Every check you run on a supplier exists to serve one moment: the instant you authorise the transfer. After that there is no realistic way back. An executed international wire to China is, in practice, unrecoverable. And yet the check that protects that moment is the one most buyers skip, because it looks like admin.
The rule, in one line
The holder of the receiving account must be exactly the same entity that signs your contract and issues your invoice. Same Chinese legal name, character for character. Not a similar name. Not the parent company. Not an abbreviation. Not the English trading name.
It sounds obvious until you see how many transactions break it without anyone noticing. The contract is signed by深圳市…有限公司, the invoice carries that name, and the bank details that arrive by email belong to a Hong Kong entity with an English name that resembles it. Nobody asks, because everybody is in a hurry to start production.
Why this is not only about scams
Here is the part that rarely gets explained properly. The risk is not just that a third party takes the money. It is that even when the supplier is real and the order eventually gets made, you have paid an entity other than the one you hold a contract with.
Legally that leaves you exposed: your contractual counterparty can argue it never received payment, because it genuinely did not, and invoice you again. The answer that you sent it where their email told you to is far weaker than it feels once it has to be argued in a Chinese court. You paid the wrong party, and that was your decision, not theirs.
This is why the name match is not bureaucracy. It is what keeps the obligation and the payment attached to each other.
The four requests that should stop the transfer
| What you are asked for | What it means |
|---|---|
| A personal account in the salesperson's name | There is no valid excuse. No legitimate Chinese company collects export orders in an employee's personal account. It is the clearest signal there is. |
| A Hong Kong account from a mainland Chinese supplier | It can be legitimate if the Hong Kong subsidiary is disclosed in writing in the contract from the start. If it appears halfway through the deal, it is not. |
| A third company's account, presented as an agent or partner | You are paying someone you have no contract with. If anything goes wrong you have no claim against that entity and no proof of having paid yours. |
| A last minute change of bank details by email | This is the signature of redirected invoice fraud. Treat it as an attack until proven otherwise, even when the email comes from the usual address. |
Redirected invoice fraud
This is the most profitable pattern run against importers, and it works precisely because it does not need the supplier to be fake. It works better when the supplier is real.
- The attacker gets into the supplier's email, or registers a near identical domain with one letter changed.
- They watch quietly for weeks. They learn the tone, the amounts, the names, the payment calendar.
- They wait for a real and large invoice.
- They write just before payment: we have changed banks, please use these new details. The message is accurate, friendly and entirely believable.
- The importer pays. The real supplier chases its money weeks later, when there is nothing left to recover.
The only defence that works. Never accept a change of bank details through the same channel the change arrived on. Phone a number you already had before the notice, never the one in the new email, and confirm the change with a person you know. A legitimate supplier welcomes the call. It breaks the attack.
What if the supplier insists on Hong Kong
It is worth being fair here. There are real reasons a Chinese company prefers to be paid in Hong Kong. It simplifies currency handling and gives flexibility that is harder to get on the mainland. The request is not always made in bad faith.
But the convenience is theirs and the risk becomes yours. If you accept, accept on conditions: the Hong Kong entity named in the contract as the payment recipient from signature, your ability to verify its registration the same way you verify the mainland supplier, and a written contractual term stating that payment to that account discharges your obligation to the Chinese company. If the supplier resists putting that in writing, you have learned what the explanation was worth.
Pre-transfer checklist
- Chinese legal name. The one on the contract, on the invoice and on the account holder must be identical. Compare them character by character, not from memory.
- USCC. The code on the invoice must belong to that same entity. How to read it is in the USCC guide.
- Active registration status. Check it in the registry. The walkthrough is in the step by step verification guide.
- Country of the account. Mainland China for a mainland supplier. Anything else needs a written, contractual justification.
- Voice confirmation. If bank details have changed at any point, call an old number before paying. No exceptions.
If you have already sent it
Act the same day. Contact your bank immediately and request a recall: if the funds have not been released there is a real chance, and that window is measured in hours. Report it to the police in your country, because the report is a prerequisite for almost everything that follows. Warn the supplier through a channel other than email, which may be compromised. And preserve everything: emails with full headers, contract, invoice and the transfer receipt.
Being honest about it, recovery odds are low once the money has been withdrawn. That is exactly why this guide is written for the moment before.
This guide is informational and is not legal advice on a specific case. If a payment has already been diverted, speak to a lawyer quickly. Deadlines matter.
In our reports this is a fixed check.We confirm that the legal name, the USCC, the legal representative and the receiving bank account belong to the same registered entity, and we flag any discrepancy explicitly before the moment of payment arrives. From official Chinese sources, with licensed lawyers on the ground.
Quick questions
Can a supplier have several accounts?
Yes, it is normal for a company to hold more than one bank account. What is not normal is for them to be in another entity's name. Several accounts under the same holder are fine. One account under a different holder is not.
Does Trade Assurance or paying by card solve this?
Platform protection schemes add a useful layer compared with a direct wire, especially on small and first orders. But they carry value limits, time windows and conditions, and they stop covering you the moment the conversation leaves the platform. When a supplier suggests going outside the system to save fees, they are asking you to give up your only protection.
What if it is a small order?
Checking the account holder costs the same on 2,000 euros as on 200,000, and a small first order is the cheapest possible moment to be wrong. Use it to set the habit with that supplier before the amounts grow.
How do I know the company invoicing me is the one manufacturing?
That is a separate check and it is also done in the registry. It is in the guide on factory or trading company.