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Guides

Plain-language guides, tied to the actual rules

No filler, no scare tactics. Every guide links to the government regulation or primary source it’s based on and shows the date we last checked it. If the rule changes, so does the guide.

Importing

Importing from China after de minimis

The low-value parcel channel has closed in the major Western markets. The seven jobs that are now yours, who the importer of record is, how to rebuild landed cost per SKU, and why supplier verification stopped being optional.

11 min read
Documents

The China Apostille for business documents, explained (post-2023 rules)

What changed on 7 November 2023, which company documents need an Apostille, who issues it, when you still need legalisation, and how it affects papers moving between China and Australia, the UK, the US and the EU.

8 min read
Answer

How to verify a Chinese company’s business licence

Step by step on the national registry: what to search, what each field means, how to read the status and the abnormal-operations list, and the four things the registry will not tell you.

5 min read
Answer

Is my Chinese supplier a factory or a trading company?

The five signals ranked by how hard each is to fake, why the registered business scope is the strongest test, and the headcount check that separates a plant from an office.

5 min read
Sourcing

Paying a Chinese supplier safely

Deposit structures, why the receiving account name must match the business licence, what a request to pay a personal or Hong Kong account really means, how the bank-detail change attack works, and the six sentences to add to the contract.

9 min read
Reference

The Chinese business licence, line by line

Every field explained in the glossary — business scope, Unified Social Credit Code, legal representative, registered versus paid-in capital, the chop — and what each tells you about who you are dealing with.

6 min read
Importing

Incoterms for first-time China buyers

EXW, FOB, CIF and DDP in plain language — who pays, who carries the risk, why CIF passes risk before the voyage the seller paid for, and the four lines to write on the contract.

8 min read

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