How to Pay a Chinese Supplier Safely: Methods, Scams and What to Check

Why the payment step is where buyers get hurt

Product quality problems are annoying. Payment problems are expensive. Once money leaves your account, recovering it from a supplier in another country is slow, costly and often impossible. The payment method you choose matters as much as the price you negotiate.

The payment methods you will be offered

1. Bank transfer (T/T) to a corporate account. The standard for orders above a few thousand dollars. You send USD from your bank to the supplier's company account. Cheap and traceable, but slow (1-3 working days) and both banks take a fee.
2. Online trade platforms (XTransfer, WorldFirst, PingPong and similar). Built for cross-border trade. Faster and cheaper than a bank, and they keep a record you can use later. Good for small and medium orders.
3. PayPal. Convenient for samples and small amounts. Fees are high and the exchange rate is rarely the best, which is why most buyers move to a bank transfer as orders grow.
4. Western Union. Fast cash pickup. Use it only for small amounts and only with a supplier you already trust, because it is very hard to reverse.

Two rules that protect you

• Match the account name to the licence. The bank account must belong to the same company as the business licence. If the licence shows one company and the account belongs to a person or a different company, stop and ask why. This is the most common sign of a scam.
• Ask for a formal invoice and keep the paper trail. A proforma invoice, a commercial invoice and a simple signed contract are what you need if something goes wrong, and what your customs broker needs at your end.

Red flags when it is time to pay

• The beneficiary is a personal account, not a company account
• The company cannot show a business licence matching the account name
• They ask you to split the payment across several unrelated accounts
• The price is far below every other quote and they press you to pay quickly

What to ask before you send money

1. What is the exact beneficiary name and bank, and can you send it on a company document?
2. Who pays the bank charges: yours, ours, or shared?
3. What is the payment schedule, and what do I receive at each step?
4. If the goods fail inspection, what happens to the deposit?
5. Can you issue a formal invoice with our company details for customs?

How we handle payment

Qingyunjing Shenzhen International Trade Co., Ltd is a registered company in Shenzhen with a USD corporate account.

We accept USD bank transfer, XTransfer, WorldFirst, Western Union, PingPong and PayPal, and we issue a formal invoice and customs documents for every export order.

We are not the largest company in China and we do not promise the lowest price. But the company you pay is the company on the licence, and every payment step is documented.

Related reading: How to Choose a Reliable Sourcing Agent in China - six criteria and the red flags to check before your first large order.