Buy from China with confidence
How to verify a supplier, spot and avoid scams, and enforce your rights if something goes wrong — written for overseas buyers, in plain English.
Verification
How to Verify a Chinese Supplier's Production Capacity and Workforce
A supplier can look real on paper and still be unable to make your order. How to verify production lines, equipment, workforce and output — and spot the trading company posing as a factory before you pay.
China Product Compliance Certificates: CE, RoHS, REACH and FCC Explained
CE, RoHS, REACH and FCC — what each mark really means, how it differs from a test report, and how to check a Chinese supplier's certificate is genuine before your goods get held at customs.
How to Verify a Chinese Supplier's References and Past Clients
A supplier's track record is the best evidence of what they can do for you — if the references are real. How to ask for them, how to actually check them, and how to spot a reference that is a friend pretending to be a client.
How to Choose a Third-Party Inspection Company in China
An inspection company is your eyes at the factory — but only if you pick one that is accredited, independent and actually on-site. How to vet the credentials, the sampling method and the conflict-of-interest risk before you hire.
How to Verify a Chinese Supplier's Trademark and Patent Claims
A supplier's patent and trademark claims can protect you — or expose you to an infringement suit when you resell. How to check a CNIPA trademark and patent number, confirm ownership and spot a claim that does not hold up.
How to Verify a Chinese Supplier's Export License and Customs Registration
A supplier can hold a valid business licence and still not be legally allowed to export your goods. How to check import-export rights, customs registration and controlled-item export licences before you pay.
Product Sampling and Prototyping: Verifying Quality Before Mass Production
Golden samples, pre-production samples and AQL inspection — how to lock the quality standard before a Chinese factory starts mass production, so the first shipment matches what you approved.
How to Verify a Chinese Supplier's Financial Health Before You Pay
Paid-in capital, tax records, lawsuits and the official registries that reveal a supplier's true financial condition — a practical checklist using China's public company records before you commit to an order.
China Factory Social Compliance Audits: BSCI, SMETA and What Importers Should Check
Child and forced labor, working hours, wages and safety — what a social compliance audit verifies, the private standards behind BSCI, SMETA, SA8000 and WRAP, and how to read the result against China's legal baseline.
How to Read a China Factory Audit Report (and What It Won't Tell You)
A factory audit is the strongest verification you can buy before placing an order. But the value is in reading the report correctly — the scope, the findings, the red flags that matter, and the limits of what an auditor can see.
Verifying China Export Records and Shipment Documents Before You Pay
A supplier's paperwork can be faked, but a genuine export leaves a trail in customs and shipping systems that is hard to forge. How to cross-check the invoice, packing list, bill of lading and customs declaration — and the red flags that mean you should not pay.
Trading Company vs Factory: How to Verify Who You're Really Buying From
The name on the invoice may be a trading company, not the factory. How to read a Chinese business licence's scope, spot the difference, and verify the real manufacturer behind your order.
How to Source Apparel and Textiles from China Safely
Apparel and textiles carry their own risks — fabric composition, colorfastness, AQL inspection and lab testing. How to verify a garment factory and lock down quality before your bulk order ships.
How to Verify a Chinese Supplier's Certifications (ISO, BSCI, CE and More)
A certificate is only as good as the body that issued it. How to tell a real ISO, CCC or BSCI credential from a photoshopped scan — and which registries actually let you check.
Chinese Sourcing Agents: How to Vet and Use Them Safely
A good sourcing agent finds factories and negotiates in Chinese; a bad one collects a hidden commission and disappears. How to vet an agent, structure the agreement and keep control.
Sourcing Machinery from China: A Verification Checklist
Buying a machine is a capital decision, not a sample order. The checks — on the supplier, the machine itself, and the deal terms — that separate a working asset from a stranded one.
Pre-Shipment Inspection in China: A Buyer's Guide
The last chance to catch defects before your goods leave China is the pre-shipment inspection. What it checks, how AQL sampling works, and how to tie it to final payment.
Factory Audit vs Video Call: Which Verification Actually Works?
A friendly video walkthrough feels like verification, but it isn't. Here's what a live call really proves, what a third-party factory audit adds, and when each is worth the money.
Sourcing Electronics from China: A Verification Checklist for Buyers
Electronics is the highest-stakes category to source from China — certifications, component authenticity and QC decide whether you get product or problems. Here's the checklist.
The Complete Guide to Verifying a Chinese Supplier Before You Pay
A step-by-step framework for checking a Chinese supplier's identity, credit, and track record using official records — before you send a single dollar.
How to Check a Chinese Company's Business License and Registration Records
The business license is the single most important document a Chinese supplier will hand you. Here's what every field means and how to verify it.
Decoding the Unified Social Credit Code: What 18 Characters Reveal About a Company
Every Chinese company has one permanent 18-character ID. Learn what it encodes, how to validate it, and what it tells you before you trade.
How to Read a Chinese Company's Shareholders, Capital, and Equity Structure
Who actually owns a supplier — and whether that equity is frozen, pledged, or shifting — is often more revealing than the company's name.
How to Check a Chinese Supplier's Litigation and Court Records
Court and enforcement records show how a supplier actually behaves when deals go wrong. Here's where to look and how to read what you find.
How to Verify a Chinese Factory Is Real: Video Calls, Inspections, and Red Flags
Documents can be faked, but a live factory is hard to fabricate. A practical playbook for confirming the supplier in front of you is the supplier you'll actually pay.
Fraud Prevention
How to Vet a China Freight Forwarder and Avoid Shipping Scams
A freight forwarder you have never met will move goods worth more than your first car. How to check their licence, keep control of the bill of lading and spot the payment tricks used in shipping fraud.
How to Place a Safe First Order with a New Chinese Supplier
A structured first order — trial quantity, milestone payments, escrow and documented specs — is the cheapest insurance against losing your deposit to a supplier you barely know.
China Supplier Payment Terms: T/T, Letter of Credit and Escrow Compared
30/70 T/T, irrevocable letters of credit under UCP 600, and platform escrow — how each payment method shifts risk between you and a Chinese supplier, and how to pick the right one for the order.
China Supplier Bankruptcy and Insolvency: Protecting Your Deposits and Orders
When a Chinese supplier becomes insolvent, foreign buyers usually rank at the back of the queue. How to spot the warning signs, how China's insolvency process treats overseas creditors, and the practical steps to protect deposits and unfinished orders.
Ghost Factory Scams: How Fake Chinese Suppliers Vanish With Your Deposit
The supplier looked real — website, catalog, even a video. Then the deposit cleared and everything disappeared. How ghost-factory scams work and how to spot one before you pay.
10 Common Trade Scams Targeting Overseas Buyers in China (and How to Spot Them)
From advance-fee fraud to lookalike companies, these are the scams that cost buyers the most — and the tells that give each one away.
Red Flags in Supplier Communications That Signal a Scam
Scammers reveal themselves in how they communicate long before they ask for money. Learn to read the behavioral tells.
How to Protect Your Deposit and Payments When Sourcing from China
Payment is where most losses happen. Escrow, letters of credit, and staged payments — how to structure your money so it's hard to steal.
The Contract Clauses Every Overseas Buyer Needs When Sourcing from China
A well-drafted contract is your legal backbone. The clauses that matter most — quality, delivery, payment, IP, and dispute resolution.
Legal Rights
China Purchase Order Essentials: 10 Terms to Include Before You Pay
A one-page purchase order is the whole contract for most China orders. These ten terms — specification, payment, Incoterms, inspection, warranty and dispute resolution — decide who wins when things go wrong.
Incoterms for China Buyers: FOB, CIF and DDP Explained
FOB, CIF and DDP determine who pays freight, who bears risk and who clears customs. Getting the term wrong on a China order is one of the most common and costly buyer mistakes.
China Export Controls & US Import Compliance: What Buyers Must Check
Export controls, licensing and forced-labor rules now sit between you and your China shipment. The compliance basics every overseas buyer should check before ordering.
NDA with a Chinese Factory: Why a Standard NDA Falls Short and What to Sign Instead
A Western-style NDA is often toothless in China. The NNN agreement — Non-disclosure, Non-use, Non-circumvention — is the instrument that actually protects your IP before you hand over a design.
How to Protect Your Intellectual Property When Manufacturing in China
China is first-to-file for trademarks and patents. If you haven't registered before you share your design, you may have already lost it. Here's the playbook.
Cheated by a Chinese Supplier? Your Legal Options and How to Enforce Them
If a supplier has taken your money and disappeared, you still have options — from demand letters and arbitration to criminal complaints. Here's the realistic path.