What Chinese Suppliers Say vs. What They Mean
Every exporting culture has its codes. China's export desks speak a dialect of courtesy where "difficult" means "no", "maybe" means "no", and "no problem" means "I heard you". This decoder translates the twelve highest-stakes phrases — written from the Chinese side of the table, where they're understood literally.
You can speak fluent English and still be mis-translating every negotiation. The phrases below are not lies; they're a communication culture that avoids the hard "no" (保面子 — saving face), avoids conflict in writing, and treats ambiguity as politeness. Read them wrong and you'll think you have an agreement when you have a vague feeling. Read them right and you hold the actual answer in the first reply.
This is the negotiation layer of the VERIFY system — after the supplier is real, these are the words that set the price and the date.
The twelve phrases that matter
1. 有点难度 — "A bit difficult"
What it sounds like: a solvable problem. What it means: No — or yes, at a price they don't want to name first.
谁先出价谁输 ("whoever names a number first loses") is the local instinct. "A bit difficult" is an invitation for you to make it easier — with money, volume, or timeline.
Your move: "I understand. What would make it easy?" — make them name the number. If they still won't, they can't, and the answer is no.
2. 这已经是最低价了 — "This is already our best price"
What it means: This is the best price for this configuration, this quantity, this payment terms, right now. Each variable is a lever.
Your move: Change a variable, not the sentence. +20% quantity, 30% deposit instead of bargaining the unit price — often a 3–7% drop appears "because the boss approved." The 5–10% that exists lives in quantity, payment terms, and mix — not in asking again.
3. 交期大概 25 天 — "Lead time is about 25 days"
What it means: Production is 25 days after materials arrive and after the deposit clears and after Chinese New Year (if within 6 weeks). Freight is separate.
Your move: Ask the three-part question: "From deposit received to ex-factory — is 25 days all-in, including material procurement?" Then add your own buffer for the silence between "finished" and "actually shipped." Rule of thumb from the China side: mentally add 30–50% for first orders.
4. 我们是大工厂 — "We are a big factory"
What it means: Often the opposite — or technically true (the group is big) while your order runs on a small line. Big factories with real volume don't need to say it; their capacity and certifications show it.
Your move: Don't argue — verify. Ask for the business license (how to read it) and check registered capital and business scope, then ask which production lines will run your goods and the factory pickup address under FOB. Real factories answer in minutes.
5. 没问题 — "No problem"
What it means: "I heard you." It is an acknowledgment, not a commitment. The commitment is the PI (proforma invoice) with the spec written down.
Your move: Convert instantly: "Great — please send the PI with that spec and date." The speed of the PI is the truth test. "No problem" followed by PI delay means there was a problem.
6. MOQ 是 1000 — "MOQ is 1,000"
What it means: MOQ is 1,000 for this price. First orders of 500–600 are frequently possible at +5–10%, or with a "trial order" framing that costs a relationship point instead of money.
Your move: "This is a first order; the reorder is where we scale. Can we do 500 at a fair trial price?" — suppliers who refuse all flexibility on MOQ at order #1 are telling you about orders #2–#10.
7. 老板不在 / 要问一下老板 — "The boss isn't in / I need to ask the boss"
What it means: One of three things: genuinely out (common — owners of SME factories travel), a stalling tactic while they shop your ask internally, or "the boss" is the fictional final authority every negotiator keeps in reserve.
Your move: Never pressure the boss's schedule — that's a face attack. Set a time instead: "Of course — when can you get back to me on this?" A date for the answer is the real commitment.
8. 这是行业惯例 — "This is industry standard practice"
What it means: It benefits them. Industry standards that favor the buyer are never invoked — they're just silently applied.
Your move: "Happy to follow standard practice — send me a reference or the standard document." Standards that exist survive documentation. Most evaporate at this request.
9. 我们都是这么操作的 — "This is how we always do it"
Cousin of #8, with a twist: it often precedes a request that deviates from what you should accept — paying to a personal account, 100% T/T upfront, skipping the inspection "since we're experienced."
Your move: "I'm sure — and we'll keep the parts that protect both of us: company account, 30/70, third-party QC." See how to pay safely. The methods that are "how we always do it" and legitimate survive standardization; the ones that don't were never standard.
10. 马上给你答复 — "I'll get back to you right away"
What it means: Within 2–3 business days, if nothing upstream stalls. "Right away" in export-sales time is a mood, not a unit.
Your move: Anchor it: "Great — if I don't hear by Friday I'll assume the price doesn't work and move on." Deadlines get replies; politeness gets silence. This one sentence is worth a chapter.
11. 这批货有一点点色差，不影响使用 — "Slight color variation, doesn't affect use"
What it means: There is a defect batch and they hope you'll absorb it. "Doesn't affect use" is their assessment, not yours — and it transfers the cost of their QC miss to your listing.
Your move: The quality-claim template exists for exactly this: photos, batch numbers, and the disposition options (rework / discount / replacement) — with the cost of each on their side. Verbal reassurance is not a disposition.
12. 不好意思，最近原材料涨价了 — "Sorry, raw material prices went up"
What it means: Sometimes true (commodity inputs genuinely swing), sometimes the annual ritual price-grab before peak season. Your leverage: real material indices are public.
Your move: "Understood — which material? Let's index that input in the price so we both share the movement both ways." Suppliers who only pass increases, never decreases, will refuse an index — and now you know what the "increase" was.
The meta-rule
Every phrase above resolves the same way: move the conversation from words to documents. PIs with specs, indexed prices, dated answers, written dispositions. The supplier's courtesy dialect is not deception — it's how the market talks. The importer's advantage is not speaking louder English; it's converting every "no problem" into paper.
The China Sourcing Playbook contains the full 25-template system built on exactly this principle — including the first-contact sequence that pre-empts phrases 1–7 before they cost you money.
Related: How to Verify a Chinese Supplier · How to Pay a Chinese Supplier Safely · Alibaba vs 1688