Sample deliverable · Northbound Data

What a supplier report actually looks like

Every finding is filed under one of three headings: confirmed, inferred, or could not check. Most supplier trouble comes from a buyer who could not tell which was which.

What the buyer had

A supplier found on a B2B platform, quoting on a stainless steel kitchen tool. Their English page says:

“We are a professional manufacturer with 12 years experience and a 6,000 m² factory. OEM/ODM welcome. Our own production line guarantees quality.”

Along with that, one photograph of a business licence. That licence is the only document in the exchange that has to be true.

The credit code, decoded

Eighteen characters, and four of the blocks mean something you can act on:

91 330782 MA2XXXXXXP
9  → registered by Market Regulation (the normal authority for a business)
1  → enterprise — a company, not an individually-owned business
330782 → Zhejiang province, Jinhua — consistent with the address given
P  → checksum valid under GB 32100-2015

A wrong checksum would mean the number was fabricated or mistyped. It is right, so the number is at least well-formed. You can run this check yourself — it is free and runs in your browser.

Worth knowing how weak a test this is on its own: a random 18-character string passes the checksum roughly 1 time in 31. It catches typos and lazy fabrication. It does not prove a company exists.

Findings

Filed by how much weight each one can carry.

Confirmed
It is a company, not an individual The code begins 91. There is a corporate entity, with company assets standing behind a contract. A code beginning 92 would have meant you were contracting with one natural person. source: credit code, positions 1–2
Confirmed
The registered region matches the address they gave Division code 330782 resolves to Jinhua, Zhejiang. The company name carries the same prefix, and the registering authority named on the licence is the local bureau. Three fields agreeing is harder to fake than one. source: credit code positions 3–8, company name, registering authority
Confirmed
Their business scope covers manufacturing The scope includes 生产 (production) and 加工 (processing), not only 销售 (sales). They are licensed to make things, which is the closest thing to an objective answer on factory versus trading company. source: 经营范围 on the licence
Inferred
The “12 years experience” claim is roughly consistent Establishment date on the licence is 2013, which gives 13 years. Close enough that I would not raise it. Had the licence been issued eight months ago, that gap would have been the first thing to ask about. source: 成立日期, compared against their English copy
Inferred
Registered capital tells you nothing useful here The licence shows a figure in the millions. Under the subscription system that is what the shareholders committed to contribute on a schedule, not cash the company has held. Treat it as a promise. It is neither reassuring nor alarming. source: 注册资本
Could not check
Whether the company currently exists and is in good standing Only the official registry at gsxt.gov.cn can confirm a live registration. It was not reachable from my connection when I ran this, and I will not report a check I did not perform. Ask them for a recent registry printout, or have someone in China pull it. not verified
Could not check
Whether they own the 6,000 m² factory The scope says they may manufacture. It does not say they own premises, or that the photographs are of their premises. Only an inspection settles this, and I do not inspect factories. not verified
Could not check
Whether the entity invoicing you is this entity Common and often innocent: a group manufactures under one company and exports under another. But it decides who you can pursue. Ask which entity issues the invoice and receives the payment, and get that licence too. not verified

Price context

Their quote against comparable public listings for the same specification:

SourceUnitMOQNote
This supplier's quote$2.15500quoted to buyer
Comparable listing A$1.941,000scope is trade-only
Comparable listing B$2.40300manufacturing scope
Comparable listing C$2.081,000manufacturing scope
Read this carefully. The cheapest number on the table belongs to a trade-only entity — a reseller, whose price will move with whatever their own supplier charges. Against the two manufacturers, this quote sits in the middle. That is a normal place for a real quote to sit. These are published list prices, not negotiated quotes — I do not contact suppliers on your behalf, so treat them as a reference band, not as offers you can hold anyone to.

What I would send them

Four questions. Each one is answerable in a sentence, and each one is uncomfortable to dodge:

  1. Which entity issues the invoice and receives payment? Please send that company's licence if it is different from the one you already sent.
  2. What is the production address? The address on your licence is a registered address and is often not the workshop.
  3. Is the production line yours, or is any of this subcontracted? Subcontracting is normal; not telling me is the problem.
  4. Can you send a current registry printout from the national enterprise credit system?

A good supplier answers all four without friction. How they react is itself information.

What this report is not

  • It is not proof the company exists. Everything above reads documents and public listings at face value.
  • It is not a quality or capacity assessment. A manufacturing scope says they are permitted to produce. It says nothing about whether they produce well.
  • It is not a guarantee, and I will never give you one. I report what is verifiable and name what is not.
  • A clean read is not low risk. These checks catch carelessness and casual misrepresentation. A determined fraud produces documents that pass all of them.

What it does is move you from “this looks official” to a short list of specific questions with specific answers — before a deposit leaves your account.

I do desk verification only. I do not hold your money, take commission from suppliers, contact them on your behalf, or act as your agent of record. I am in China, I read Chinese, and I mark which of my own findings I could not verify.