Trade goods: the classic
Unpaid invoices for delivered goods remain the largest category. Evidence file: chopped contract, purchase orders, invoices, bills of lading, customs export records, signed acceptance. The classic defence is the late-appearing quality complaint — beatable, because Chinese law requires buyers to inspect and complain within agreed or reasonable periods, and the debtor’s own resale of the goods is decisive evidence of acceptance.
SaaS and software licences
Unpaid subscription, licence and implementation fees — typically owed by a Chinese distributor, reseller or enterprise customer. The debtor’s instinct is to argue non-delivery or underperformance. Your counter is the system itself: licence agreements, provisioning records, login and usage logs, support tickets answered. A usage log showing the debtor’s team active in month eleven of a "failed" implementation ends most arguments.
Advertising, marketing and media services
Media-buy and agency receivables — the agency fronted spend to platforms, the Chinese advertiser never settled. Evidence file: insertion orders, platform delivery reports, reconciliation statements and, critically, any debt-confirmation or repayment-commitment correspondence. These files often involve several layers of entity; mapping which company actually owes, and which has the assets, is dossier work before any letter goes out.
Logistics and freight
Unpaid freight and warehousing charges, usually defended with a cargo-damage or delay counterclaim. Evidence file: transport documents, delivery proof, survey reports and the timeline. The counterclaim is frequently manufactured after non-payment begins; the sequence of documents usually tells the true story.
Consulting and professional services
Fees for delivered advisory, engineering, design or recruiting work. The evidence that matters is acceptance: deliverables transmitted, milestone sign-offs, and emails or WeChat messages deploying the work product. Debtors claim the work was never used; their own product launches tend to disagree.
Licence and royalty fees
Trademark, technology and content royalties under audit or simply unpaid. Evidence file: the licence agreement, royalty reports, sales data and the audit clause. An audit right exercised early is both evidence-gathering and leverage.
Deposits, milestones and moulds
Tooling deposits never credited, milestone payments stalled at 90% completion, moulds and fixtures held hostage in a dispute. These files look small and settle fast: the amounts rarely justify the debtor’s legal exposure, and the facts are usually documentary.