How to Verify a Chinese Supplier: 5 Checks Before You Pay

Most buyers who lose money in China do not lose it because they skipped a factory visit. They lose it because they skipped five checks that cost nothing and take about twenty minutes.

A supplier's quotation, catalogue and factory video are sales documents. They are written to win the order, and the claims that matter most — ownership, capacity, certifications, client names — are also the easiest to exaggerate. The job is not to distrust everything. It is to know which claims you can test from your desk, and which ones genuinely need a plane ticket.

This is the sequence we run before we quote a supplier. It does not replace an audit, but it removes most of the suppliers an audit would have rejected anyway — which is the cheapest place to start.

1. Get the Chinese legal name, then check it yourself

English company names are marketing. The business licence is the legal identity, and everything else is checked against it.

Ask for a photo of the business licence (营业执照), the full Chinese company name, and the 18-character Unified Social Credit Code. A supplier who will not send these is telling you something before you have asked a single technical question.

Then look it up yourself. Use Qichacha (企查查) or Tianyancha for speed, and confirm on gsxt.gov.cn, the official registry, for anything that matters. Qichacha is a commercial aggregator; gsxt is the source.

Two details are worth slowing down for.

Business scope is the fastest factory-versus-trader signal on paper. A factory's scope usually includes 生产 or 制造 (production, manufacturing) for the category. A trader's scope often says 销售 (sales), 批发 (wholesale) or 进出口 (import/export) only. It is not conclusive — scope can be broad — but it is a cheap first filter.

Frequent changes of legal representative are a structural warning. One change is normal. Three in two years usually means ownership churn, a vehicle company, or someone avoiding accumulated liabilities. Ask directly: “I see the legal representative changed twice — what happened?” The answer is often more useful than the record.

Do not over-read registered capital. A company registered at RMB 1 million can be a serious factory; one at RMB 50 million can be a shell. It tells you what someone was willing to declare, not what they can produce.

2. Check that the address is a place where things are made

Ask for two addresses: the registered address on the licence, and the production address where your order will actually be made. They are often different, and the gap is where problems hide.

A real production address usually looks like an industrial park or a factory building: loading bays, single-tenant buildings, a name that includes 工业园 or 产业园. A trading company often sits in a residential apartment, a serviced office, a business incubator, or a booth in a wholesale market.

You can check a lot of this without leaving your desk:

• Open the address in a map tool and switch to satellite view. Does it look like a factory compound or an office tower?
• Search the address on Qichacha. If 40 companies are registered at the same unit, it is an incubator, not a factory.
• Look at the neighbours. A factory is usually surrounded by suppliers, warehouses and transport, not restaurants and apartments.
• Ask for a short video walking from the gate to the production line, with today's date visible.

One caveat: a booth in Yiwu International Trade City is a legitimate business. It is simply a trading address, not a production one. Buy from it if the price reflects that — just do not pay factory prices for a middleman’s margin.

3. Match the product to the city that makes it

Chinese manufacturing is clustered. A city builds a reputation around one or two categories, and the suppliers, skilled labour, component makers and logistics grow around it. That makes geography a useful filter.

Use this as a question, not an accusation. “Most ceramic suppliers I work with are in Chaozhou or Jingdezhen — what is your connection to Foshan?” The answer tells you whether you are talking to a factory, a trading office, or someone who has never thought about it.

A mismatch is not proof of fraud. A real factory can exist outside its cluster. But it raises the burden of proof, and it is exactly the kind of claim a serious supplier can explain in one sentence.

4. Ask what they make in-house — and listen for “everything”

This is the single most useful question in the whole process, because it is hard to answer well without telling the truth.

A real factory answers with a split. It will tell you it moulds and assembles in-house, prints in-house, but sends parts out for plating or heat treatment, or buys the motor from a specialist. That specificity is the signal — it reflects how production actually works.

A supplier who says “we do everything ourselves” is usually not a factory. No factory performs every process: plating, dyeing, heat treatment, printing and packaging are routinely specialised and subcontracted, even by large plants. The claim is not impressive; it is a tell.

Two follow-ups separate the prepared from the polished:

• “How many machines run this line, and what is the monthly output?” A factory knows its numbers; a trader guesses.
• “Send a 20-second video of that process, with today's date written on a piece of paper in frame.” Cheap to do, hard to fake at scale, and it verifies the specific line rather than the showroom.

5. Confirm who you are actually paying

Everything above can be true and still fail here. The bank account name must match the legal company name on the licence and the contract.

• Personal account — stop. There is no commercial reason for a factory to take a deposit into an individual's account.
• Third-party account — ask why, in writing. Sometimes it is a legitimate group finance company; often it is a warning.
• Hong Kong company, mainland factory — common and workable, but the relationship must be explained and written into the contract.

Four names should match: the licence, the PI, the contract, and the bank account. If one of them differs, resolve it before the deposit, not after.

6. Check certificates by number, not by logo

A certificate is a claim until you verify it. Take the certificate number, the issuing body, the scope and the expiry date, and check them on the issuer's register. Two things buyers miss: a certificate can cover a different site, and it can cover a different product range. Neither protects your order.

The full sequence, with a clock

What these five checks cannot tell you

They confirm that the company is real, the address is plausible, the geography fits and the story holds. They cannot confirm that the line is running your product, that capacity is available in your window, that the quality system is followed when nobody is watching, or that the sample you approved can be reproduced at volume.

That is what an on-site audit is for. The five checks tell you which suppliers are worth auditing.

Frequently asked questions

Can I verify a Chinese supplier without visiting China?

Yes, to a useful degree. Official records, addresses, industrial geography and process questions can all be checked remotely. What you cannot confirm remotely is the factory floor itself — that requires an audit.

Is Qichacha reliable?

It is a fast commercial aggregator of official data, and it is good for screening and for seeing ownership links. For registration status, scope and penalties, confirm on gsxt.gov.cn, which is the official source and free.

What if the supplier refuses to share the Chinese company name?

That is a decision, not an oversight. There is no legitimate reason to hide a business licence from a buyer who is about to wire money. Treat it as a no.

Is a trading company always a bad choice?

No. Good traders consolidate, manage quality and handle documentation better than many small factories. The problem is paying factory prices for a trader's margin, or being told you are dealing with a factory when you are not. Know which one you are buying from.

How long does this take?

About twenty minutes for a single supplier once you have the licence. Running it across three shortlisted suppliers takes under an hour and usually removes one or two of them.

Can you run these checks for me?

Yes. Supplier verification is free — send the company name or the link, and we reply with a Pass / Not Pass verdict and the specific risks within 24 hours.