DUE DILIGENCE / 01
Build the evidence file before you need the verdict.
A supplier can have a current registration record and still be the wrong factory for your order. A capable factory can still send unexplained payment instructions. A matching beneficiary can still ship a non-conforming product. Keep those questions separate so one positive signal cannot silently stand in for the rest.
Establish the exact legal identity
Collect the supplier’s current business licence, exact Chinese legal name and 18-character Unified Social Credit Code. Search the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System, record the query date, and compare the name, code, status, registered address and listed representatives with the documents you received.
The State Council’s market-entity registration regulation provides the registration framework. A public-record match establishes a registered identity; it does not establish reliability, factory control, product compliance or payment safety.
Map who is authorised to quote, contract, invoice and change instructions
Record the salesperson, company email domain, contracting entity, signatory, invoice issuer and any export agent or affiliate. Ask the supplier to explain every different entity in writing and make the contract describe its role.
Confirm material changes through a contact channel established before the change. Do not treat a stamp image, forwarded email or chat account as independent confirmation. When authority remains unclear, hold the affected decision and obtain transaction-specific professional advice.
Test manufacturing capability against this order
Separate the registered company from the actual production site. Ask for site identity, process ownership, relevant equipment, capacity assumptions, subcontracting boundaries and evidence tied to your product family.
ISO explains that certification is performed by external certification bodies, not by ISO itself. Check the certificate’s issuer, status, site, scope and dates; where applicable, use IAF CertSearch. Management-system certification is not product certification and does not prove that your order will meet its specification.
Define product, sample and destination-market evidence
Freeze the product specification, approved sample or golden reference, materials, tolerances, labelling, packaging, inspection method, change-control rule and acceptance criteria. Assign each required test or document to a named owner and version.
Destination-market duties depend on the product, buyer role and jurisdiction. Identify the competent regulator and any qualified adviser for your market; do not assume a supplier certificate transfers the buyer’s own obligations or applies to every model, material or shipment.
A supplier-level review cannot replace product testing, shipment inspection or the regulatory evidence required for the destination market.
Turn the approved seller, specification and evidence into a controlled PO baseline →
Turn the finished lot and inspection report into a buyer-owned release decision →
Trace the money path back to the contracting chain
Compare the registered supplier, contract seller, invoice issuer and beneficiary. For a mainland China unit account, the People’s Bank of China source below supports consistency between the account name, account-opening proof and reserved seal name.
A trading company, export agent or affiliate can have a legitimate role, but that role needs documentary support. Re-approve any changed account or payment procedure through a known, independently sourced channel; the FBI identifies altered payment instructions as a business-email-compromise pattern.
Close the loop with an explicit release decision
Every completed item needs an owner, a dated source, an unresolved-exception field and a next decision. Use “continue”, “hold”, “escalate” or another internally defined state instead of a vague pass mark.
State which action the evidence supports now: requesting a sample, approving a contract version, paying a specific invoice, releasing production or accepting a shipment. Evidence gathered for one decision should not silently authorise the next.
CONTROL SHEET / 02
The minimum record for each evidence lane
| Evidence lane | Minimum record | Common unresolved exception | Decision affected |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legal identity | Chinese name, credit code, dated registry result and supplied licence | Record is absent, inactive, changed or inconsistent | Whether to continue identity review |
| Transaction authority | Contracting entity, signatory, known contact and entity-role map | Seller, invoice issuer or agent role is unexplained | Whether to approve the contract or instruction |
| Manufacturing capability | Site, process, equipment, capacity, subcontracting and certificate scope | Evidence belongs to another site, model or company | Whether to sample, audit or place the order |
| Product and order fit | Controlled specification, sample, inspection plan and destination evidence owner | Test, model, material or acceptance criterion is missing | Whether to release production or shipment |
| Payment path | Contract, invoice, beneficiary, bank route and change confirmation | Different or newly changed receiving entity | Whether to release a specific payment |
| Next release decision | Reviewer, date, evidence version, open exceptions and authorised action | Evidence is stale or the requested action exceeds its scope | Continue, hold or escalate |
Repeat due diligence at the decision gates that change exposure
Refresh the relevant lanes before a new supplier is approved, a contract or specification changes, production is released, payment details change, a material payment is sent or a shipment is accepted. Set review dates around your transaction rather than treating the file as permanent.
A prior clean result is historical evidence. It is not proof that the company, factory, product, email instruction or bank account remains unchanged.
Add destination-specific controls after the global core
This page is the globally accessible core. The Australia-specific checklist is a regional add-on for Australian import requirements, product-safety links and biosecurity routing. Buyers in other markets should attach the equivalent regulator and professional-advice sources for their destination.
Do not replace the global identity, capability or payment lanes with a destination checklist. They answer different questions and should remain separately dated.
METHOD / 03
How this checklist was prepared
Currawong Web’s China-side verification desk reviewed the official sources below on 30 July 2026. GSXT and the State Council source support the registered-identity lane; ISO and IAF support the certification-scope boundary; PBOC supports the mainland unit-account naming point; the FBI source supports independent confirmation of changed payment details.
The six-lane control sheet is our synthesis of those narrow sources and practical order controls. We did not inspect any reader’s supplier, site, product, certificate, contract, bank account or transaction. This is general evidence-organising guidance, not legal, banking, compliance, inspection or sourcing advice.
PRIMARY SOURCES / 04
Official sources used for this checklist
Links and page content were checked on 30 July 2026. Re-open the current source before a material decision because public records, certificates and procedures can change.
- National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity SystemOfficial public system used to query a Chinese market entity’s registered identity and current record.
- State Council — Regulation on the Registration and Administration of Market EntitiesOfficial registration framework for market entities in China.
- ISO — CertificationExplains the distinction between ISO standards and certification performed by external certification bodies.
- IAF CertSearch — Certificate searchGlobal database for checking accredited management-system certificates where participating records are available.
- People’s Bank of China — Bank account naming responseOfficial explanation of the naming consistency expected for a mainland China unit bank account.
- FBI — Business Email CompromiseIndependent-channel verification guidance for altered account numbers or payment procedures.
COMMON QUESTIONS / 05
Keep the answer tied to the decision
- Is a valid Chinese business licence enough?
- No. It supports a registered identity at a point in time. Factory control, order capability, product evidence and the payment path need separate checks.
- Does an ISO certificate prove product compliance?
- No. Check the certificate type, site, scope, issuer, accreditation and status. A management-system certificate is not product certification or order acceptance evidence.
- Can a trading company be a valid supplier?
- Yes, depending on the order and evidence. Record its legal identity, role, factory relationship, contractual responsibility and payment path instead of treating the label alone as a verdict.
- When should the checklist be refreshed?
- Refresh the affected lanes when the entity chain, specification, site, certificate, payment instruction or authorised decision changes, and before each material exposure gate.
- Will this checklist tell me that a supplier is safe?
- No. It separates visible evidence, exceptions and next decisions. The buyer remains responsible for transaction-specific review and qualified advice.