Chinese Supplier Checklist: What to Check Before You Pay

A free checklist you can run yourself, using the same official Chinese public records we use. No signup needed — every source below is public.

How to use this checklist

Work through the four layers in order. Each one is cheap and fast, and each one can stop a bad supplier before you spend anything. The whole thing takes about 20 minutes per company.

Layer 1 — Confirm the company really exists

Source: gsxt.gov.cn

• Search the exact registered Chinese name, not a brand name or a short form.
• Check that the registration status is 存续 (active). Revoked, cancelled or suspended stops everything else.
• Write down the Unified Social Credit Code (18 characters). You will need it on every other check.
• Check the company is not on the abnormal operations list for a registered address that cannot be reached.
• Check it is not on the serious illegal and dishonest list.

Layer 2 — Factory or trading company?

Source: gsxt.gov.cn · credit.customs.gov.cn

• Read the business scope. Manufacturing appears as 生产 (production), 制造 (manufacture) or 加工 (processing), followed by the product name.
• Compare registered capital with the scale the supplier claims. Tiny capital plus a big claim is a mismatch worth asking about.
• Look at the registered address. An industrial park or factory block supports manufacturing; a shared office or a residential address does not.
• Check how long the company has existed, and whether the legal representative or the shareholders changed repeatedly in the last 12 months.
• If they claim to export, look for the company's own customs records. An exporting factory normally has them.

Layer 3 — Risk, legal and credit records

Source: zxgk.court.gov.cn · wenshu.court.gov.cn · creditchina.gov.cn · cnipa.gov.cn

• Search for dishonest judgment debtor status or a consumption restriction order against the company and its controller.
• Search the court records for contract, quality and payment disputes. Count how many the company lost.
• Check for administrative penalties and major tax violations.
• Check customs credit status for penalties or a dishonest rating.
• Check the trademarks and patents the supplier claims to own — do they actually exist, and are they in the company's name?

Layer 4 — Before you send money

• Make sure the contract party, the invoice and the receiving bank account are the same legal entity.
• Treat any request to pay a personal bank account as a stop signal.
• Ask for a VAT invoice. A supplier that cannot issue one is not a normally operating company.
• Start with a small trial order before the main deposit.
• Plan an inspection or audit for the bulk order. This checklist is not a substitute for one.

Five red flags that should stop you

• Registration status is revoked or cancelled, or the company is on the serious dishonest list.
• The company or its controlling shareholder is a dishonest judgment debtor.
• Several lost judgments for quality problems or unpaid debts.
• The registered address cannot be reached, and the company has been on the abnormal list for a long time.
• The supplier claims to manufacture a product that requires a production licence, but holds no such licence.

What this checklist cannot tell you

• Public records cannot measure production capacity, product quality or delivery performance.
• A manufacturing business scope does not prove the supplier owns the factory or runs the line itself.
• Records can lag. A recent dispute or penalty may not be published yet.
• This is not legal, financial or investment advice, and it is not a factory audit.

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How to Verify: How to Verify a Chinese Supplier Is a Real Factory (2026 Guide)  |  Official Sources: China's Official Company Records: How to Check Them (2026)  |  Pricing: Pricing - China Supplier Verification Reports from $35