Buyer checklist
Match the Chinese legal company, test the supplier's factory and product claims, and identify what still requires documents, technical testing, or physical inspection.
This framework supports a procurement decision. It is not a guarantee, legal opinion, or substitute for an appropriate audit or inspection.
A supplier page, successful sample, certificate image, or factory video can each be useful. None proves the whole transaction. Before payment, separate the decision into four evidence layers instead of asking whether the supplier simply looks “legit.”
01
Which Chinese legal company is behind the supplier?
Use the Chinese business licence and Unified Social Credit Code to identify the legal entity. Compare that identity with the supplier page, quotation, contract, invoice, and any named manufacturing company.
02
Who will actually manufacture the product?
A seller may be a factory, trading company, export entity, or part of a group. Ask the supplier to name the production company and explain who is responsible for quality, warranty, and delivery.
03
How will the important claims be tested?
Convert material, dimensions, performance, certification, capacity, and packaging claims into product-specific documents, samples, measurable acceptance criteria, or tests.
04
What still needs an audit, inspection, or laboratory test?
Public records cannot prove current production capacity, batch quality, equipment, staffing, or product performance. Assign those questions to the appropriate physical or technical check.
Step 1
English trading names, websites, marketplace storefronts, and sales email domains do not always identify the Chinese legal entity. Ask for the Chinese business licence and Unified Social Credit Code before treating company claims as established.
A registration record helps establish identity. It does not prove physical factory capacity, product quality, private payment details, or future performance.
Business licence cross-check
Transcribe the Chinese fields from the document and compare them with a current company record. If the document, supplier page, and transaction papers point to different entities, stop and resolve the contradiction before payment.
| Licence field | What to compare | What it does not prove |
|---|---|---|
| 名称Chinese legal name | Match the Chinese characters with the current company record, supplier page, quotation, contract, and invoice. | An English trading name or storefront name is not a substitute for the Chinese legal name. |
| 统一社会信用代码Unified Social Credit Code | Use the full 18-character code as the company lookup and document-matching anchor. | The code identifies an entity. It is not a trust score or a guarantee that the supplier is safe to pay. |
| 类型Company type | Compare the stated legal form and ownership category with the current company record. | Company type does not establish that the business owns a factory or makes your product. |
| 住所Registered address | Compare it with the current record and ask the supplier to explain any different office, warehouse, or factory address. | A registered address may be an office. It does not prove where production occurs. |
| 经营范围Business scope | Check whether relevant manufacturing, processing, sales, or service activities appear and whether the current record differs. | Scope wording is a clue, not proof of current equipment, capacity, quality, or export performance. |
| 成立日期 / 营业期限Establishment date and operating term | Use the dates to test age claims and identify whether the document appears current. | Company age does not prove continuous operation, financial strength, or transaction performance. |
Step 2
A trading company is not automatically a problem, and a company describing itself as a factory is not automatically safer. Ask who manufactures the product, who signs and invoices, and who is responsible for quality, rework, warranty, and delivery.
If the seller and manufacturer differ, document the relationship instead of relying on an implied connection.
Step 3
Replace “good quality,” “same as sample,” and broad capacity claims with measurable specifications, controlling samples, test conditions, defect definitions, inspection points, and written remedies.
The evidence should fit the product: materials and tolerances for components, packaging and defect limits for consumer goods, or model-specific acceptance tests for machinery.
Step 4
Compare the company structure you have established with the entities and responsibilities in the transaction documents. If a different company or personal payment instruction appears, pause and obtain a documented explanation through a trusted channel.
Public company checks do not verify private bank-account ownership. Use appropriate legal, banking, trade, or inspection specialists for checks outside public company evidence.
Which company signs the contract and issues the invoice?
If another company manufactures the goods, how is that relationship documented?
Which specification or approved sample controls production?
What will be measured before shipment, and what counts as a failure?
Which payment milestone follows each approved piece of evidence?
Decision
The responsible company is clear, material claims have suitable evidence, remaining risks have controls, and payment does not run ahead of verification.
The opportunity may be viable, but the contracting entity, specification, payment stages, inspection plan, or warranty responsibility needs to be rewritten.
The company cannot be established, material contradictions remain unexplained, or the supplier refuses reasonable product-specific evidence or inspection.
The verification threshold should rise with the amount at risk, the complexity of the product, the cost of failure, and the difficulty of recovery.
Frequently asked questions
No. A business licence helps identify the registered company and its public business scope. Factory ownership, current equipment, staffing, capacity, and production activity require additional evidence or an on-site audit.
No. A transparent trading company with clear manufacturing relationships and transaction controls may be suitable. The problem is an unexplained or misleading relationship between the seller, manufacturer, contracting entity, and product.
A sample is useful product evidence, but it does not establish company identity or prove that the production batch will use the same materials and process. Define the controlling sample, measurable specifications, and pre-shipment checks before scaling.
It can help match the Chinese company and review available registration, operating, licensing, certification, intellectual-property, tender, customs, and public risk signals. It does not replace legal advice, private bank verification, factory audit, product inspection, or laboratory testing.
Before you pay
Request a plain-English review of company identity, public operating signals, risk records, and the questions that still need documents or physical inspection.