Greetings,


would like to know if govt has authorized some agencies/department to monitor the business contracts or if law office can become witness between suppliers or exporters & foreign trade company ?.


even though we make contracts in both english n chinese, they are still treated as waste no matter they are stamped. with reason that staff has signed or did not read or other silly reason.


if factories are safe by getting advance / deposits how can importer be safe ?


in some cases few incidence has happened that factories use illegal way if dispute or disagreement in terms of quality, time & other matters. so what protection does foreigner has ?


thanking you

Your question is really a broad-based question relating to general protections which international importers dealing with Chinese suppliers can take to protect themselves. As regards your specific issue related to monitoring of business contracts, these are private matters and there is no official organization charged with this responsibility, as per your requirements. However, it is possible for a law firm or any other person for that matter to act as a witness to the agreement. As better precaution, however, it would be advisable to require that the Chinese supplier use its company chop on the documents, representing the company’s agreement to be legally bound by the terms. (I suspect that you have had instances where they are stating that a person not authorized to sign on behalf of the company signed the relevant agreement.)

As regards protecting yourself, it seems that you have the first step in place, a written contract. As regards other practical measures to protect yourself, try to minimize the advance payment and do not pay 100% prior to order being shipped. There are a number of ways to do this, either through staggered/progress payments or use of letter of credit. As regards the quality and time issues, this relates to the previous and your withholding of payment based on the negotiated contract terms.