How to Pay Chinese Suppliers Safely: Terms, Paperwork, and the One Scam That Catches Professionals

Payment is the only part of a China order where the money moves before the truth does. Everything else — samples, specs, promises — is reversible. The wire isn't.

My personal retail-buying experience includes Auchan and Magnit projects.

The standard: 30/70 T/T, anchored to inspection

Payment splits are negotiated order terms; agree the deposit, inspection evidence, release conditions and recipient identity in writing before transferring funds.

Every word of that sentence is a lever:

• 30% starts the clock. Factories sequence production by deposit date, not by friendship — in Q4, literally by the day.
• 70% after the report is the entire reason inspection has teeth. Pay the balance first and your failed-lot "negotiation" is a request.
• Against documents (bill of lading copy) is the traditional formulation; balance-after-inspection-before-release is the tighter one. Either way: never 100% before someone you trust has seen the cartons.

Stock purchases, custom production and tooling orders can use different payment arrangements.

For large orders or a new supplier, a letter of credit protects both sides but costs more and takes more paperwork; for most small and mid-size orders, a bank transfer against an inspection report is the practical choice.

The proforma invoice: five checks before any wire

The PI is not a formality — it's the document your money obeys. Before wiring against one:

1. Beneficiary name = business license name. Exactly. The single loudest red flag in this trade is payment routed to a personal account or an unrelated company — the twenty-minute license check exists precisely for this moment.
2. Bank country. A mainland supplier collecting through a third-country personal account deserves questions before money.
3. Complete spec, not product names. "Storage box ×5,000" is not a PI line; material, grade, dimensions, packaging spec, and the remedy clause are. The PI is the version of truth a dispute will be judged against.
4. Incoterm and what it contains — FOB including export clearance, or EXW plus surprises? The landed-cost math starts here.
5. Validity and price basis. Resin and coil move; a PI without a validity date is a quote that can be renegotiated after your deposit.

The scam that beats professionals: the bank-detail switch

This one deserves its own section because it doesn't target the naive — it targets the busy.

Mid-order, you receive an email from your supplier's exact address (or one letter off): "Please note our bank account has changed for the balance payment." New beneficiary, plausible letterhead, correct order number, right amount. The supplier's email has been compromised — or spoofed — and the fraudster has been reading the thread for weeks, waiting for balance-payment timing.

Wire it, and the money is gone. Not delayed — gone. The supplier never sees it, still wants their balance, and both of you are victims arguing with each other.

Three smaller rules that compound

• Currency: USD T/T is the default and fine. RMB payment (for those set up for it) sometimes prices better because the exporter sheds FX risk — worth one question per supplier, not a crusade. EAEU-bound programs have their own settlement realities — that's a per-client conversation, and one my office handles constantly.
• FX spread is a real line: banks and platforms quietly take 1–3% between the mid-market rate and yours. On annual volume, shopping this beats shaving supplier margins.
• Receipts tie to the PI: pay against invoice numbers, reference them in the wire, keep the chain clean. When a dispute comes, the tidy paper trail is the negotiating table.

Before any wire moves: the free 27-point Kitchenware Import Checklist walks the PI and payment checks in sequence. Open checklist

Second opinion on a PI you're about to pay? WhatsApp +86 189 6983 1554 — send it over, I'll check the structure within one business day. How we work