Service · Due diligence before award
China supplier evaluation: verification and factory audit
- What you get:
- China supplier verification records identity and capability findings, with a factory audit where needed for the buyer’s approval decision.
- Turnaround:
- Desktop record: two business days after receipt of the registered name or Unified Social Credit Code; video and site checks scheduled with the supplier.
- Price:
- Desk check: USD 490 to 690; video verification: USD 690; site visit: USD 1,250 to 1,800.
- Sample report:
- Pre-payment report sample (PDF)·Scope and fee example (PDF)
Send the supplier name, quotation and equipment requirement for supplier evaluation in China. Sinospect checks the legal record and supporting evidence, then defines any factory audit needed to verify production capability on site. The qualification record gives the buyer findings, conditions and a recommendation before committing the order. Sinospect has run more than 8,900 supplier checks across China since 2004, from Hong Kong and, since 2006, from the Ningbo operations office.
- First step
- Desktop due diligence · two business days
- If the file warrants it
- On-site factory audit, scheduled separately
- Buyer-side control point
- Pre-award qualification
Choose the record for your decision
Scroll across to compare fees and turnaround.
| Assignment | Scope and deliverable | Fee | Turnaround and starting point |
|---|---|---|---|
| Desktop supplier qualification | Identity at the registry, public risk records and references, plus the bank details, certificates, sample and quotation the buyer sends, read against the file, and the manufacturing evidence available; a qualification record for the supplier decision. | USD 490 to 690 | Two business days after receipt of the registered name or Unified Social Credit Code; bank details, certificates, sample, quotation and reference contacts sent later are added to the record on receipt. |
| Pre-payment due diligence | Connections between the supplier, invoicing company, payment instructions and order negotiator; a report with recommendation and conditions. | USD 490 for one Mainland entity; USD 690 with a Hong Kong company. | Four business days after both payment and the last required document have been received. |
The linked sample illustrates the pre-payment due-diligence report. See the pre-payment scope
One supplier name is enough to start the desktop check.
Send the registered Chinese name or whatever identifier appears on the quotation; the desktop record starts from there.
- Minimum input
- Supplier name, website, licence number or quotation
- Desktop pace
- Two business days once the registered name or code is established, for the items then in the file; later materials added on receipt
- Recorded output
- Registry, risk-record, payment-path, certificate, sample, quotation, manufacturing-evidence and reference findings with next-step recommendation
Evaluation standard reviewed on
Quick answers
What do China supplier verification and factory audits check?
China supplier verification starts with the registered identity, the public risk records, the payment path, manufacturing evidence, certificates, samples and quotation at their source, and references. Sinospect combines a desktop check with a factory audit where the file warrants a visit, then records findings for supplier approval. On a buyer-direct inspection assignment Sinospect works for the buyer and is paid by the buyer only.
| Step | What it settles | Settled at the next step | Turnaround |
|---|---|---|---|
| Desktop due diligence (background check) | Legal existence and standing — business licence, Unified Social Credit Code, legal representative, registered capital, registered business scope, shareholders, enforcement and penalty records at GSXT — plus the public risk records searched, the payment path matched to the licensed company, certificates checked with the issuing body, the sample and quotation read against the specification, and references contacted by name | Whether the registered address is a working factory, and whether the line can build your equipment | Two business days once Sinospect has the supplier’s registered name or Unified Social Credit Code, for the items in the file at that point; bank details, certificates, sample, quotation and reference contacts sent later are added on receipt |
| On-site factory audit | The declared operating or production site, whether or not it differs from the registered address; what is on the line, which equipment is in service, and capacity against the claim — photographed and recorded | Registry work, already settled at the desktop step | Scheduled per project once the desktop step is cleared, because it depends on factory access and travel |
Two business days is the turnaround on the desktop due-diligence record only, counted from the point Sinospect holds the supplier’s registered name or Unified Social Credit Code. The on-site factory audit is scheduled separately. The initial written assessment reviews a quotation; the desktop qualification record documents the supplier checks.
What do supplier evaluation services in China check before award?
Sinospect runs supplier evaluation as a pre-award gate on one named supplier or the candidates on the buyer's shortlist. Each candidate clears the six control points or is logged as disqualified with the specific finding: legal registry identity, public risk records, the payment path, evidenced manufacturing capability, certificates, samples and quotation checked at source, and contacted references. Qualification runs before any commercial price comparison.
What are the deliverables and timeline for China supplier verification?
The timeline follows the two steps. The desktop due-diligence record — registry validation, risk-record searches, the payment-path match, certificate authentication, the sample and quotation check and reference contact — is returned two business days after Sinospect has the supplier’s registered name or Unified Social Credit Code, for the items in the file at that point (bank details, certificates, sample, quotation and references sent later are added on receipt), and closes the file for commodity equipment from an established supplier when it proves capability; an on-site audit follows where the desktop record leaves capability unproven. A full first-pass qualification including an on-site factory audit runs two to four weeks, because it depends on factory access and travel; the file warrants it for most higher-value or custom work. Deliverables include a qualified shortlist, a disqualification log, and a per-supplier evidence pack.
| Deliverable | What it contains |
|---|---|
| Qualified-supplier shortlist | Candidates that cleared all six control points |
| Disqualification log | Each eliminated candidate plus the specific finding that failed it |
| Evidence pack (per supplier) | Registry verification, risk-record searches, the payment-path match, certificate confirmations, the sample record, the quotation comparison, the desk review of the manufacturing evidence, reference-check notes and factory-visit findings |
| Risk flags + follow-up | Outstanding items flagged for follow-up |
How do you verify a Chinese supplier before you pay a deposit?
Due diligence on a Chinese supplier answers three questions before money moves: is the company registered as stated with no adverse public record, is there a working factory behind the offer or a trading company that says so, and do the money, the certificates, the sample and quotation and the references match that company. Sinospect runs it in two steps. A desktop background check comes first — business licence and Unified Social Credit Code validated against GSXT, the official Chinese company registry, the public risk records searched, the payment path matched to the licensed company, certificates authenticated at source, the sample and quotation read against the specification, and references contacted. An on-site factory audit follows only where that first step leaves production capability unproven. Every candidate ends in one of three recorded states: qualified, qualified with the conditions written down, or disqualified with the finding that failed it. In procurement language this is the pre-award gate; in buyer language it is due diligence. Same work, two names.
| Step | What it settles | What it cannot settle | Turnaround |
|---|---|---|---|
| Desktop due diligence (background check) | Legal existence and standing — business licence, Unified Social Credit Code, legal representative, registered capital, registered business scope, shareholders, enforcement and penalty records at GSXT — plus the public risk records searched, the payment path matched to the licensed company, certificates resolved at the issuing body, the sample and quotation read against the specification, and references contacted by name | Whether the registered address is a working factory, and whether the line can build your equipment | Two business days once Sinospect has the supplier’s registered name or Unified Social Credit Code, for the items in the file at that point; bank details, certificates, sample, quotation and reference contacts sent later are added on receipt |
| On-site factory audit | The declared operating or production site, whether or not it differs from the registered address; what is on the line, which equipment is in service, and capacity against the claim — photographed and recorded | Nothing the desktop step already settled; the visit does not repeat the registry work | Scheduled per project once the desktop step is cleared, because it depends on factory access and travel |
Two business days is the turnaround on the desktop due-diligence record only, counted from the point Sinospect holds the supplier’s registered name or Unified Social Credit Code. It does not cover the on-site factory audit. It is also a separate commitment from the initial written assessment Sinospect returns on a quotation: that one reads an offer, this one is a completed record on a supplier.
What puts a China supplier evaluation on hold?
Eight findings stop the file until the supplier clears them, and the clearing evidence goes into the record. A hold is not a rejection, with one exception: a sanctions or restricted-party listing disqualifies the candidate outright. Three other holds left open after a written request usually end the candidate too. The same conditions apply whether Sinospect runs the evaluation or a buyer runs it in-house against the eight-step method.
| Hold condition | What it signals | What clears it |
|---|---|---|
| Beneficiary on the bank details is a person, or a company other than the licensed supplier with no documented link to it | Money would leave the registered company’s control before anything is delivered | Bank details in the licensed company’s name, or a Hong Kong invoicing company whose link to the factory is documented and read at its own register |
| Business scope on the licence does not cover the equipment quoted, and the supplier presented itself as the manufacturer | A trading company presented as the factory; every downstream control would point at the wrong company | The registry record of the manufacturer actually behind the offer, and a contract that names it |
| Registered address is a residential building, a virtual office or a shared workspace, and a candidate presenting itself as the manufacturer declares no production site | No factory behind the quotation | A declared production site that is visited or walked through by live video, or, for a disclosed trading company, the named OEM’s documented production site |
| A certificate number does not resolve at the issuer, the issuer does not confirm it, or the issuer confirms it as expired | A certificate that is not the supplier’s, has lapsed or was never issued | Confirmation from the issuing body that the certificate is valid and in scope, or a valid replacement certificate confirmed the same way |
| The company or its legal representative appears on the dishonest-debtor roll, Credit China lists an open penalty relevant to the order, a published tax credit rating reads D, or the entity or its legal representative is on an applicable sanctions or restricted-party list | Unpaid judgments, regulatory or tax action, or a sanctions exposure the order would inherit | A judgment or enforcement entry closed with the settlement on record, a penalty shown as discharged in the register, a tax credit rating restored above D in the published list, or proof that the entry concerns a company unrelated to the candidate and to its legal representative; a sanctions listing is not cleared and the candidate is disqualified |
| Production steps that determine quality are subcontracted and the subcontractor is not named | The quality of the order depends on a company that has not been checked | The subcontractor named, read at the registry and included in the audit scope |
| A reference cannot be named, dated or reached, or the supplier declines an agreed video walk-through or factory visit | A delivery record that cannot be tested | For a reference: one that is named, dated and reached and confirms the delivery; for a declined walk-through or visit: the walk-through or visit rescheduled and held |
| Bank details change after the order is agreed, by email, before the registered company confirms them through a separate channel | A known diversion pattern: the account changes while the invoice and the company do not | Confirmation by the registered company through a channel other than the email thread that carried the change |
The full eight-step method, the official sources read at each step and the hold conditions are set out in the method guide linked under Background resources.
01 · Scope
Where Sinospect intervenes
Qualification runs on the buyer's shortlist or named supplier before commercial comparison. Sinospect verifies the candidates the buyer is considering, for a defensible award decision.
Engaged when
- A single named supplier needs to be verified before the order is committed.
- A shortlist of candidate suppliers must clear qualification before commercial comparison.
- A new supplier is being added to an existing production line, brand range or import category and needs to clear the same standard as the incumbents.
- A supplier proposed at a trade show, by an existing partner or via a market recommendation has no public track record the buyer can read independently.
- An incumbent supplier needs to be replaced after a quality, delivery or relationship issue, and the buyer is comparing candidates from a known shortlist.
- An external party — bank, partner or downstream customer — requires an independent qualification record on file.
02 · Controls and evidence
Control points checked
Control point
Legal identity validated at the registry
Business licence and Unified Social Credit Code validated against GSXT — the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System operated by the State Administration for Market Regulation — reading the legal representative, registered capital, registered business scope, shareholders, enforcement and penalty records, and sanctions screening on the entity and its legal representative.
Control point
Public risk records read, not assumed
The company and its legal representative searched on China Judgements Online, the enforcement platform and its dishonest-debtor roll, and Credit China for administrative penalties; the customs credit platform where an export record is claimed, and the tax credit rating where it is published.
Control point
Payment path matched to the licensed company
The beneficiary on the bank details read against the licence, and any Hong Kong invoicing company against its own register; the name on the VAT invoice matched to the licence. A personal or unrelated third-party account is an automatic hold until bank details in the licensed company’s name, or a documented Hong Kong invoicing company read at its register, replace it; bank details changed by email after the order is agreed are an automatic hold until the registered company confirms them through a separate channel.
Control point
Manufacturing capability evidenced
Factory address, production lines, equipment in service and capacity claims verified against site observation, photographs and OEM records — the check that separates a working manufacturer from a trading company presenting another factory's line, a showroom staged for visitors, or capacity that is quietly subcontracted out.
Control point
Certificates, samples and quotation checked at their source
ISO and product certificates checked with the issuing body, in its register where one exists; notified-body identity and scope checked in NANDO where the CE procedure requires a notified body; test reports that rely on accreditation checked against the laboratory's accredited scope. The approved sample recorded with its specification, material, version and test result and kept as the reference for the later production check; the quotation read line by line against the specification, including packing, documentation, testing and the delivery point, rather than by unit price.
Control point
References contacted, not assumed
Comparable installations named, dated and contacted; outcomes documented in writing, not paraphrased.
Evidence reviewed
Supplier evaluation and verification, checked against written evidence
Qualification methodology is detailed in the resources below. This page lists what gets checked on the file.
- Technical
- Recent third-party inspection reports the supplier shares with the client’s permission.
- Operational
- Reference installations — client, year, contactable interlocutor.
- After-sales and spares arrangements for the destination market.
- Legal
- Business licence, Unified Social Credit Code and registered business scope validated at the GSXT registry (SAMR).
- Legal representative, registered capital, shareholders, enforcement records, published penalties and sanctions screening on the entity and its legal representative.
- Official sources read
- GSXT, the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System (国家企业信用信息公示系统), for the licence record.
- China Judgements Online (中国裁判文书网) and the enforcement platform (中国执行信息公开网) for judgments, enforcement cases and the dishonest-debtor roll.
- Credit China (信用中国) for administrative penalties; the tax credit rating and the customs credit platform where published or claimed.
- The Hong Kong Companies Registry for any Hong Kong company that invoices for the factory; NANDO and IAF CertSearch for notified bodies and accredited certificates.
- The sanctions and restricted-party lists that apply to the buyer’s market, for the entity and its legal representative; a listing disqualifies the candidate outright.
03 · Deliverables
Deliverables issued
Deliverable
For · Procurement leadQualified-supplier shortlist
Suppliers that cleared all six control points, with the evidence indexed per supplier file.
Deliverable
For · Procurement and auditDisqualification log
Each eliminated candidate documented with the specific finding that disqualified them — usable for award justification, supplier reviews and future audits.
Deliverable
For · Engineering and financeEvidence pack per supplier
Registry verification, risk-record searches, the payment-path match, certificate confirmations, the sample record, the quotation comparison, the desk review of the manufacturing evidence, reference-check summaries and factory-visit findings, ready for engineering, bank or partner review.
Deliverable
For · Project ownerRisk flags and follow-up actions
Where a supplier clears with caveats, the conditions, residual risks and downstream checks are listed in writing.
04 · Risks controlled
Risks controlled
Risk
Award to a trading company, or to an empty shell, presenting itself as the manufacturer.
Control response
Business scope on the licence is read against the factory address, photographs of the production line, and registry checks on the OEM behind the offer.
Risk
Certificate that does not resolve at the issuing body.
Control response
Each certificate is checked with its issuer, in the issuer's register where one exists; notified-body identity and scope are checked in NANDO where the CE procedure requires a notified body; accredited ISO certificates are cross-referenced via IAF CertSearch where listed.
Risk
Reference installations that cannot be substantiated.
Control response
Reference contacts are approached directly and their responses dated. An unsubstantiated reference is recorded among the grounds for exclusion.
05 · Background resources
Background resources
- Service · Hong Kong company verificationWhat the Hong Kong register shows, what it protects, and how the company is tied to the Mainland factory.
- Resource · Protecting a deposit on China equipmentHow supplier evidence, payment terms and quality gates work together before funds are committed.
- Resource · Before you pay a Chinese supplierHow the Hong Kong company, the factory, the contract and the beneficiary connect, and the decision at the end.
- China supplier evaluation: the eight-step methodThe method behind the service, step by step: the official sources read, the hold conditions, and how the decision is recorded.
- Supplier due-diligence checklistUngated, printable checklist a buyer can pick up and use on a real supplier file.
- Resource · Factory audit checklistAudit a Chinese factory in 9 areas before you order: site and entity, ISO 9001 quality system, capacity, process control, testing, EHS and export packing.
- Service · Sourcing from ChinaThe supply mode this gate feeds — Sinospect sources, qualifies and supplies the order as principal, with the factory's final balance gated on its own QC.
- Service · Technical procurement reviewThe downstream service most commonly combined with qualification — the supplier's offer reviewed against the specification.
- Service · Quality assuranceAfter qualification, the next layer — specification, supplier alignment and the inspection tier calibrated to the project.
- Service · After-sales continuityWhere qualification leads long-term — the relationship in China maintained beyond a single shipment.
- Selected field notesAnonymized examples of supplier-side findings and escalations from procurement work in China.
06 · Questions
Frequently asked questions
What does China supplier verification include?
Sinospect checks registered identity, the public risk records, the payment path, manufacturing evidence, certificates, samples and quotation at their source, and references. Findings and conditions are recorded for the supplier decision.
When does supplier evaluation in China need a factory audit?
A factory audit examines the operating site, production line and equipment where the project or missing evidence calls for on-site verification. The desktop findings define the visit scope.
Can Sinospect check a Chinese supplier before payment?
Send the supplier name, offer and equipment requirement. The qualification record supports the decision before commitment; the pre-payment due-diligence service addresses the defined payment-stage assignment.
Who pays for a buyer-direct factory audit?
On a buyer-direct inspection assignment Sinospect works for the buyer and is paid by the buyer only. The buyer retains supplier approval and its factory contract.
How do you confirm the factory actually exists and can produce, rather than a trading company?
The registered business scope on the licence is read against the registered address, and then against what is physically on site. A trading company's scope reads as wholesale or import and export; a manufacturer's names the production activity. Where the two do not agree, the registry record of the OEM actually behind the offer is checked. Six further indicators narrow the harder cases: the registered address against the address where production is claimed; the VAT invoice, which a factory issues under its own name; the catalogue, since a factory makes a narrow range and a trader lists a wide one; the minimum order quantity, which a factory sets from its line; the location, because production of a given equipment type clusters in known regions; and the company name on any audit report the supplier offers. ISO 9001 is a weak signal here, as some traders hold it. None of these is proof on its own; the production line is. On site, the evidence is the production line, the equipment in service and capacity against the claimed output — photographed and recorded, not paraphrased from supplier marketing.
When in the procurement cycle should qualification happen?
Before quotations are compared. Comparing prices across a shortlist that has not been qualified forces a false equivalence — the lowest quote often comes from the least-qualified supplier. Qualification runs first; commercial comparison runs on the candidates that clear it.
Can you qualify a supplier we already work with, or only new ones?
Either. Revalidation of an incumbent supplier is common after a quality or delivery issue, a leadership change at the supplier, the addition of a new product category, or before a multi-year commitment. The work runs through the same six control points; the record adds a delta against any prior qualification.
What does the qualification record contain?
A written shortlist of qualified suppliers with the supporting evidence pack — business-licence verification, risk-record searches, the payment-path match, certification authentication, the sample record and quotation comparison, the desk review of the manufacturing evidence, reference-check notes, factory-visit findings where applicable — plus a separate file listing disqualified candidates and the reason each one was eliminated.
Can I check a Chinese supplier myself on GSXT or a commercial registry aggregator?
Yes, and it is worth doing. GSXT — the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System — and the commercial aggregators built on it will show you the registered name, Unified Social Credit Code, legal representative, registered capital, business scope, shareholders and any published penalties. Two limits are worth knowing. The record is in Chinese, and matching it to the English name on a quotation is where most self-checks go wrong. And the registry stops at the legal record: whether the registered address is a working factory, whether the line can build your equipment, and whether a certificate in the quotation resolves at the body that issued it are checks made in China. A marketplace badge records a membership or payment status on that platform; the condition of the factory behind the listing is a separate question.
07 · Getting started
What to send to check a supplier
The desktop due diligence can start from very little — the supplier's registered name is enough to open the registry record, and the two-business-day clock starts there. The more of the following you send, the higher the confidence of the result.
Supplier name(s) and registration
One named supplier or the candidates on your shortlist. The registered Chinese name or the 18-character Unified Social Credit Code from the business licence gives the cleanest registry match; a company name, licence number or website is enough to start.
Equipment list, BOQ or DQE
What the supplier would be making, even as a draft — it scopes what 'qualified' has to mean.
Any quotation received
The supplier's offer (devis fournisseur), so its claims can be read against the file.
Certifications the project requires
ISO, CE or product certificates the equipment must hold — and any the supplier has already cited.
Project context
Destination market, timeline, and who needs the qualification record — an engineer, a bank or a downstream partner.
Send the documents available. Sinospect identifies the information needed to define the scope.
Send the supplier for qualification
Send the supplier's name — the registered Chinese name or Unified Social Credit Code if you have it — with the equipment list and any quotation received. Sinospect returns the desktop due-diligence record two business days after it holds the registered name or code, covering the items then in the file (later materials are added on receipt), and says up front whether the file warrants an on-site factory audit.