Adrian Liu · China-side legal work
Before Sending Designs to a Chinese Supplier: An NNN Review Checklist
Organise the recipient, the information and the intended use before deciding which clauses—or which document—need to change.
Identify the parties separately
Write down the supplier's registered Chinese name, any trading company, the factory and any other recipient. Record where each name appears. A parent, affiliate, subcontractor and contracting company should not be collapsed into one “supplier” label unless their respective roles are clear.
Describe the material and the next disclosure
List the categories involved: drawings, samples, specifications, software, technical files, commercial contacts, customer information or other business material. State what has already been sent, to whom and roughly when. Separate future disclosure from suspected past misuse.
Define the permitted project use
Explain what the supplier is being asked to do—quotation, evaluation, sampling, development, tooling or production. The contractual restrictions should fit that permitted purpose rather than applying the same wording to every project.
Map onward access
Identify who else may need the information, what they receive and who controls that decision. Decide whether prior approval, a back-to-back undertaking, direct signature or supplier responsibility for the onward recipient is appropriate.
Separate existing IP from new work
Identify what each side already owns and what may be created during development. New deliverables, tooling ownership, improvements, specifications and production obligations may belong in a product development agreement or manufacturing agreement rather than being forced into the NNN.
Review the legal arrangements together
Language versions, governing law, dispute forum, remedies, damages structure and signing arrangements are connected questions. No single title, seal image or large damages number substitutes for reviewing the actual agreement and the transaction.
Compare the returned version
Keep the approved draft, the supplier-returned version and all schedules. Check changed recipients, different Chinese names, missing pages, altered clauses and the company chop. An execution check is separate from the initial drafting and should be included in scope where required.
Choose the output you actually need
A “review” can mean three very different jobs. Say which result you want before the fee is agreed.
Focused risk review
You already have a draft and want a written explanation of the material China-side risks and what needs to change. This does not automatically include replacement drafting.
Substantive bilingual revision
You want the existing agreement redrafted into a workable English–Chinese document, with the party structure, project restrictions and signing mechanics revised.
New NNN agreement
You want the document built around the actual project and recipients rather than repairing a template. See the NNN service scope and fees.
Have a draft that needs review?
Start with its language, approximate length, the project stage, the Chinese counterparty name if known, and the output you need.
The free step confirms fit, information needed and the proposed paid work. It is not document review or legal advice. Sensitive documents follow after the conflict check and agreed sharing process.
Related services and reading
General service and preparation information, not advice on a particular transaction. The documents, parties, legal questions and scope are assessed for each instruction.