Ningbo is one of the densest manufacturing areas in China. Molds, injection molding machines, small home appliances and auto parts are all clustered there, and much of the output leaves through Ningbo port. That concentration is good for buyers: plenty of real factories, deep supply chains, competitive quotes. It also means plenty of trading companies and intermediaries presenting themselves as factories, and plenty of quotes that look identical until something goes wrong.
This guide is the set of checks I would use before sending a deposit to a supplier in Ningbo. I work in B2B export of industrial electric motors and deal with Chinese factories every day, so these are the same checks I would run on my own suppliers.
First, confirm you are dealing with a factory
For molds and injection molding machines especially, the company that quotes you is often not the company that will make the tooling or the machine. That is not automatically bad, but you need to know which one you are paying, because it changes who is responsible when the mold is late, the machine arrives with the wrong voltage, or the spare parts never come.
Read the business license, not just the name
Ask for the business license (营业执照) and look at the business scope (经营范围). For a manufacturer you want to see 制造 (manufacturing) or the specific production activity in the scope, not only 销售 (sales), 贸易 (trade) or 进出口 (import and export). A scope that lists only trading activities is a strong signal you are talking to a trading company.
Also check that the registered company name matches the name on the quotation, the proforma invoice and the bank account. Names that differ by a word or two are a real problem, and they matter when you try to enforce anything later.
Look at social insurance headcount
The number of employees covered by social insurance (参保人数) is published in the company's annual report on the national enterprise credit system. A mold shop claiming a large workforce but showing a handful of insured employees is worth questioning. It does not prove fraud on its own, since some workers and contractors are handled differently, but it is a useful reality check on the size story you were told.
Check customs registration and court records
If the supplier claims to export directly, ask whether it has its own customs registration (海关备案). A company with its own registration handles its own export declarations. A company without one exports through a trading partner, which is fine but should be disclosed, because that partner's name will appear on the export documents.
You can also check court records and enforcement listings on the public systems for disputes, unpaid judgments or asset freezes. A supplier with unpaid judgments is a payment risk however good the workshop looks.
This is exactly what our China supplier verification service covers for US$79 per supplier, or US$60 each for five or more: official registration and court records, a factory or trading company check, a live video walk-through and the decision-maker's contact, reported in 3 to 5 business days. You can see the format in the sample supplier verification report.
Use the video walk-through properly
A video call is only useful if you direct it. Do not accept a pre-recorded tour or a slideshow. Ask for a live call and steer it yourself.
Ask them to walk to the factory gate and show the signboard. The company name on the sign should match the business license. This simple step can catch a mismatch early.
Ask to see machines that are actually running, not just machines standing in a row. For injection molding, look at the machine labels, the tonnage and whether the controller is powered up.
For molds, ask to see molds in production and molds in storage. Ask how molds are numbered and where they are kept.
Ask to see the loading area and any finished goods waiting for shipment.
Ask who you are speaking to and what their role is. If the sales contact cannot answer technical questions, ask for the person who can.
If the supplier resists a live walk-through or keeps rescheduling, treat that as information. An on-site factory audit from US$299 per factory plus travel at cost gives you an independent pair of eyes on the same points, including the gate, the production floor and the paperwork.
If you are paying for a mold, protect the tooling in the contract
Mold buyers get burned in predictable ways: the mold is made, then used for other customers, then moved somewhere the buyer cannot find it, and eventually the buyer cannot get it back. Put these terms in the contract before the deposit:
The mold belongs to the buyer. State it plainly, in the contract and on the purchase order.
Every mold has a unique mold number, recorded in the contract and stamped or tagged on the mold itself.
The storage location is named: which factory, which address, which area of the workshop.
The supplier may not use the mold for any other customer or any other product without written consent.
On request, the supplier must make the mold available for inspection, and must return or ship it at the buyer's instruction.
Also agree who pays for maintenance, who owns modifications, and what happens to the mold if the relationship ends. A mold that cannot be located is worth nothing to you, so the mold number and storage location are not paperwork details. They are the asset record.
A simple ownership clause
The wording does not need to be complicated. A clause along these lines covers the main points, and a local lawyer can adapt it to your contract:
"Mold No. [number], made for Part No. [number], is the sole property of [buyer] from the date the tooling payment is made. The supplier shall keep the mold at [full address], use it only to produce parts for [buyer], maintain it in working condition, allow inspection on [number] days' notice, and release it to [buyer] or its nominee within [number] days of a written request."
Have the contract in both English and Chinese, signed and stamped with the supplier's company chop. If the mold is made by a separate tooling shop, ask for the tooling shop's name and address too, because that is where your mold is while it is being built.
Technical points to agree before steel is cut
Steel and mold life: state the steel grade for cavity and core and the expected number of shots. A low quote often means a softer steel and a shorter life.
Design review: ask for a design for manufacturing review covering wall thickness, draft, gate position and parting line before the mold is made.
Trial samples: agree how many trial rounds (T1, T2) are included, and approve samples in writing before mass production.
Tooling payment: tie the final tooling payment to your written approval of the samples, not to a calendar date.
The Dongguan contract manufacturer guide covers mold protection and subcontracting from the angle of another major tooling center.
Injection molding machines: check the machine, not just the brochure
If you are buying the machine itself rather than molded parts, the checks change:
Electrical configuration: confirm voltage, frequency and phase for your country in the contract, and check the nameplate photo of your actual machine before shipment.
Key components: ask for the brand of the controller, hydraulic pump or servo motor, and the screw and barrel material. Write them into the contract, so a cheaper substitute cannot be fitted later.
Safety marking: if you sell or use the machine in Europe, ask for the CE declaration and the technical file references for the exact model.
Factory acceptance test: ask for a test run on your machine before it is packed, ideally with your own mold or a similar one, on a live video call or with an inspector present.
Spare parts and manuals: agree a spare parts list, an English manual and electrical drawings as part of the delivery, and how long the supplier will supply parts.
Small appliances: verify the certificates yourself
For small home appliances sold into Europe, the documents that usually matter are CE, CB and GS. Suppliers send PDFs, and PDFs are easy to edit. Do not accept a certificate image as proof.
CE: for most appliances CE is the manufacturer's own declaration, supported by test reports from a lab. Ask for the declaration and the test reports behind it, then confirm the report numbers with the lab that issued them.
CB: CB test certificates can be checked in the IECEE online database. Search the certificate number and compare the holder and the models.
GS: GS marks are issued by named certification bodies. Check the certificate on that body's own website.
Company and model: in every case, check the company name against the company you are paying, and the model numbers against the models you are ordering. A certificate for one model does not automatically cover a similar looking one.
Also write the key components into the order: the motor or heating element, the power cord and plug type, and the language of the rating label and manual. The Shenzhen electronics supplier guide covers certificate checks in more detail.
Auto parts: drawings, materials and quality system
The same discipline applies to auto parts, with a few additions:
Quality system: if the supplier claims IATF 16949, check the certificate on the certification body's site and confirm the scope covers the part type you are buying.
Drawings and tolerances: make the drawing revision part of the order, and ask for a dimensional report on first samples against that drawing.
Materials: ask for material certificates for steel, aluminum or plastic grades, and check the part numbers and company name on any test report, not just the logo on the cover page.
Before the balance payment
On larger orders, book a pre-shipment inspection from US$299 per man-day plus travel at cost. An inspector checks quantity, specifications, labeling, packaging and the carton marks against your order before the goods leave. It is cheaper than arguing about a container that arrived wrong.
Keep the payment terms simple:
Keep the deposit to 30% at most.
Pay the balance only after inspection, or against a copy of the bill of lading.
Pay only to the corporate account (对公账户) in the name of the company on the contract.
If someone asks you to pay a personal account, a different company, or an offshore account that is not the contracting party, stop and ask why in writing. If new bank details arrive by email, confirm them on a video call with someone you already know at the company before paying. That single rule prevents one of the most avoidable losses in international trade.
Where Ningbo suppliers can slip
The issues to watch for are usually not outright fraud. They are mismatches: a trading company presenting as a factory, a certificate that belongs to another company, a mold used for a competitor's order, a machine shipped with the wrong configuration. Each of these is visible before you pay if you check the registration, the certificate numbers and the tooling terms.
For a broader checklist that applies to any city, see how to verify a Chinese supplier: 12 checks before you pay. If you are comparing regions, the Qingdao guide on factory versus trading company covers the same distinction from a different industrial base.
When to ask me to check
If the order value is meaningful to you, if you are about to pay for a mold you will own, if the certificates are central to your market access, or if anything in the registration or the video call does not line up, it is worth having the supplier checked before the deposit goes out. That is what the verification and audit services are for, and I only work for buyers, never on a factory's commission. If your order falls near Chinese New Year, plan the checks earlier, because staffing and shipping are disrupted across China in the weeks around the holiday.
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LocalAuditChina is an independent verification service, not a certification body. Reports are findings to support your purchasing decision.
