What this page is for
This page is for foreign buyers who already have a problem with a supplier in mainland China: money has been paid, goods have not been delivered, the product does not match the sample, the supplier is ignoring messages, or the bank account and company name do not line up.
The goal is to make the next step proportionate. Some disputes can be handled by direct legal negotiation and a formal letter. Some need arbitration, litigation, platform complaints, bank action or a criminal report. Some are commercially too small to escalate beyond a focused demand. The first task is to separate those paths before spending more money.
Common Chinese supplier dispute scenarios
Evidence checklist for a first review
No checklist fits every case. The documents below are the materials I usually ask for first because they help identify the supplier, prove what was agreed, and decide whether negotiation, a lawyer's letter, or another route is proportionate.
What I check before contacting the supplier
Supplier disputes are often won or lost on basic details. Before making a demand, I first check whether the documents point to one consistent legal entity: one Chinese company name, one unified social credit code, one registered address, one bank account, one company chop and one signatory with authority.
If those pieces do not match, the strategy changes. A mismatched bank account may suggest payment fraud, an undisclosed trading company, a broker, or a real supplier using another entity for export. A good demand letter should not ignore that problem; it should use it.
- Chinese company name and business licence, not only an English trade name.
- Unified social credit code, registered address and legal representative.
- Contract, purchase order, quotation, pro forma invoice and any company chop.
- Payment record, beneficiary account name, bank name and account location.
- Evidence that the supplier accepted the order, promised delivery or admitted the problem.
First-stage process: negotiate first, letter if needed
I review the core documents and timeline to identify what can be proved, what is missing, and whether the demand should focus on refund, replacement, delivery, repair, compensation or document disclosure.
I compare the supplier's name, licence, bank account, invoice, chop and signatory. This helps avoid sending a demand to the wrong party or overlooking a fraud pattern.
I contact the supplier in Chinese on your behalf, present the facts clearly, request a written response and push for a practical settlement where possible.
If the supplier refuses to respond or gives an unreasonable answer, I prepare a formal lawyer's letter setting out the evidence, legal position, demand and response deadline.
A first-stage intervention usually takes about one week when documents are complete. The timing can change if the supplier identity is unclear, evidence is fragmented, or the supplier responds with new documents that need review.
What a lawyer's letter can and cannot do
A lawyer's letter is not magic and it does not guarantee recovery. Its value is that it changes the dispute from informal complaining into a documented legal demand. It can show the supplier that the buyer has local representation, knows the Chinese counterparty, has organised the evidence and may escalate if the supplier continues to ignore the issue.
For smaller and medium-value disputes, that pressure is often the most cost-effective first escalation. For larger disputes, it also creates a cleaner record before arbitration, litigation, platform complaints or other formal action.
When escalation may be necessary
If negotiation and a lawyer's letter do not resolve the matter, the next step depends on the contract, value, evidence and location of the supplier. The realistic path may be civil litigation in China, arbitration if the contract has an arbitration clause, a platform complaint, a bank recall attempt, customs or regulatory complaint, or a criminal report where the facts support fraud.
- Arbitration or litigation: more suitable where the amount is substantial, the contract and evidence are clear, and the supplier has assets or ongoing operations.
- Platform complaint: useful where the supplier relationship started on Alibaba, Made-in-China, Global Sources or another sourcing platform with complaint channels.
- Bank channel: worth considering quickly where payment details were changed, email was compromised, or the receiving account appears suspicious.
- Criminal report: fact-dependent and not a substitute for every commercial dispute. It is more relevant where there is evidence of intentional deception, fake identity, forged documents or multiple victims.
What to send for an initial review
Please send a concise timeline and the key documents. Do not send only screenshots without context. The more clearly the evidence is organised, the faster I can identify the pressure points and whether the first step should be negotiation, a lawyer's letter, or a different route.
- Amount in dispute, currency and payment date.
- Supplier's Chinese company name, English name and website if available.
- Contract, invoice, purchase order, quotation and product specification.
- Payment receipt and beneficiary account details.
- Chat history, email chain, refund promises, photos, videos and inspection report.
- Your preferred outcome: refund, replacement, delivery, repair, compensation or document release.