How to Verify a Chinese Seller Before You Pay

Why verify a Chinese seller at all?

Most sellers on Alibaba, 1688, Taobao and AliExpress are real businesses. The checks below are for the small share that are not, and for real businesses that are not what they claim to be, such as a trading company calling itself a factory. A few minutes of checking before you pay is much cheaper than chasing a refund after.

Single-item buyers are also more exposed than bulk buyers in one way. A large importer can visit a factory or hire an audit firm. Someone buying one product for personal use usually cannot, so desk checks, the ones you can do from a phone in Pakistan, are what matter. Everything in this guide is a desk check.

The goal is to answer three questions. Does this company legally exist and is it still operating? Is the company I am talking to the same one that will receive my money? Is it the kind of company that actually makes or sells this product? Platform badges help with some of these, but not all. Our broader guide on finding reliable Chinese suppliers covers how to shortlist sellers in the first place.

What is on a Chinese business licence?

Every registered company in China has a business licence (营业执照, yingye zhizhao). Ask for a clear copy. A genuine seller will send one without fuss. It shows:

• Unified Social Credit Code (统一社会信用代码). An 18-character code, sometimes including letters, that identifies the company for tax, customs and registration. It replaced the older 15-digit registration number from 2015 onwards.
• Registered name. The legal name in Chinese characters. The English name on a website is not a legal name.
• Legal representative. The person legally responsible for the company.
• Registered capital, address and date of establishment.
• Business scope. The activities the company is authorised to carry out.
• Issuing authority. The local branch of the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR).

A copy of a licence proves nothing on its own, because images can be edited. Its value is that it gives you the exact code and Chinese name to look up independently.

How do I check a company on China's official registry?

The official source is the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System (国家企业信用信息公示系统), at gsxt.gov.cn. It is run under SAMR, the company registration authority. Searching is free, but the site is in Chinese only, it often shows a CAPTCHA, and it can be slow or unreachable from outside China.

1. Get the code and name. Copy the 18-character Unified Social Credit Code and the full Chinese company name from the licence.
2. Search the registry. Paste the code or the exact Chinese name into the search box. A browser translation tool helps with the results page.
3. Match the details. The returned name, code, legal representative and address should match the licence exactly. A mismatch between the code and the name is one of the clearest signs of a forged licence.
4. Check the status. The record shows whether the company is existing, revoked or deregistered. Anything other than an active status is a stop sign.
5. Look at the date and scope. A company registered a few weeks ago selling expensive equipment deserves more caution. The business scope should cover the product.
6. Look for warning records. The registry can show abnormal operation listings and administrative penalties. One or two old minor items are common. A pattern is not.

Here is what a mismatch typically looks like in practice. The licence image shows one company name, but the code returns a different company, or nothing at all. Or the name and code match, but the status shows the company was deregistered. Or everything matches, but the bank details you are given are in a different company's name. Each of these is reason enough to stop.

If the official site will not load, commercial aggregators are the usual fallback. Qichacha (qcc.com) is the best known. It pulls registration data into a searchable profile with ownership and risk information, and its international arm sells compliance reports. Treat aggregators as a convenient copy of the official data, and use the official registry when you can reach it.

What do Alibaba's badges actually mean?

Alibaba shows several trust labels, and people often read more into them than they say. Here is what Alibaba's own pages say about the main ones.

The Verified Supplier report is the most useful of these. Alibaba says buyers can download the inspection report from the company profile, and the verified pages may include factory videos. Open the report and read it: check the company name matches the business licence, look at the inspection date, and see whether the inspected site is a factory or an office. Alibaba also says Verified Supplier status is only open to suppliers in certain countries, which at the time of writing included China and Pakistan.

For Trade Assurance details, including what is and is not covered, see our guide on Alibaba Trade Assurance.

How do I tell a factory from a trading company?

For one item, a trading company is often fine and sometimes better, because it can sell small quantities. The problem is only when a seller claims to be a factory and is not, usually to justify a higher price or to hide that it is reselling. Clues that help:

• Business scope. A manufacturer's scope usually includes production (生产) of the relevant goods. A trading company's scope mentions sales (销售) or import and export.
• Product range. A factory usually makes one family of products. A shop selling headphones, kitchen knives and car mats is a trader.
• Verified Supplier report. It describes the inspected premises and production capability, which shows whether there is a production line.
• Registered address. Industrial zones suggest manufacturing. Office towers in city centres suggest trading.

None of these is proof on its own. Many factories also register a separate trading company for export sales, so the company you pay may legitimately be different from the one that makes the product. What matters is that the seller is open about it. A seller who says "we are the export arm of this factory" and whose licence and registry record confirm a link is fine. A seller who insists it is a factory while its scope says trading, and whose address is an office suite, is telling you something about how it will handle problems later.

What should I ask the seller before paying?

A short set of written questions tells you a lot, both from the answers and from how the seller handles them. A real business answers clearly. A scammer usually dodges, pressures or changes the subject. Send these in the platform chat so there is a record:

1. Company details. Please send a copy of your business licence. Is the company on the licence the same one that will receive payment?
2. Exact product. What is the full model number, and is it the global or China version?
3. What is in the box. Which accessories, cables and plug type are included? Any manuals in English?
4. Stock and dispatch. Is it in stock, and how many days until dispatch?
5. Shipping. Can you ship this item to Pakistan, or to a forwarder in China, and by which method? This matters for anything with a battery.
6. After-sales. What happens if it arrives faulty or does not match the listing? Who pays return shipping?

Compare the answers with the licence and the registry record. If the company in the chat, on the licence, on the registry and on the payment details is the same, you have done most of the work.

How do I read a Verified Supplier report?

Alibaba says the Verified Supplier review covers more than 100 items in eight categories: after-sales guarantee, company profile, main products, management quality, production, research and development, service, and supply chain capabilities. Alibaba's buyer-facing page lists checks such as business licence and ownership, factory location, export and trading capability, production machinery and subcontractors, quality control systems and product certification. When you open a report, look at four things:

• Who and when. The inspection company and the inspection date. An old report says less about the company today.
• Legal entity. The company name and registration details should match the licence you were sent and the registry record.
• Premises. Whether the inspected site is a production facility or an office, and where it is.
• Scope. Whether the products covered match the product you are buying.

Remember what the report is: a check of a company's capability at one point in time, arranged as part of a membership. It does not replace your own checks on the listing and the seller's answers.

What are the red flags that mean walk away?

• The company name on the bank account is different from the company name on the licence or platform.
• The seller asks you to pay a personal account, or to move the order and payment off the platform "to save fees".
• The licence code does not return the same company on the registry.
• The price is far below every other seller for the same model.
• The seller refuses to give the model number, version or specifications in writing.
• The company was registered very recently and has no history on the platform.
• Pressure to pay quickly because the "price expires today".

Payment is where most scams happen. Our guide on how to pay Chinese sellers from Pakistan explains safe methods.

Is a 1688 or Taobao seller checked the same way?

The registry check is the same, because every company in mainland China has a Unified Social Credit Code. Ask the shop for its licence the same way you would on Alibaba. The platform signals differ: store ratings, years open and repeat-buyer figures matter more than badges. Since both platforms only ship inside China and need Chinese payment, most Pakistani buyers use an agent anyway. Our guide to buying from 1688 in Pakistan covers that route.

What are the common mistakes when checking sellers?

• Treating a badge as a guarantee. Badges describe the company, not your order.
• Checking the English name only. Only the Chinese registered name and the code are legally meaningful.
• Accepting a licence photo as proof. Always look it up yourself.
• Skipping the payment name check. The receiving account must match the verified company.
• Forgetting written specs. A real company can still send the wrong version. Agree the model, version and accessories in chat before paying.

How do we choose sellers for your order?

We buy from rated sellers on Alibaba, 1688, Taobao and AliExpress. For example, for a recent order we sourced one TDH39/DD45-type audiometric headset from a verified Alibaba supplier and delivered it in Pakistan. You send us the product link on WhatsApp, we reply within 24 hours with one price in rupees with our fee stated upfront, and you pay once before it ships. We handle one item per order, never bulk or wholesale.

Sources

• Alibaba.com: Introducing Verified Suppliers
• Alibaba.com: What is a Verified Supplier
• China Justice Observer: China's company registry
• MS Advisory: Business licence in China
• QCC: China USCC lookup