What documents you need to pay a supplier in China

Paying a supplier in China feels simple right up to the moment the money has to move. You have agreed the price, the supplier is waiting, and then the question lands: what do you actually need to send the payment safely? For importers across East Africa paying suppliers in RMB, the answer is rarely "just the bank account." The documents you gather before you pay are what protect your money, keep your bank comfortable, and keep your records clean for the taxman.

This guide walks through every document you need, what each one should show, why it matters, and how having the right paperwork makes your payment move faster. By the end you should be able to look at your own order and know in a minute whether you are ready to pay.

Why documents matter before any money moves

It is tempting to treat paperwork as a formality. It is not. When you pay a Chinese supplier, three different parties are quietly relying on your documents.

• You need to know the money is going to the right business for goods you actually ordered.
• Your bank needs to see a clear, lawful purpose for the transfer. Cross-border payments with vague or missing purpose are the ones that get questioned, held, or frozen.
• Your tax authority (KRA in Kenya, URA in Uganda, TRA in Tanzania) expects you to be able to show what you bought, from whom, and for how much.

At Malipay, documents serve one more purpose. They let us verify the beneficiary against the invoice before we pay out. If the company named on the invoice does not match the account we are about to pay, that is a flag we catch in Nairobi before your money leaves, not after. That single check has saved importers from paying the wrong account.

So the documents are not bureaucracy. They are the difference between a payment that lands cleanly and one that turns into a week of phone calls.

The essential documents

There is a short list you genuinely cannot pay without. Everything else is helpful, but these are the floor.

1. The proforma or commercial invoice

This is the single most important document. A proforma invoice is issued before you pay, when the order is being confirmed. A commercial invoice is issued for goods that are ready or shipped. For most first payments to a supplier, you will be working from a proforma.

Whichever one you have, it must clearly show:

• The supplier's full registered business name, not just a brand or a person's nickname.
• A description of the goods, with quantities and unit prices.
• The total amount and the currency (you are paying in RMB, so the figure should be in RMB / CNY).
• The supplier's bank details: account name, account number, bank name, and SWIFT code.
• An invoice number and date.

The invoice is the anchor for everything else. The amount you pay, the account you pay into, and the reason for the payment all come from here.

2. The supplier's receiving details

Sometimes the bank details on the invoice are complete and you need nothing more. Often, though, the supplier sends payment details separately, by message or as a screenshot. You need the full set:

• Account name (the beneficiary). This must match the company on the invoice.
• Account number or IBAN.
• Bank name and branch.
• SWIFT / BIC code.

Watch the account name closely. A common pattern is a proforma invoice in one company's name and a payment account in a different person's or company's name. That mismatch is exactly what the verification step exists to catch, and it is worth catching before you send anything.

3. Your own contact and business details

This part is about you, and it is easy to overlook. Whoever processes the payment needs to know who is sending the money and how to reach you if something needs clarifying. Have ready:

• Your name and business name.
• A working phone number and email.
• Your business registration details if you are importing as a company.

If a question comes up during review, being reachable is the difference between a five-minute clarification and a stalled request.

The helpful extras

These are not always required, but they make verification faster and your records stronger. The bigger the order, the more they matter.

• Purchase order (PO). If you issued a PO, include it. It shows the order was deliberate and agreed, and it should line up with the invoice.
• Order chat or messages. Your WeChat, WhatsApp, or Alibaba conversation where you agreed the goods, the price, and the bank details. This is genuinely useful evidence, especially when there is no formal contract.
• Contract or agreement. For large orders, a signed sales contract spells out terms, deposit, balance, and delivery. It protects you if there is a dispute and reassures everyone that the payment is part of a real deal.
• Shipping and packing documents. Bill of lading, packing list, or a shipping quote. These are common for commercial invoices and for second payments (the balance) once goods are ready.

You will not need all of these every time. But when an order is large or a supplier is new, the more of this you can show, the smoother the path.

What a good invoice actually looks like

It helps to see the difference between an invoice that sails through and one that raises questions. Here is a breakdown of the fields a clean proforma should carry.

Shenzhen Brightway Electronics Co., Ltd. Proforma Invoice No: PI-2026-0418 Date: 12 May 2026 Sold to: Acme Traders Ltd, Nairobi, Kenya | Item | Qty | Unit price (CNY) | Total (CNY) | | LED panel light 36W | 500 | 38.00 | 19,000.00 | | Driver module | 500 | 6.50 | 3,250.00 | Total: CNY 22,250.00 Beneficiary: Shenzhen Brightway Electronics Co., Ltd. Bank: Bank of China, Shenzhen Branch Account No: 7000 1234 5678 9012 SWIFT: BKCHCNBJ

Notice what makes this work. The beneficiary name on the bank line is identical to the company at the top. The currency is stated and consistent. There is an invoice number and date, an itemised list, and a clear total. Every field a reviewer needs is present, so there is nothing to ask about.

Now picture the weak version: a single photo of a phone screen showing only an account number and an amount, no company name, no item list, currency unclear. It might be a perfectly honest order, but there is nothing to verify it against, so it has to come back to you with questions. The goal is to never be the second example.

Why each document matters, in plain terms

It is worth being precise about what each piece does for you.

• Verification. The invoice plus the receiving details let Malipay confirm, in Nairobi, that the beneficiary matches the order before any payout. This is your protection against paying a wrong or swapped account.
• Account safety. Banks scrutinise cross-border transfers with unclear purpose. A complete invoice gives the transfer a clean, documented reason, which reduces the risk of it being held or frozen for "unclear purpose." Clear paperwork keeps your money moving instead of sitting in limbo.
• Your records and tax. When KRA, URA, or TRA ask what you imported, your invoices, POs, and contracts are the record. Keeping them from the start means you are never reconstructing history under pressure.

Each document does a job. Together they make a payment that is safe, defensible, and traceable.

How documents speed up your review

Malipay reviews each request in Nairobi and, once reviewed, pays out within about five minutes. We do not hold your funds. The review itself is what stands between you and a paid supplier, and the quality of your documents decides how long that review takes.

A complete, consistent request can be confirmed almost immediately. A request with a missing currency, a name mismatch, or a blurry invoice has to pause while we come back to you. The waiting is not the payout, which is fast. The waiting is the back-and-forth to fix paperwork. Send it right the first time and there is nothing to wait on.

In practice, the fastest requests share three traits: the invoice is legible, the beneficiary name matches the company, and the amount and currency are unambiguous. Get those three right and review is rarely the bottleneck.

Your prep checklist before you pay

Run through this before you start a request. If you can tick every box, you are ready.

1. 1I have a proforma or commercial invoice showing the supplier's full company name.
2. 2The invoice lists the goods, quantities, unit prices, total, and currency (RMB / CNY).
3. 3The invoice has a number and a date.
4. 4I have the supplier's full bank details: account name, account number, bank name, SWIFT.
5. 5The account name matches the company on the invoice.
6. 6My own name, business name, phone, and email are ready.
7. 7For a large order, I have the PO and/or signed contract.
8. 8I have the order chat or messages where price and bank details were agreed.
9. 9Every document is clear and readable, not a blurry photo.

If one box is missing, fix it before you submit. It is faster to gather it now than to have the request come back for it.

Frequently asked questions

What if I only have a WeChat chat, not a formal invoice?

A WeChat conversation can still work, especially for smaller or repeat orders, as long as it clearly shows the supplier's company name, the goods, the amount, the currency, and the bank details. The cleaner the message, the better. That said, it is always worth asking the supplier for a proper proforma invoice. Most are happy to send one, it takes them a few minutes, and it makes your request stronger and your records better.

The bank account name is different from the company on the invoice. Is that a problem?

It is something to resolve before you pay, not after. A mismatch between the beneficiary account and the invoiced company is exactly what verification is designed to catch. Sometimes there is a genuine reason, such as a parent company or an agent. Ask the supplier to confirm the relationship in writing, and ideally to issue the invoice in the same name as the receiving account. Clearing this up early keeps your money safe.

Do I really need all these documents for a small order?

No. The essentials are the floor: an invoice (or a clear chat) showing the company, goods, amount, currency, and bank details, plus your own contact details. The extras, like a signed contract or shipping documents, matter more as the order size grows. Match the paperwork to the size of the deal.

How fast will my supplier be paid once I send everything?

Malipay reviews your request in Nairobi, and once it is reviewed, payout happens within about five minutes. We do not hold your funds. The main thing that affects timing is whether your documents are complete and consistent, because a clean request needs no back-and-forth.

Ready when your paperwork is

Paying a supplier in China does not have to be stressful. The work is mostly done before any money moves: a clear invoice, matching bank details, your own contact information, and the extras that fit the size of your order. Get those right and the payment itself is the easy part.

When your documents are in order, start a request and let Malipay handle the verification and payout. Clean paperwork in, fast payment out.