How to Verify a Chinese Supplier Is a Real Factory

An estimated 60-70% of suppliers listed on Alibaba and similar marketplaces are trading companies, not factories. They buy from real manufacturers and add a 10-30% markup. Here is how to tell the difference using public records - and what to check before you pay a deposit.

Why this check matters

A deposit is the riskiest moment in a cross-border order. Once the money leaves your account, recovery is slow and expensive. Public Chinese records let you confirm that the company exists, that it is registered as a manufacturer rather than a trader, and that it carries no enforcement or court records - all before you commit funds.

Six checks before you pay a deposit

1. Confirm the company exists and is active

Every legitimate Chinese company has an 18-digit Unified Social Credit Code (统一社会信用代码). Look it up on the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System (gsxt.gov.cn) and confirm the registered name, legal representative, establishment date and registration status. A status of cancelled or revoked means the entity invoicing you may not legally exist.

2. Read the business scope

This is the single fastest signal. The business scope (经营范围) of a genuine manufacturer contains the characters for production (生产) or manufacturing (制造). A trading company carries trade (贸易), wholesale (批发) or sales (销售) instead. If the scope contains only trading terms, you are almost certainly dealing with a middleman.

3. Compare registered capital with the claimed scale

Registered capital (注册资本) is public. A supplier claiming a large factory and millions in annual output, yet registered with a token capital and a residential address, does not add up. Compare the establishment date against the years of experience they claim.

4. Search risk and court records

Check the business abnormality list, the serious illegal and dishonest list and administrative penalties, then search the China Enforcement Information Disclosure Network (zxgk.court.gov.cn) for dishonest judgment debtor status or a consumption restriction order. These records are public and searchable by company name.

5. Verify customs import and export credit

A company that genuinely exports should appear in the customs import and export credit records (credit.customs.gov.cn). A supplier presenting itself as an export factory while showing no customs record is a contradiction worth resolving before you pay.

6. Cross-check the online footprint

Compare the website, the marketplace storefront, the stated address and the contact details against the registry. Check whether the registered address is a factory, an office building or a shared virtual address, and whether the same product photos appear on unrelated supplier sites.

Red flags that should stop you

• Registered only a short time ago, or with very low registered capital
• Business scope does not cover the product you are buying
• Registered address is residential, virtual or a mass-registration address
• The legal representative has multiple companies, several of them abnormal
• Dishonest debtor, enforcement or consumption restriction records
• No customs record despite claiming to be an export factory

What public records cannot tell you

Public records confirm identity, structure and risk history. They do not measure product quality, production capacity or delivery performance, and they cannot prove that the person emailing you is who they claim to be. Treat this as a first screening layer, not a substitute for a factory audit or an on-site visit.

Sample Report: Sample Report - China Company Public Record Summary  |  FAQ: FAQ - China Supplier Verification, Delivery and Pricing  |  Pricing: Pricing - China Supplier Verification Reports from $35