Before you start your first trip ofsourcing in China, please ask yourself one question: “Are you ready?”

By being ready, I am not saying that youhave to understand Chinese language, or to be an expert of Chinese etiquette,actually in my opinion, it’s not so important at all, compared to the followingmatter :

1.    Business rules in China;

2.    Due diligence;

3.    IP protection, etc.

A simple example is: from time to time, Ireceive mails asking for help, the stories are all the same: I found a supplieronline, we talked a lot and all was fine… until I paid the deposit, all ofsudden they just disappeared… can you get my money back?

Hmmmmm…I am afraid I can’t, it’s a pity,but it’s true.  Because when I ask them, whichcompany do you know you were dealing with? Could you send me the copy of theirbusiness license?  They are totally atloss.  So, rule No. 1 is:  CHECKYOUR SUPPLIER’S BUSINESS LICENSE.

In China, business license is issued by thelocal AIC (Administration of Industry and Commerce) once incorporation of acompany is finished，just like Certificate of Incorporationin most western countries.  At least,Business license is aproof of the company being legally incorporated, thoughnot definitely a proof of it’s credibility.  If the chance of being cheated by a company with business license is 5%,then the chance of being cheated by a “company” withouta business license is more than 95%. Because they probably are fraud!