Problems with a Chinese supplier?

Most supplier disputes are decided by three facts you can check early: which Chinese company actually took your money, what evidence you hold, and whether that company still has assets in China. The legal route follows from those — not the other way round.

What to do this week

1. Stop paying and stop releasing anything. No balance payment, no further deposits, no new moulds, samples or drawings until the position is clear.
2. Identify the company. You need its registered Chinese name and 18-character Unified Social Credit Code, and the name on the bank account you paid. If the account holder is a different company or an individual, that changes the case.
3. Export the record. Purchase orders, pro forma invoices, bank transfer slips, emails and WeChat or WhatsApp chats — exported in full, with dates. An admission in a chat message is often the strongest document you will have.
4. Put your demand in writing, with a date. A clear written demand for delivery or refund, with a final deadline, matters later: for terminating the contract and for your limitation period.
5. Watch for signs that assets are moving. A changed legal representative or registered address, or a new company with a near-identical name, means you should consider freezing assets before you warn the supplier.

Your options, by situation

The reasoning behind each row is in how to recover money from a Chinese supplier.

What we do in China

• Deal with the supplier directly. Our Beijing team contacts the supplier in Chinese, by phone and in writing, and presses for delivery, a refund, replacement or repair — within the scope you agree.
• Verify the company and look for assets. Registered identity, shareholders, litigation and enforcement history, and signs that assets are being moved.
• Send a demand from a licensed Chinese firm. On the firm's letterhead, under its seal, with the handling lawyer's name and practising licence number, and with a deadline.
• Take the formal route when it is needed. Asset preservation, litigation or arbitration, and enforcement of the result.
• Handle other supplier problems too: wrong goods or short shipments, defective machinery, moulds and tooling a factory will not return, a price increase after the deposit, and a supplier that has stopped responding.

Fees

It is free to submit your case. We reply within one business day, Beijing time. If we can help, you receive a written scope and quote before any work starts, and nothing starts without your written approval. Court fees in China are fixed by regulation — RMB 13,800 on a RMB 1,000,000 claim — and are set out in how much it costs to sue a Chinese company.

What we will not tell you

• We do not promise that you will get your money back. Whether a supplier pays depends on facts no one controls, including whether it still has assets.
• We will tell you when a claim is not worth bringing. If the amount is small or the company has nothing left, you will hear that at the start.
• We are a licensed Chinese law firm, not a collection agency. We can represent clients in Chinese proceedings and advise on preservation and enforcement.

Frequently asked questions

Who you would be dealing with

Aaron Lv (吕喆)

Partner, Beijing Gaojin Law Firm · Licensed to practise in China since 2004

PRC lawyer licence no. 11101200410425302 — open his entry on the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Justice register, or see how to read it in English.

Before you send money or documents to anyone about a supplier dispute, check that they exist. We are a licensed PRC law firm with our own office in central Beijing; the register above is the government's, not ours, and it names the firm and the lawyer.

Everything in this section

• Recover money from a Chinese supplier (our service)What we do in China, how a case runs, what it costs, and the form that reaches a lawyer.
• Chinese supplier won't refund your moneyPin down who holds the money, get the refund in writing, and when a deposit must be returned double.
• Paid a Chinese supplier but no goods arrivedTelling delay from loss in transit and from fraud, and the deadline notice that lets you terminate.
• The supplier stopped replying after paymentWhat to do in the first seven days, while the trail and the money are still there.
• Deposit or advance payment? Getting money backWhen a deposit comes back double, the 20% cap, partial delivery and penalty clauses, with worked figures.
• How to verify a Chinese supplier before you payThe 18-character credit code, the registry, court and customs records, and the bank account name.
• Supplier warning signs before paymentImpersonation, changed account details, urgent first orders, and ways to limit a small loss.
• Asked to pay an NRA account?What the account label means, why the bank's location can mislead, and how to verify the legal payee.
• Defective goods from a Chinese supplierNotice deadlines, when you can reject a shipment, and how to claim a price reduction or damages.
• How to recover money from a Chinese supplier (guide)The four facts that decide the route, and a decision table: negotiate, demand, freeze, arbitrate or sue.
• How to sue a Chinese supplier from overseasThe defendant, court or arbitration, the power of attorney, evidence, online hearings and costs.
• Freezing a Chinese company's assets before you winUrgent applications decided in 48 hours, security, and the 30 days you then have to file.
• Defective goods and the CISG: Guiding Case No. 107Why below-specification goods were not a fundamental breach, and what the buyer recovered instead.
• What it costs to sue a Chinese companyCourt fees by claim size, what they exclude, and when suing is not worth it.

Selling to a Chinese customer that has not paid you? See China debt recovery.

This page is general information for foreign companies, not legal advice on any specific matter. Rules and practice change; please take advice on your facts.