How to verify a China supplier from a website URL

Buyers often receive a WeChat pitch and a polished English site. The fastest first pass is the URL itself: identity on the page, Chinese registry corroboration when available, and whether the claimed plant address looks industrial.

Start with the domain, not the catalog PDF

Paste the supplier website into a verification tool. Extract the brand vs legal name, phones, emails, and any Uniform Social Credit Code or registration hints. Fabricated IDs are common on thin sites — never invent numbers to “complete” a form.

Registry and trade are corroboration, not guarantees

A hit on public Chinese enterprise data or US customs ocean filings raises confidence. A miss does not prove the company is fake — many legitimate exporters never appear in a given dataset. Use misses as prompts for licenses and samples.

Ask for documents that match the dossier

Request a business license photo, bank account name matching the legal entity, and a trial shipment. If the SupplierProof red-flag list cites a fresh domain or residential geo, put those questions first on the call.