China Supplier Verification for First-Time Importers

Company identity, in the right order

Start with the Chinese legal entity, not the English trading name. Almost every downstream question — whether the invoice is enforceable, whether the bank beneficiary is right, whether the address is a factory — depends on knowing which registered company you are dealing with. English marketing names are not registered identities and are not a reliable way to look anything up.

• Ask for the Chinese legal name and the unified social credit code.
• Confirm the registration is active and free of abnormal-operation flags.
• Compare the registered address type against the claimed factory address.
• Read the registered business scope for manufacturing versus trading wording.

What a proforma invoice must contain

A PI is a commercial offer document, not a contract, but in practice it becomes the document both sides argue from. It should identify both legal parties, describe the goods precisely enough that a dispute is resolvable, state the Incoterm with a named place, set the deposit and balance trigger, name the bank beneficiary, and state packaging, lead time and any inspection stage.

• Both parties named as legal entities, not trading names alone.
• Specification detailed enough to make "not as agreed" provable.
• Incoterm plus named place — "FOB" alone is incomplete.
• Deposit percentage and the exact event that triggers the balance.
• Bank beneficiary name matching the seller entity.

Bank account, MOQ and deposit

A beneficiary name that differs from the seller on the invoice is the single most common payment-risk finding, and a personal account as beneficiary removes most of your practical recourse. On MOQ and deposit, understand that both are negotiable positions rather than fixed facts, and that an unusually low deposit demand is not automatically reassuring any more than a high one is automatically alarming.

Incoterms, inspection and who is responsible for what

The Incoterm decides where risk and cost transfer, and first-time importers routinely underestimate what happens after the goods leave the factory. Agree an inspection stage before the balance is payable — once the balance is paid, your leverage over a quality dispute is largely gone. Customs classification, duty, and import compliance in your own market remain your responsibility throughout.

The evidence ladder we would suggest

For a small first order, a verification report with the pre-deposit review is usually proportionate. As order value rises, or where tooling and moulds are being paid for, adding a live visit before the deposit is the step that most changes what you know. Beyond that, a pre-shipment inspection is a separate service from a separate provider, and we will tell you when we think you need one.