Supplier Due Diligence Checklist
Use this before payment or onboarding.
Report scope
Not every buyer needs the same report. The right scope depends on payment size, product risk, supplier role, payment route, and whether the buyer is screening, onboarding, or escalating a dispute.
A basic check is useful for early screening and small orders. It should confirm the Chinese legal name, registration identifier, operating status, registered address, business scope, and whether the entity appears to exist as claimed.
It is not enough when the buyer faces a large deposit, third-party payment request, ownership concern, regulatory-sensitive product, or dispute.
A standard review adds transaction comparison. It looks at the website, invoice issuer, payment beneficiary, email domain, contact details, exporter role, and supplier-provided documents. It also records public-risk signals such as litigation, abnormal operation, enforcement, and penalties where relevant.
This is the usual scope before meaningful payment or supplier onboarding because it connects registry facts with commercial evidence.
A deep review is useful when ownership, related-party structure, payment route, export-control issues, forced-labor tracing, or dispute escalation matters. It may include broader affiliate mapping, timeline reconstruction, public-record analysis, and a more detailed decision note.
The output should still be readable. A deeper report should not bury the buyer in raw records. It should explain what changed the risk view and what question remains unresolved.
| Basic | Is the company real and active? | Early screening, small sample order. |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | Does the verified entity match the transaction? | Deposit, onboarding, supplier approval. |
| Deep | What ownership, payment, public-risk, or dispute issues matter? | Large exposure, sensitive goods, conflict, escalation. |
It is a limited identity and status check that confirms the entity exists, is currently registered, and broadly matches the supplier's claimed identity.
Use a standard report before meaningful payment or onboarding because it compares registry facts with invoice, payment, website, contact, ownership, and public-risk evidence.
A deep review is appropriate for large exposure, payment mismatches, ownership concerns, sensitive products, export or import compliance questions, or trade disputes.
Use this before payment or onboarding.
Organize the documents behind a supplier decision.
Plain-English terms for registry and risk records.
For this topic, keep the review tied to the actual order rather than a general supplier profile. In the case of China verification report scope: basic, standard, and deep review, the buyer should write down the exact decision it needs to make: whether to pay, sign, ship samples, accept a document, or escalate the file for management approval.
A useful buyer file should let a new manager understand the decision without calling the original purchaser. Keep the supplier identity records, payment evidence, public-risk notes, product documents, and final approval together. Add dates to screenshots and explain why each record mattered.
The file should also show limits. If the buyer did not verify a factory visit, a bank link, or a certificate scope, say so in plain language. A clear limitation note is better than a neat file that hides unanswered questions from finance or management.
A short closing note should name the next action and the person responsible for it. Without that note, the same question often returns during balance payment, shipment release, or a later dispute, when the buyer has less room to ask for documents.
Buyers should also keep the rejected path visible. If the supplier could not explain a record, refused to identify the right company, or sent a document that did not match the order, write that fact into the file. A rejected explanation can matter as much as an accepted document because it shows how the buyer controlled the decision.
The review should also save rejected evidence. A wrong license, outdated certificate, mismatched bank notice, or incomplete explanation can matter later because it shows what the supplier tried to use and why the buyer asked for a cleaner record.
Use simple version names for revised files so the final decision does not depend on memory. Date each revision clearly.