Supplier stopped replying and kept your deposit: what to do
If a Chinese supplier has stopped replying after taking your deposit, stop any further payment, save every message, invoice and payment record, and check whose account received the money. Call your bank the same day to ask about a recall, and if you paid on a platform such as Alibaba, open a dispute there. Cambridge China Bridge's staff in China can check the company and visit it.
A Chinese supplier took your deposit and stopped replying. The first steps: stop paying, keep the evidence, check who received the money, call your bank.
The first day: stop, save, call the bank
Do not send any more money, whatever reason is given for a second payment. Save the whole trail in one place: the quotation, the proforma invoice, the purchase order, every email and chat message, and the payment confirmation showing the date, amount, receiving bank and account name.
Then contact your bank directly, using the number on its official website or your card, not any number in an email. Ask whether the international payment can be recalled. A recall is not guaranteed, and it is more likely to work the sooner you ask, so do this before anything else that can wait.
Check who actually received the money
Compare the account name on your payment with the company name on the supplier's business licence. If the money went to a company of the same name, you have a commercial dispute with a traceable business. If it went to a personal account, a different company or an account in another country, treat it as possible fraud and tell your bank that too.
Check the company on China's National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System (gsxt.gov.cn): whether it is still registered, its registered address and its scope of business. Our supplier ID checker helps you read the registration number, and avoiding sourcing scams covers the patterns behind most losses.
If you paid through a platform
A payment made through a platform's own checkout, such as Alibaba's Trade Assurance, can be disputed through that platform, and its protection usually depends on the order and payment having stayed on it. Open the dispute as soon as the supplier misses the agreed date, attach the evidence, and keep all further contact on the platform so the record stays complete. A payment made by bank transfer outside the platform is usually not covered by the platform's protection.
Getting an answer on the ground
Silence often means a problem the supplier would rather not explain: the order was taken at a price it cannot meet, the money was used elsewhere, or production moved to another workshop. Someone who can visit the registered address and the factory can usually find out which within days, and a formal written demand in Chinese, referring to the contract, gets more attention than another email in English.
Court action in China needs a Chinese lawyer and costs money, so weigh it against the size of the deposit. Our supplier problems service can check the company, visit it and put your position to the owner in person.
Stop it happening next time
Verify the company before paying, pay a deposit only to an account in the licensed company's name, keep the deposit proportionate, and tie the balance to a passed pre-shipment inspection rather than to a date. Never change payment details because an email asks you to.
Frequently asked questions
My Chinese supplier stopped replying after I paid the deposit. What should I do first?
Stop any further payment, save every message and payment record, and call your bank the same day to ask whether the payment can be recalled.
Can my bank get a deposit back from China?
Sometimes, if you ask quickly. A recall of an international transfer is not guaranteed, and the chance falls as time passes.
The money went to a personal account. Does that matter?
Yes. A payment to a personal account or a different company is a warning sign of fraud, so tell your bank that when you report it.
Is it worth suing a Chinese supplier for a deposit?
It needs a Chinese lawyer and costs money, so weigh it against the deposit; a visit and a formal written demand often come first.