1. Check the business licence
Chinese companies have a unified social credit code (统一社会信用代码) on the business licence. The company name, legal representative and registered address should be consistent across the licence, the contract and the bank account.
A licence that says the company is in “wholesale and retail” is a trading company. That is not fraud, but it means the factory is someone else — ask who manufactures the product.
- Company name matches the contract and bank account
- Registered address is plausible for the industry
- Business scope includes manufacturing, if they claim to be a factory
- Legal representative name is consistent on documents
2. Visit or video-audit the factory
A video call is not a factory audit, but it filters out the obvious fakes. Ask them to walk from the office to the production line without cutting the video, and show the machines running with the product on them.
For orders above a few thousand dollars, an on-site visit is worth it. Check the number of lines, staff, QC station, packaging area and finished-goods warehouse.
3. Match the bank account to the company
The bank account name must match the company name on the licence. If they ask you to pay a personal account, a different company, or a “friend’s” account, stop.
For USD payments, confirm the beneficiary name and bank details in writing on company letterhead, and verify by a second channel — a phone call, not another chat message.
4. Order a sample and inspect it
A supplier who cannot produce a sample is not ready for your order. Inspect the sample against your spec: measurements, materials, function, packaging and labelling.
Keep the approved sample. It is the reference for the pre-shipment inspection.
5. Red flags that should stop the order
- Price far below every other quote, with no explanation
- Pressure to pay 100% upfront or by personal account
- Refusal to share the business licence or factory address
- A “factory” with no production line, only a showroom
- Documents whose company name does not match the bank account
- No export experience and no references
6. Keep the balance until inspection
The strongest protection is structural: pay a deposit, inspect before shipment, and release the balance only after you approve the report. A supplier who refuses this structure is telling you something.
Takeaway
Verify the entity, see the factory, match the bank account, approve a sample, and hold the balance until inspection. Five checks prevent most losses.