How to approve a Chinese supplier
Admit a supplier only for a named product category and production site, after the relevant evidence has been reviewed and signed off. Record restrictions, evidence review dates and reapproval triggers; keep supplier approval separate from order release. Your buyer retains approval authority, supported by Cambridge China Bridge.
Define what the approval covers
Use this as a proposed internal company policy. Create an approval record that names the contracting supplier, manufacturing site, product category, approved processes and relevant subcontractors. Attach the specification revision and intended destination market. Approval for packaging at a named site should not silently extend to electrical products or another plant.
Complete the checks in supplier verification and the factory audit checklist, then record the approval decision rather than repeating those checks here. Name the buyer's procurement, technical and quality approvers, with a compliance reviewer where relevant. Cambridge China Bridge's staff in China can collect site evidence; the buyer decides admission.
Make admission an evidence-based decision
For each category and site, list the evidence required, what counts as satisfactory and who reviews it. Link to the actual documents, visit findings, sample results and production trial records. Record gaps explicitly. Use second-source qualification for the practical qualification sequence; this register records the resulting permission to buy. For backup supply rehearsals, see testing supplier business continuity plans.
Keep critical failures outside any overall score: unresolved identity, payment, product-safety or production-site concerns should block the affected approval. Record the decision, reasons, approver and date. A sales contact's assurance or an attractive quotation should not close an evidence gap.
Give conditional status enforceable limits
Use conditional status only where the unresolved issue can be contained within a defined activity. Specify the permitted category, site and activity, the outstanding action, its owner, the completion deadline and the evidence needed to close it. For example, allow sample development while withholding production permission pending a production trial.
Make restrictions visible wherever orders are authorised. If the condition lapses or its deadline passes, put the affected scope on hold under your policy. Require written approval to change a restriction. Supplier admission alone should not authorise production, shipment or payment; retain the separate controls in order and payment approvals.
Track expiry and trigger reapproval
For each evidence item, record its issuer, covered entity, site and product scope, verification date, any stated expiry and your next review date. Distinguish document expiry from an internal review deadline. An old test report may describe an earlier configuration even without a printed expiry. Set review timing according to the evidence and purchasing risk, rather than inventing a universal validity period.
Trigger review after a site move, new subcontractor, material or process change, ownership change, changed payment details, serious defect, falsified record or prolonged inactivity. Hold the affected scope while checking what changed. Reapprove it only after the relevant evidence and corrective actions have been reviewed and signed off; retain the previous decision history.
Keep company policy separate from public procurement
The categories, statuses, review dates and holds above are proposed company controls. Label them as such in the register. Do not present internal admission as public-procurement qualification or a promise of contract award. If a purchase is part of a public procurement, ask the procurement owner to identify the applicable tender conditions before relying on this register.
Cabinet Office guidance says a supplier must meet the set conditions of participation before it can be awarded the contract. Your internal conditional status therefore cannot substitute for meeting those conditions. Maintain a separate record of the tender requirements and the evidence submitted against them.
Frequently asked questions
Does a passed factory audit mean supplier approval?
It is evidence for the decision. Record the approved category, site, restrictions and buyer sign-off; do not turn an audit pass into unrestricted permission to buy.
Can we order from a conditionally approved supplier?
Only within the activity expressly permitted by your policy and recorded approval. Sample permission should not become production permission while the production evidence remains unresolved.
How long should supplier approval last?
Set review dates around evidence scope, stated expiry and purchasing risk. Record your internal deadline separately from document expiry, and review sooner when relevant changes occur.
Does supplier approval cover every factory site?
Approve named sites and categories. A new plant or subcontractor needs review of the affected scope before you extend approval.