Meaning
The contractually agreed period within which a buyer must inspect delivered goods and notify the seller of any non-conformity is referred to as yanshou qixian. Under Chinese contract law, this inspection period is of critical importance because if the buyer fails to raise quality objections within this window, they are legally deemed to have accepted the goods. Consequently, negotiating a realistic inspection timeframe is a crucial priority for foreign buyers who source from Chinese suppliers.
Statutory Baseline
Legal disputes often arise when the contract fails to specify an inspection period. In the absence of an explicit contract clause, the Civil Code requires the buyer to notify the seller within a reasonable period, up to a statutory maximum of two years. However, courts frequently interpret “reasonable” as a very short window, sometimes only a few days after delivery, leaving the buyer with little time to perform comprehensive testing.
Contractual Strategy
Purchasing managers must negotiate explicit and realistic inspection windows that reflect the complexity of the goods. For complex machinery, the agreement should state that the inspection period begins only after the equipment has been installed and successfully tested on the buyer’s factory floor. This extension is particularly important for foreign buyers who must wait for maritime shipping and customs clearance before they can even access the delivered goods.
Having an explicit contract clause prevents the supplier from claiming that the inspection window expired while the goods were still in transit.
Operational Implementation
Supply chain teams must align their logistics and quality control workflows with the contracted inspection timeline. Upon arrival, shipments should be prioritized for immediate testing to ensure that any defects are discovered and documented before the period expires. Standard procedures should include the immediate generation of a formal inspection report to be sent to the supplier via a traceable communication channel if any non-conformity is discovered.
