Many China supplier disputes start with a salesperson, broker, sourcing agent, or export manager who signed quotes, invoices, or purchase orders. Before suing, the litigation record should show who had authority and which legal entity should be served.
Compare the sales agent, email domain, invoice issuer, bank beneficiary, exporter, factory, and Chinese registry record before naming a defendant.
Keep WeChat, email, purchase orders, signatures, company chops, pro forma invoices, business cards, platform profiles, and payment instructions.
If the agent is not the defendant, the Hague package still needs a verified legal name and address for the correct Chinese party.
A U.S. complaint may be attacked if it names a company based only on an English email signature or a salesperson’s promise. Authority evidence helps connect the deal to the Chinese legal entity that should be sued and served.
Important records include signed contracts, stamped invoices, company-chop pages, domain records, platform storefronts, business-card details, bank-beneficiary instructions, shipment documents, and communications where the company accepted the order or payment.
Some disputes involve a sourcing agent, export company, manufacturer, broker, or third-party payment recipient. The service plan should separate contract claims, fraud claims, agency allegations, and successor or affiliate theories.
The Hague request should not rely on a salesperson’s English name alone. The complaint, summons, translations, and service forms should identify the correct Chinese legal name and address, with supporting records preserved for any later challenge.
These facts should be organized before service papers are translated or filed. A cleaner defendant identity and address record reduces rejection, motion, and default-enforcement risk.
Possibly, but the authority record should be reviewed. Emails, invoices, payment records, company chops, and shipment documents may show whether the salesperson acted for the company.
That mismatch should be analyzed before filing. It can affect defendant identity, jurisdiction, claims, Hague service, settlement leverage, and recovery strategy.
Core documents attached to the complaint or needed for the service package may require Chinese translation. Counsel should decide what must be included before submitting the Hague request.