How to verify a Chinese supplier before you pay a deposit

Step 1: the business licence (free)

Ask for a copy of the business licence (营业执照). Every legitimate Chinese company has one, and a refusal to send it ends the conversation. On the licence, read:

• Company name in Chinese: this is the only legal name; the English name on Alibaba can be anything.
• Unified Social Credit Code: 18 characters. Look it up on the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System (gsxt.gov.cn); the record should match the licence and show the company as active.
• Business scope: look for production or manufacturing (生产, 制造) of your product category. Trading, wholesale and import-export only means a reseller.
• Registered address: should be in an industrial area and match the factory address they give you.
• Registered capital and establishment date: a factory claiming 300 workers with ¥100,000 registered capital and a 2024 founding date deserves questions.

Step 2: export capability (free)

Ask whether they export under their own name or through an agent. A factory with its own export licence invoices you directly; one without uses an export agent, which is normal but means the bank account you pay may belong to a different company. Get both company names and licences in that case, so the payment destination matches a real entity in the chain.

Step 3: certifications (free)

For every certificate claimed (CE, FCC, UL, ISO 9001, BSCI), ask for the document and check three things: the issuing body exists and is accredited, the certificate number verifies on the issuer's site where that is possible, and the product or scope on the certificate matches what you are buying. A CE report for a different model is marketing, not compliance.

Step 4: the video call (free, 20 minutes)

• Ask for a live walk through the production floor, not a pre-recorded video. Watch for your product type actually being made.
• Ask to see the warehouse of finished goods and the raw material store; a trading company has neither.
• Ask who your contact's manager is and how many export customers they serve. Real factories answer in detail.
• Note the time: a factory that can do a floor walk at 10 am China time on a weekday is a factory.

Step 5: the sample (paid, $50–300)

Order a sample and have it sent to you or to a third party in China. Check materials, weight, finish and function against the spec. Weigh and measure it: these numbers become your inspection reference and your freight estimate. Pay for the sample and the courier; free samples arrive with a bill in the unit price later.

Step 6: the audit (paid, from about $200)

For first orders above roughly $10,000, or anything with a safety certification, send someone. A factory audit takes one day on site plus reporting, checks licences against reality, counts machines and workers, reviews quality procedures and photographs everything. It also confirms the simplest thing: that the address on the licence is where your product will be made.

Signals that override everything above

• Payment requested to a personal account or to a company that appears nowhere in the chain.
• Pressure to pay before the licence or a sample is provided.
• A price far below every other quote for the same spec.
• Contact details that change mid-negotiation: a new email domain, a new WeChat, a new bank.

Frequently asked

Figures are indicative floor rates and typical fee ranges on our lanes as of Oct 11, 2026. Duty rates depend on your product's tariff code and declared value. This is general information, not customs or legal advice.