Chinese supplier disputes often turn on messages, screenshots, invoices, payment instructions, and shipment promises. Chat evidence must be preserved before translation, Hague service, settlement demands, or suit.
Export chats where possible, save phone numbers, account IDs, timestamps, attachments, voice notes, images, invoice files, and payment instructions.
Match the salesperson, WeChat account, WhatsApp number, email domain, invoice issuer, bank beneficiary, factory, exporter, and Chinese company registration record.
Use the same names, dates, product descriptions, payment facts, and address details in the complaint, certified translations, Hague package, and default record.
Many purchase orders, refund promises, inspection disputes, delivery delays, and payment changes are negotiated through WeChat, WhatsApp, email, Alibaba messages, or mixed channels. If those records are incomplete or inconsistent, the defendant can dispute who promised what, which entity was bound, and whether damages were foreseeable.
Collect complete chat exports if possible, screenshots with visible dates and account names, original attachments, invoices, pro forma invoices, payment instructions, bank confirmations, shipping promises, inspection photos, product videos, refund messages, and any message linking the salesperson to the Chinese legal entity.
The complaint and Hague-service translations should not rely on vague chat summaries. A clean communication chronology helps identify the correct defendant, explain the contract terms, support damages, and protect default or settlement strategy if the supplier ignores the case.
Do not treat this page as legal advice for a specific matter. The right filing, service, subpoena, or recovery strategy depends on jurisdiction, contract terms, court orders, evidence quality, and local counsel issues.
Screenshots help, but original exports, attachments, account details, timestamps, payment records, invoices, and corroborating shipment or inspection records are stronger.
That makes entity proof more important. Compare invoices, company chops, email domains, bank beneficiaries, business cards, platform profiles, and messages showing authority.
Important messages used as exhibits or relied on in pleadings should be reviewed for certified translation and consistency with the complaint and service package.
For a complete strategy, compare this page with related service, supplier-dispute, and asset-recovery resources: