# China Hardware Community for Founders and Operators

Tech Buzz China is starting an experimental, free, English-language WeChat group for hardware founders and operators working with China to learn from or source from the Chinese supply chain. Members compare notes, share events and make introductions. Applications are reviewed to keep out spam and sales pitches.

Canonical page: https://www.techbuzzchina.com/hardware-founders.html

## Who it is for

The community is mostly for founders. Senior executives, heads of hardware and early employees building physical products are also welcome.

The member group is not for consultants, recruiters, agencies or vendors seeking leads. No unsolicited sales, mass friend requests, lead scraping or collection of member information for commercial outreach is allowed.

## What members receive

- Access to the WeChat group for questions and member connections.
- Email updates about relevant events, introductions and opportunities.
- An optional one-way WhatsApp broadcast for the same kind of updates. It is not another group.
- Introductions to relevant vendors or service providers when useful.
- Events and connections shared by designated partners.

The working language is English. There is no fee.

## How to join

The WeChat application is the main path. Name, email and the following fields are required:

- Company or project
- Role
- What they are building and how China fits into their work
- When they expect to go to China
- WeChat ID
- LinkedIn, X profile, company website and what they can help other members with are optional.

Tech Buzz China staff manually reviews each WeChat request and emails approved applicants with the next step. People who only want updates can join the email list without applying to the group and can separately opt in to the WhatsApp broadcast.

## Why WeChat

WeChat is where most business communication happens in China. The group is for questions, introductions and member conversations. Email and WhatsApp carry announcements only.

## Partners

Tech Buzz China works with industry associations, private maker studios and a few select service providers. These partners may share relevant events, introductions and opportunities or add members on WeChat. Members do not have to accept. Tech Buzz China does not give partners members' email addresses.

## Conduct and privacy

Members may be working on competing products and should use their own judgment about what they share. Email and WhatsApp subscribers can opt out at any time, and WeChat group members can leave whenever the group is no longer useful to them.

Privacy notice: https://www.techbuzzchina.com/community-privacy.html

General questions: hello@techbuzzchina.com