Chinese Supplier Verification

Why verification pays for itself

The most expensive mistake in cross-border trade is wiring a deposit to the wrong entity. Once money leaves your account, recovery depends on the seller's identity, solvency, and location. A supplier verification — done before you pay — costs a fraction of one failed shipment and answers the single most important question in your deal: is this company real, and is it the company I think I'm contracting with?

Under Chinese law, contracts bind the registered legal person, not the salesperson on WhatsApp. If you've been negotiating with "Lisa" but your contract names a different company, or your deposit went to a personal account, you may have a dispute with someone who has no assets. Verification closes exactly that gap.

What we check

1. Company registration & corporate status

• Registration against China's official company registry (国家企业信用信息公示系统 — the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System), plus licensed commercial databases.
• Legal name, unified social credit code, and whether the registered entity matches the company on your contract and invoice.
• Date of establishment, scope of business, and registration status (active / abnormal operations / deregistered).

2. Capital & shareholders — the accounting angle

• Registered vs. paid-in capital. Since China's 2013 company-law reform, registered capital can be declared without being paid in. A company claiming millions in registered capital may have almost nothing actually contributed. We check the paid-in position where it's publicly disclosed.
• One-person company risk. If the company has a single shareholder, the law presumes the shareholder's property is not independent of the company's — and that shareholder bears joint and several liability for the company's debts unless he can prove separation (Company Law of the PRC, revised 2023, Article 23, paragraph 3). That's usually good news for a creditor: it gives you a second pocket to collect from.
• Shareholder structure and ultimate controllers — who actually owns and controls the entity.

3. Litigation, enforcement & credit history

• Pending or past lawsuits, and — critically — enforcement cases (a company that has lost cases but failed to pay is a warning sign).
• Listings as a judgment debtor, restrictions on high consumption, or inclusion on the dishonest-debtor list (失信被执行人名单).
• Administrative penalties, abnormal-operations listings, and license revocations.

4. Payment and identity red flags

• Does the beneficiary of your payment match the registered company name? A deposit to a personal or offshore account that doesn't match the contract party is one of the clearest fraud signals there is.
• Does the business license, the contract, the invoice, and the bank account all name the same entity? Mismatches are deal-breakers until explained.
• Contact and address checks: is the registered address real, and does the "factory" match it?

What you get

• A written English due-diligence report (no Chinese-language homework for you).
• A red-flag list, each flag explained in plain language with its practical implication.
• A clear recommendation: go / proceed with caution / do not pay — and, where flagged, what to ask the supplier to cure before you pay.

How it works

1. Send the supplier's details — company name (English and Chinese if you have it), any registration number, contract, business card, or website.
2. We run the checks — registry, commercial databases, litigation records, and the identity/payment cross-checks above.
3. Report delivered in English — typically within 3–5 business days.
4. Ask follow-ups — the report includes a short window for questions on anything you want unpacked.

Frequently asked

Do you offer on-site verification?

On request, and depending on location, we can arrange or advise on a physical visit — including what to photograph and what questions to ask on the factory floor. For most buyers, desktop verification plus a targeted visit checklist covers the risk.

What if the supplier won't provide their registration details?

That refusal is itself information. Under China's regulations a company must display its business license at its place of business, and its registration is public. A supplier who won't let you verify them is telling you something.

Can you verify a Hong Kong shell company?

We can check Hong Kong registrations and, more importantly, trace the links between the Hong Kong entity and the mainland operation — where the goods are made, where the people are, where the money moves. The mainland connection is usually where the assets are.