Finding and verifying a supplier in China
The search is easy — Alibaba, Made-in-China, Global Sources, the Canton Fair — the money is in verification: check the business licence (the Chinese-language original, not the profile page), confirm factory versus trading company, video-audit the production line, and pay against documents, not promises. A verified supplier plus a pre-shipment inspection (~$200–400) prevents the two failures that actually cost importers: wrong goods and no goods.
The seven checks before the first order
- Business licence: registered scope matches your product; company age and capital are plausible
- Factory or trader: ask for the factory address and a live video walk-through — traders are usable, but you should know the markup you pay
- Export history: have they shipped to the GCC? Ask for a B/L fragment as proof
- Certifications: test reports relevant to SABER for your category, verified with the issuing lab
- Samples: production-line samples, not hand-made "golden" ones — and keep a sealed reference
- Payment terms: 30/70 against B/L copy is normal; 100% upfront to a new supplier is not
- Contract: spec, tolerances, penalties and inspection rights in writing (bilingual)
Red flags that end the conversation
Prices far below every competitor; refusal to video-call from the factory floor; a "manufacturer" whose licence says consulting; pressure to pay to a personal or third-country account; a different company name appearing on the proforma invoice. Any one of these is how supplier-fraud stories start — and unlike quality disputes, prepayment fraud has no practical remedy afterwards.
From supplier to Saudi shelf — the part after sourcing
Once the supplier is real, the risks move downstream: SABER certification before shipping (the certificate is yours, not theirs — see our OEM guide), correct HS classification for duty, freight booking (sea 18–35 days, air 2–5), and ZATCA clearance. Sanad Global picks up at the factory gate: inspection coordination, export docs, freight, certification and customs in one chain — so the supplier you verified is the only variable left.
Questions importers ask about this
Related guides
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Frequently asked questions
Where do I find suppliers in China?
Alibaba, Made-in-China and Global Sources for search; the Canton Fair (April/October) for meeting factories in person; industry-specific wholesale markets like Yiwu for small commodities.
How do I verify a Chinese supplier is real?
Request the business licence and check registered scope, insist on a live video factory tour, verify export history with shipping documents, and confirm test reports with the lab that issued them.
What payment terms are safe with a new supplier?
A deposit (commonly 30%) with balance against the bill of lading copy, paid to the company account named on the licence. Avoid 100% prepayment and personal accounts entirely.
Do you inspect goods before shipping from China?
Yes — Sanad Global coordinates pre-shipment inspections against your specification and ships only what passes, then handles SABER, freight and Saudi clearance.
Get a clearance cost estimate
Leave your number. A licensed broker replies within 30 minutes during working hours (Sun–Thu, 9:00–18:00 KSA).