A Chinese supplier can be properly registered and still be the wrong party to your deal. Before a buyer pays, I try to answer four practical questions: who owns the business, who will sign the contract, who will receive the money, and who will actually manufacture or export the goods. A business licence answers only the first question. The seven checks below are designed to find the gaps while the buyer still has the leverage to ask for an explanation or walk away.

Did you find the supplier on Alibaba?

A Verified Supplier badge does not by itself confirm that the store owner, Chinese company, contract party and payment beneficiary all match. The Alibaba-specific guide explains what to check in the assessment report and Trade Assurance order before payment.

Check an Alibaba supplier before payment
In this guide
  1. 01Get the right documents from the supplier
  2. 02Verify against the government registry
  3. 03Confirm export qualifications
  4. 04Check China FTA verification and origin documents
  5. 05Check credit and litigation history
  6. 06Verify the bank account matches the entity
  7. 07Do a physical or virtual site verification
  8. 08Tie everything together before you commit
Step 01

Get the Right Documents from the Supplier

Before you can verify anything, you need the raw material. Ask for the Business Licence (营业执照), which every legitimate mainland Chinese company has. The modern version is a single page showing a Unified Social Credit Code (统一社会信用代码) — an 18-character alphanumeric string that functions like a corporate ID number.

You also want:

Signal to watch for: If the supplier hesitates, or sends something that looks like a screenshot with fields missing, treat that as a point requiring explanation. Most legitimate suppliers understand why a buyer asks for company-registration documents.

For export transactions, also ask whether the entity holds its own export licence. Not every Chinese manufacturer can export directly — some route through trading companies or export agents, which isn't inherently problematic, but it changes who your counterparty actually is on the paperwork.

Step 02

Verify Against the Government Registry

This is the single highest-value check — and it's free. China's National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System at gsxt.gov.cn is the official government registry. Enter the company name or Unified Social Credit Code, and the system returns: establishment date, registered capital, legal representative, shareholders, business scope, and any administrative penalties or abnormal operation flags.

🔍 gsxt.gov.cn — Official Registry 📊 Qichacha 企查查 📊 Tianyancha 天眼查

The site is in Chinese — use a translation tool or a Chinese-speaking colleague. What you're checking is whether the information the supplier gave you is consistent with the official record: Chinese company name, registered address, legal representative, and Unified Social Credit Code. Some English names are informal trade names, but the Chinese legal identity should be clear before you proceed.

Commercial databases like Qichacha (企查查) and Tianyancha (天眼查) aggregate the same government data and add litigation history, IP filings, and corporate relationships — often with more usable interfaces. For orders above a few thousand dollars, the cost can be proportionate if it helps identify litigation, related companies, or abnormal-operation signals before payment.
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Step 03

Confirm Export Qualifications

If you're buying from a manufacturer who claims to export directly, they should be registered with China Customs as a Consignor/Consignee of Import and Export Goods, which gives them a Customs Registration Code (海关注册编码) — a 10-digit number you can cross-check on the China Customs website or through the commercial databases above.

Contradiction to resolve: If the business scope on the licence doesn't include import/export activities (进出口) and the supplier claims to ship internationally, that's a mismatch worth resolving — usually it means they route through a third-party export agent, and you'll want to know who that agent is, because they become a link in your legal chain.

For regulated product categories — medical devices, food, cosmetics, electronics with wireless modules, children's products — there are additional certifications to verify. These are product-specific rather than general, so the check depends on what you're buying, but the pattern is the same: ask for the certificate, look up the issuing body's registry, and confirm the certificate number matches a live record.

Step 04

China FTA Verification and Origin Documents

Some buyers also need to check whether the supplier's export documents support tariff treatment under a free trade agreement. China FTA verification is a document check, not a substitute for verifying the supplier itself. A certificate of origin or preferential origin statement may help with customs treatment, but it does not prove that the supplier is financially sound, authorised to contract, or safe to pay.

For online FTA verification, start with the certificate number, exporter name, invoice number, HS code, destination country, place of issue, and issue date. China Customs operates an official E-government Platform for the Origin of China's Exports at origin.customs.gov.cn. Some certificates issued through chambers of commerce may also be checked through the ICC verification platform, depending on the issuing body.

Practical point: the name on the origin document should be compared with the supplier's business licence, invoice, contract party, and receiving bank account. If the exporter, seller, factory, and payment beneficiary are different entities, ask for a written explanation before payment or shipment.
Step 05

Check Credit and Litigation History

Tianyancha and Qichacha both surface civil litigation, enforcement actions, tax irregularities, and whether the legal representative appears on the Supreme People's Court list of dishonest judgment debtors (失信被执行人名单).

A company with a pattern of contract disputes as defendant — especially ones involving unpaid suppliers or failure to deliver — is telling you something. A single dispute means little; a pattern means a lot.

For larger commitments, a paid credit report from Sinosure (China's export credit insurance agency), Dun & Bradstreet China, or a specialised due diligence firm will give you financial health indicators, a site visit summary, and sometimes trade reference checks. Expect to spend a few hundred to a couple of thousand dollars depending on depth.

Rule of thumb: if the cost of the credit report is less than one percent of your first order value, it is worth considering as part of the overall risk assessment.
Step 06

Verify the Bank Account Matches the Entity

This is where a significant amount of fraud actually happens — and it's frequently overlooked. The safest position is for the receiving account name to match the contracting entity on the business licence. If payment is requested to a related company, Hong Kong entity, export agent, or other third party, the relationship and payment authority should be documented before funds are sent.

Common red flags:

If there's any mismatch: Pause and ask for written explanation on company letterhead with the company chop (公章) before wiring anything. Fraudsters often exploit this step by impersonating real suppliers, intercepting email threads, or substituting different bank details.
Step 07

Do a Physical or Virtual Site Verification

For any meaningful order, someone should see the factory. A factory audit confirms the address on the licence is actually a factory matching the scale of what's being promised — not a sales office with a rented warehouse.

One of the more common patterns worth knowing about: a trading company that presents itself as a manufacturer, using someone else's facility for photos and videos. An in-person or third-party audit resolves this quickly.

If you can't visit in person, third-party inspection companies (SGS, Bureau Veritas, Intertek, or local Guangdong-based firms) can conduct a factory audit on your behalf, typically within a few days of booking and at a few hundred dollars for a standard report.

Step 08

Tie Everything Together Before You Commit

The verification only protects you if the contract you sign names the entity you verified. Before executing anything, confirm:

The chop (公章) in particular matters under Chinese practice. A red circular seal with the full Chinese company name is often treated as more definitive than a signature alone. Get a clear photo or scan of it on the executed contract.

A useful mental model for the whole process: you're trying to confirm that a single entity — one name, one social credit code, one address, one bank account, one chop, one signatory — is consistently the same across every document and every step. Fraud and transaction risk often show up as a mismatch somewhere in that chain. Legitimate suppliers will have no trouble matching up; problematic ones start introducing explanations for why the pieces don't quite align.

Calibrate Depth to Risk

Not every order warrants the same level of scrutiny. Here's a practical guide:

Order Size Recommended Checks
Samples / small trial order
Under $2,000		 Free government registry check + confirm bank account matches licence
Mid-size order
$2,000 – $20,000		 Steps 1–5 above + commercial database subscription (Qichacha / Tianyancha)
Significant order
$20,000 – $100,000		 All above + paid credit report + third-party factory audit
Ongoing supply relationship
Repeat orders		 All above + periodic re-checks annually. Past cleanliness doesn't guarantee future performance — registered information changes.

When I review a supplier, I am not trying to issue a ceremonial “safe” certificate. I am trying to identify the transaction chain before the buyer loses leverage: the legal company, the people speaking for it, the contract, the receiving account and the factory or export agent. If those pieces fit together, the buyer can proceed with clearer eyes. If they do not, the unexplained gap becomes the issue to resolve before payment.

Much of the first-stage work can be done through free public records. Deeper litigation, credit, factory and contract checks should be calibrated to the order value and the cost of getting the decision wrong.

Need a Supplier Due Diligence Check?

I run full supplier verification checks for foreign buyers — business licence review, government registry, litigation indicators, payment-account consistency, and contract documents. Timing depends on the supplier, scope, and records available.

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