Search “factory audit checklist china” and you get a thousand generic lists: request the certificate, join a video call, trust the process. Here is the real one, numbered, in the order it actually happens on a working day. It is not a theory; every stage below is pulled from how the visits on this site are run, and each check earns its place by being impossible to fake from across an ocean.
The list runs in seven stages. The first happens at a desk, before anyone travels. The rest happen in sequence from the gate inward, because each layer only makes sense against the one before it. Paper proves the claim; the floor proves the reality.
Stage 1: before you leave the desk (checks 1-4)
Half the checklist never touches China. It runs on public records, from a desk, the day before anyone drives anywhere.
- Pull the public registry record on the Unified Social Credit Code and confirm the status is active, not revoked or cancelled.
- Confirm the business scope contains production or manufacturing words if the pitch said factory; a trading-only scope changes what you are buying from.
- Check the annual report for how much registered capital is actually paid in, not just subscribed.
- Pin the exact registered address and study the surrounding streets on map imagery, so you recognize the block on arrival.
Stage 2: at the gate (checks 5-8)
The gate is where fabricated suppliers fall apart. Everything here is looked at, photographed and compared on the day.
- Read the signboard above the gate: it must match the registered name character for character.
- Find the street plate and check it against the address on the license.
- Watch the flow of the place: trucks in and out, workers in and out, machine noise audible from outside.
- Photograph the gate, the signboard and the street plate with same-day timestamps.
Stage 3: paperwork face to face (checks 9-11)
Documents are checked in person now, not requested by email the week before.
- Ask to see the license itself and note the issuing authority and any recent re-issue date; a fresh date hints at recent changes.
- Check the legal representative name against the contract and the quotation you hold.
- Photograph every certificate on the wall; CCC and quality certifications are verifiable later on the CNCA public platform against the displayed name and address.
Stage 4: on the production floor (checks 12-15)
The floor answers the only question that matters: is your kind of product actually made here, this week?
- Confirm the relevant machines are running, warm, and staffed by operators, not cold and staged.
- Look for raw-material stock; a photo-only factory never has any.
- Look for work-in-progress bins between stations, the fingerprint of real production.
- Find finished units of your product category sitting on the floor, not only in the showroom.
Stage 5: the packing and shipping floor (checks 16-18)
Showrooms are staged; the back of the factory is not. This is where you learn who they really ship for.
- Read the labels on cartons waiting to ship: product, destination, brand.
- Check that the packing area is in active use, not shrink-wrapped and sealed since the holidays.
- Compare the shipping volume visible on the floor against the capacity claimed on the call.
Stage 6: the human test (checks 19-21)
One small unplanned request tells you more than any scheduled tour. A real production floor absorbs it without drama; a rented lobby cannot.
- Ask for one random carton to be opened and its contents counted.
- Ask to weigh one finished unit against the stated specification.
- Ask to photograph the QC station's daily log.
Stage 7: wrap-up and report (checks 22-24)
The visit is only finished when the two layers are read against each other.
- Compare the site against the registry story: does the physical reality match the paper claim?
- Confirm the full evidence set is in hand: gate, floor, packing and product photos plus a line-walk video.
- Write the report around one blunt question: is this company what it claims to be, and should the deposit go out?
- Start on paper, finish in person: the registry record and the gate must tell the same story.
- The nameplate has to match the registered name character for character.
- Raw material, work-in-progress and active packing are the three fingerprints of a real factory.
- One unplanned request (open a carton, weigh a unit) exposes a staged visit instantly.
- Same-day timestamped evidence or it did not happen.
Can you run this list yourself?
Some of it, remotely. The desk stage is public records, and the certificate check at item 11 is a website lookup you can do from anywhere. The twenty checks from the gate inward require physical presence: someone standing at that gate on a day you choose. Video calls do not close this list; a call can be pointed at whatever the supplier staged, and a pre-recorded line looks identical on camera.
What doing it properly costs
The desk stage is a remote research request at $129 per request, delivered as a written report within two business days. Running all 24 checks on site is one working day at $239, billed from departure, with timestamped photos and video and the report the same day or the next. Cross-city travel is reimbursed at actual cost, itemized, with no markup. If your risk does not justify even one day's fee, say so in the order form and the honest answer might be that you do not need this yet; the two-layer method behind the list is in the registry check versus on-site visit note, and the paperwork half is expanded in the business license guide.
Curious how the $239 compares with the wider market? The 2026 cost benchmark note reads published day rates from live pricing pages and shows where each structure lands.
Frequently asked questions
What do you check during a factory visit in China?
Twenty-four things, in seven stages: the desk work on the registry before departure, the nameplate and address at the gate, the paperwork face to face, running machines and raw material on the floor, carton labels on the packing floor, one unplanned test of the staff, and a written report that reconciles the site against the paperwork.
How long does an on-site verification take in China?
All 24 checks fit inside one working day at a straightforward site. The on-site day rate is $239, billed from departure, with the written report the same day or the next. Cross-city travel is reimbursed at actual cost, with no markup.
Which checklist items can be done remotely?
The desk stage: registry status, business scope, paid-in capital and address recon all run remotely from public records, as a $129 remote request. The gate, floor, packing and human-test stages need physical presence; that is the on-site day's job.
Seasonal application: a supplier list that came out of the Canton Fair runs through the same two layers, sequenced with prices in the post-fair verification note.