Every year buyers are burned by 'factories' that are actually trading offices with rented photos. The good news: a solid Chinese foundry is easy to verify — if you ask the right questions in the right order.
Start with documents, then move to live evidence. A certificate PDF is worth little; a video call walking the shop floor, or a time-stamped photo of your specific tooling, is worth a lot.
Key Points
- Certificates: ask for IATF 16949 / ISO 9001 with the body name (NQA, TÜV, SGS…) and verify the number in the public register.
- Capacity claims: request a live machine count and a short video of the specific process you need — casting, CNC or both.
- References & samples: ask for 2–3 export customers in your region and a reference sample you can measure yourself.
- Contract hygiene: confirm the legal entity name matches the bank account and the export license — this alone filters most trading-office fronts.