Meeting a supplier in China: when to send someone in your place

Meeting a supplier in China in person is still the most reliable way to find out whether the factory on the other end of your order is real, but it does not have to be you who gets on the plane. Independent representatives, sourcing agents and third-party inspection firms all do this work routinely, and a government-run company registry lets you screen a supplier for free before anyone travels at all. The decision that actually matters is not whether a visit happens, but who makes it and what they are briefed to check.

Why a visit still matters

A sample, a video call and a glossy product page can all be arranged by a trading company with no factory behind them at all. Sourcing guides that cover China at length agree on this point: many online "manufacturers" are in fact trading companies reselling someone else's production, and the clearest way to tell the difference is to see the production floor, the machinery and the workforce in person. A visitor can also see things no document shows: whether the factory is running at capacity or sitting half idle, whether the quality-control station is a real process or a table set up for the tour, and whether the person you have been emailing actually works there.

None of this means every order needs a trip. A small first order, or a supplier found through a well-vetted trade fair such as the Canton Fair, may not justify the cost of travel, and plenty of experienced buyers reserve the visit for the point where an order is about to become large or ongoing. What changes the calculation is the size of the commitment, not a fixed rule about always going or never going.

Check the supplier before anyone books a flight

Before spending money on travel, check what China's own company registry already shows for free. The National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System, run by China's market regulator, the State Administration for Market Regulation, publishes registration details, shareholder information, annual filings and any record of administrative penalties for companies registered in mainland China. Searching it requires the supplier's exact registered Chinese name or its 18-character Unified Social Credit Code, which appears at the top of a genuine business licence, and the site itself is in Chinese only. If a company cannot be found there under the name it is trading as, that is a reason to ask harder questions before going any further, not a reason to assume the listing is simply missing.

This check is worth doing however the meeting happens, because it answers a narrower but more important question than "is this a good factory": is this a real, currently registered company at all, trading under the name it gave you. A visit then tells you what the registry cannot: whether the operation matches what the paperwork describes.

Who can go in your place

Sending someone else is an established practice, not a shortcut, and three kinds of help cover most of what a sourcing trip needs.

Independent, mission-based representatives. A growing number of people take on a single, scoped brief, visit this factory, verify this supplier, attend this meeting, and report back, priced per trip rather than as an ongoing retainer. This suits a one-off supplier visit well, in the same way it suits hiring someone to attend a trade show: you are paying for a defined task with a defined end. The distinction between that kind of single mission and a continuing representative acting for your business abroad matters here too, because a one-off factory check carries none of the agency or tax questions that a standing arrangement can raise.

Sourcing agents based in China. Firms that already work with manufacturers in a given region or industry often include a factory visit or audit as a standard part of placing an order, and their value is as much in knowing which questions to ask locally as in the visit itself.

Third-party inspection firms. Specialist inspection companies carry out factory audits and pre-shipment checks as their core business, usually against a checklist you agree in advance, and are a sensible choice when what you need is a structured, repeatable report rather than a relationship with the supplier.

Whichever route you choose, the same discipline applies that any brief for someone standing in for you needs: a clear scope, no authority to agree a price or sign anything unless you have said so in writing, and a reporting format and deadline fixed before they travel.

Visas and logistics: what has changed

Who can travel, and how easily, currently differs sharply between UK and US passport holders.

UK citizens can currently enter China without a visa for business trips, alongside tourism, family visits and transit, for stays of up to 30 days, under a policy in effect until 31 December 2026, according to GOV.UK's foreign travel advice for China. This removes what used to be the first item on any sourcing trip's checklist for British buyers. It is a time-limited policy rather than a permanent change, so check the current position before assuming it still applies.

US citizens generally still need to obtain a visa before travelling to China; a visa cannot be arranged on arrival. The US State Department's country page for China confirms the requirement and notes that a passport needs at least six months of remaining validity. Business travel is typically handled under a commercial-category visa, applied for through the Chinese embassy or a consulate, and requirements and processing times can change, so confirm the current position directly with the embassy or consulate serving your location before booking anything.

Official US help with finding and vetting a partner

US businesses have a government-run alternative to doing this cold. The US Commercial Service, the trade-promotion arm of the Department of Commerce with staff posted in Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shenyang and Wuhan, offers paid services built for exactly this problem: the International Partner Search and the Gold Key Service, which the Commercial Service's own China market guidance describes as tools for "partner identification and due diligence." As of this writing, the published flat fee for an International Partner Search is $2,500, and a standard Gold Key Service package, which arranges in-person matchmaking appointments with pre-screened contacts, is $3,250, both excluding direct costs such as travel and interpretation. This is not the same as a factory audit, but it is a government-vetted way to find out who is worth visiting before you commit to a trip of your own.

A worked example

The figures below are an illustration built for this article, not a quote from any provider, showing roughly how cost and scope change across the main options for a single supplier visit.

Treat the figures only as a sense of shape. Actual costs vary widely by region, industry and how specialised the brief is.

What to brief whoever goes

Whether that is you or someone else, settle these before the trip:

• The registry check. Confirm the supplier's registered name and Unified Social Credit Code match the business licence, the invoices and the contract, before the visit, not during it.
• Manufacturer or trading company. Ask directly, and expect the visit to confirm the answer against what the floor actually shows.
• The exact questions. What would make you say yes, no, or "worth a second look," rather than a general impression of the place.
• Authority to commit. State plainly that nobody you send can agree a price or sign anything unless you have given written authority to do that specific thing.
• Reporting format and deadline. Photographs, a written note on each question, and a date, agreed before they travel.
• Confidentiality. A short non-disclosure agreement if the brief touches product specifications or pricing you would not want shared.

What to do next

Start with the registry check: it costs nothing and rules out the weakest candidates before you spend money on anyone's time. Decide next whether this is a single, scoped visit or the opening move of an ongoing sourcing relationship, because that shapes who should do it. For a single factory check, a mission is the simplest route. If China sourcing is going to be a standing part of how the business operates, finding and managing suppliers over time, that is closer to hiring someone to run the project for you than booking one trip.

Need someone on the ground? Hadri takes on missions: meetings, trade shows, conferences and site visits in any city, quoted per trip. Request a quote.

Common questions

Can I just rely on video calls and samples instead of a visit? You can, and for a small first order many buyers do. The risk is that a trading company can present convincing samples and a well-rehearsed call without ever showing you a factory floor, so the larger or more ongoing the order, the more a visit, by you or someone you send, earns its cost.

Is the Chinese company registry free to use? Yes. The National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System is free to search, but it is in Chinese only and requires the supplier's exact registered name or its Unified Social Credit Code rather than an English trading name, so you may need a translator or a local contact to search it properly.

Do I need a visa to visit China from the UK or the US? UK citizens can currently enter visa-free for business trips of up to 30 days, under a policy running to the end of 2026, so check GOV.UK's current China travel advice before you book. US citizens generally still need a visa arranged in advance through the Chinese embassy or a consulate; a visa cannot be obtained on arrival.

What does the US Commercial Service's Gold Key Service actually arrange? It sets up in-person meetings between a US company and pre-screened potential partners or distributors in a given market, including China, through the Commercial Service's local staff. It is a matchmaking and due-diligence service, not a factory audit, so it suits finding candidates worth visiting rather than replacing the visit itself.

What if the supplier refuses to let anyone visit? Treat that as information in itself. A genuine manufacturer with nothing to hide has little reason to refuse a scheduled visit from a buyer or their representative, and a persistent refusal is one of the clearer warning signs raised across sourcing guides on this topic.