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China Import Check
China Import Check

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Payment-side due diligence for Chinese suppliers (not QC)

Tags: sourcing ecommerce amazon security checklist

QC protects the carton. It does not protect the wire.

If you import from China and pay by bank transfer (T/T), the failure mode that quietly kills small buyers is paying the wrong entity — wrong beneficiary name, chop that does not line up across docs, or a last-minute “new account / sister company” request after samples already passed.

This is a practical gate you can put in your SOP before any first deposit. Educational due diligence only — not legal advice, not a fraud guarantee.

Disclosure: I sell a printable pack for this workflow as China Import Check (Starter $49 / Pro $79). Buy on site: https://china-import-check.tiiny.site/. Support: wj1262305110@gmail.com. You can use the steps below without buying anything.


The three gates before first wire

1. Beneficiary name = contracted company (exact)

Compare character-by-character:

  • Name on signed contract / PO
  • Bank beneficiary on remittance details
  • English name on the PI (if any)

Hold if the account is under a personal name for a company order, the English name is “almost” the same, or they ask you to pay a sister company / agent without a clean written reason.

2. Chop / seal consistency

Check that the company seal story matches across:

  • Contract
  • Invoice / PI
  • Business license photos they already shared

Ask for a clear photo of the chop on those same docs — not only a flat PDF. A usable English ask:

Please confirm the account name matches our contract company character-by-character, and send a clear photo of the company chop on the same docs.

3. No sudden payee change after samples are fine

“Account under maintenance — pay this other account today” is a stop, not an admin update. Re-run full verification or walk.


Red-flag cheat sheet

Flag Action
Personal account for company order Hold
Slightly different English company name on PI Hold
“Pay sister company this time” Hold / re-verify entity
Wire today or lose MOQ Hold — process beats pressure
Blurry chop only on payment page Hold

Decision rule: pay / hold / walk — not WeChat vibes.


Minimal SOP sequence

  1. Payment account verification checklist
  2. Chop / seal photo checklist vs docs
  3. Pre-payment gap check (odd intermediaries?)
  4. Red-flag decision tree
  5. Copy-paste EN confirmation on WeChat/email
  6. Then release deposit/balance per contract

Pack (optional)

I packaged the checklists + EN templates + decision tree as:

  • Starter $49 — core payment & chop gates + templates
  • Pro $79 — adds T/T-change script, second-source checks, first-order protocol, risk scorecard

Landing / buy on site: https://china-import-check.tiiny.site/

Support: wj1262305110@gmail.com · Store: China Import Check

If you’ve been burned by a payment-change request, comment what you’d add to the gate — useful for everyone running the same SOP.

Educational toolkit. Not legal advice. Involve your bank / forwarder / counsel when stakes are high.

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