") – a comprehensive plan to transform the island province into a special economic zone. The overarching theme of the plan is the liberalization of cross-border flows of trade, investment, capital, personnel, transport, and data, making Hainan a regional competitor to Hong Kong and Singapore.

Anticipating these developments, we relocated our operations from Guangzhou to Sanya, Hainan, as early as 2019, establishing Sanya Gabriel Import & Export Co., Ltd. in China. This structure was later expanded, and the former Hong Kong company was closed. Its operations were taken over by a new company – Sanya AJ Global Trade Co., LTD – based in Hainan, with a strong focus on modern industrial and creative sectors.

Showcasing Chinese Products

We want to showcase new and interesting products that are obscure or lesser-known in our region, which might spark fresh business ideas for inspiring entrepreneurs. You can explore these curated items in the main menu via the Product Highlights link.

We make it a point to document our day-to-day operations and insights on importing and doing business with China, which is why we launched our YouTube channel. In our videos, you can get a behind-the-scenes look at our daily work routine and see the products we feature.

If you need assistance or expert advice on importing and/or exporting goods from China, feel free to contact us—chances are highly likely that we can help you.

Over the years, the media has frequently reached out to us for expert insights on trade with China. Our expertise continues to be highly regarded, as shown by our interview with Večernje novosti (January 29, 2021) regarding the shipping and freight disruptions in late 2020 and early 2021, and their ultimate impact on the prices of Chinese products.

Import from China - Press Clipping

Interview with Večernje Novosti regarding rising shipping costs for goods from China - January 29, 2021
Guest appearance on China Radio International (Serbian Language Service) on the "Privredni kompas" (Economic Compass) show - October 31, 2012

Transcript

A Growing Number of Collaboration Platforms

Partnership data is available in the "Chinese Corner" of the Belgrade Chamber of Commerce

The Belgrade Chamber of Commerce, in cooperation with the Serbian Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, brought together representatives from 46 companies from Taiwan. Their portal recently introduced the "Chinese Corner," a dedicated online service providing essential information on doing business with the PR China.

The platform offers insights into investments, legal regulations, customs procedures, the banking system, investment consulting, market research, and corporate registration assistance, while also bringing business owners together to share experiences and offer mutual support.

Kupovina iz Kine – The Most Active Online Platform

Two websites in Serbia have paid particular attention to fostering cooperation between small and medium enterprises, individuals, and the PR China: www.uvozizkine.com and www.kupovinaizkine.com (which has since closed).

On these platforms, users can find customs regulations, breakdowns of pricing policies used by Chinese manufacturers and suppliers, product catalogs, service offers from China, embassy information, exchange rates, and other exclusive insights.

The kupovinaizkine.com website focused on retail sourcing of Chinese goods and provided step-by-step guides for online shopping via Taobao, Tmall, Joyo, 360buy, and other major Chinese e-commerce platforms.

Starting this year, the website has entered into a strategic agreement with Guangzhou Gabriel Import Export Co. LTD, founded by Josip Glušac. As a result, website visitors can now handle all procurement negotiations and product inspections smoothly in their native language.

Guest appearance on Radio 3 on the "Pogled ka Aziji" (A Look at Asia) show - April 18, 2012
Interview for the Sarajevo-based "Start" magazine - June 17, 2012