You are ordering zippered tote bags with your own print. The salesperson has sent sample photos and a deposit invoice, but refuses to provide company registration details, saying they are private. Your buyer has an English trading name; finance has a payment instruction naming a company it has never checked. Neither colleague can yet establish which registered business is promising to deliver the bags.
This purchase is a fictional illustration, not a customer transaction. This article is general information, not legal, tax or investment advice. Registration checks do not guarantee product quality, solvency or recovery of a deposit.
Find out which information is missing
Start with a narrower request than “send all your company documents”. Request the seller's exact Chinese registered legal name and Unified Social Credit Code, plus a company document that connects those identifiers to the contract or invoice issuer. Ask the salesperson to distinguish the seller from the manufacturer if they are different entities.
Explain why you need the identifiers: your business must identify its contractual counterparty before approving the advance. You are not asking for employees' personal identity documents or unrelated confidential records. If the supplier objects to a document copy, ask whether it will at least provide the legal name and code for an independent record search.
In an August 11, 2026 buyer question, the author reported that a manufacturer would not share its registration code and other company details. That is a historical, self-reported account, not a verified finding about the supplier. Its product-specific US filing context is not a universal requirement for importers elsewhere. Check your own destination and product requirements separately.
Search for the record independently
Use the official National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System as the starting point for an independent company-record search. Navigate to the official site yourself rather than accepting a salesperson's search screenshot or a similarly named page as the result.
Work from the Chinese legal name and Unified Social Credit Code. An English storefront name alone is not a satisfactory match for your approval file. If your team needs Chinese-language help, use a qualified independent reviewer and request the search inputs, source, retrieval date and supporting record, not just a “verified” verdict.
Compare the returned record's identifiers with the seller's documents. Review the registration status and other relevant fields actually available in the record, noting discrepancies for follow-up. Do not fill missing fields from the supplier's sales profile or quietly substitute a company with a similar name.
If the official site is inaccessible or a search cannot be completed, record incomplete verification. A failed page load or unsuccessful search does not establish fraud. Arrange another attempt or independent professional assistance; until the company identity is resolved, the deposit remains an unapproved payment, not a safe exception.
Keep three different conclusions separate
For the tote-bag order, imagine your reviewer finds a record that matches the name and code. That improves the company-identification file. It does not establish that the person in the chat represents that company, or that the proposed beneficiary is authorised to collect its invoices.
| What your team has established | What remains to resolve |
|---|---|
| Identifiers are missing or too vague to search reliably | Obtain the Chinese legal name and code; do not describe the company as independently matched |
| An independently retrieved record matches the identifiers | Connect that entity to the contract, invoice and supplier representative |
| The representative's authority is supported | Check the beneficiary and any authority for another party to receive payment |
Save the actual evidence beside each conclusion. A note saying “company exists” should not become “seller and bank account verified” when someone copies it into finance's request. The company-and-beneficiary guide covers that next comparison.
Verify the person and the payment instruction
Establish a company contact through information obtained independently of the deposit request. Have that contact confirm the representative's role, the order and the receiving instruction. Calling only the number attached to the new bank details repeats the same source; it does not provide independent confirmation.
Where the beneficiary is another business, request the reason and supporting collection authority. If it is an individual, use the personal-account guide rather than treating the matched registration record as approval of that recipient. A payment provider's review is a separate decision and may require further evidence.
The registry match also does not approve the bags. Product specification, sample assessment, production capability, inspection arrangements and financial risk need their own review. A registration record is not proof that the company can make your product to the agreed standard or remain solvent through fulfilment.
Turn the refusal into a deposit decision
Be specific about the unresolved issue. “No company document supplied” is different from “independent record matched, but representative authority unresolved”. Give purchasing an opportunity to resolve that precise gap without lowering the evidence standard because production capacity is supposedly running out.
If the supplier still withholds the identifiers needed to establish its identity, keep the advance paused. A smaller deposit or successful sample payment does not answer who owes delivery. The first-deposit guide helps connect the completed checks to an approved purchase.
Use pay an invoice to ask A2vanta about documents for a proposed payment before funding. Supplier verification remains separate from payout handling; an invoice-payment enquiry does not certify the seller or insure the deposit.