Terms of Service

Agreement to These Terms

These Terms of Service govern your use of this website and the export trading services provided by SinoQi Global Trading Co., Limited. By accessing the website, sending an enquiry or placing an order, you agree to be bound by these terms. If you do not agree, please do not use the website or our services.

Where a signed contract between you and SinoQi Global contains terms that differ from these terms, the signed contract governs for that transaction, and these terms apply to everything the contract does not cover. We have written these terms in plain language so that a business reader can understand the commercial position without legal training.

Definitions

In these terms, the following words have the meanings given below, unless the context clearly requires a different reading.

• The Company, we, us and our refer to SinoQi Global Trading Co., Limited, a company registered in Hong Kong.
• The Client, you and your refer to the person or business that uses the website or engages our services.
• Programme means a sourcing, inspection and export arrangement described in a quotation, a purchase order or a signed contract.
• Goods means the products that the Company sources, inspects, consolidates or arranges for export on behalf of the Client.
• Supplier means a factory, mill or trading partner that produces or supplies the Goods.
• Inspection means an audit, an inline check or a final inspection carried out under a written checklist.

Our Services

The Company operates as an export trading house. Our six service lines are consumer goods export, electronics accessories trading, home textiles supply, kitchenware and tableware, gift and packaging items, and supplier audit with quality control. We coordinate sourcing, sampling, production follow up, inspection and export documentation for each line, and we may combine several lines in a single programme.

Unless we agree otherwise in writing, the Company acts as an independent trading partner and not as an agent for the Client. We select suppliers, place orders and arrange inspections in our own name, and we remain responsible for the quality of the coordination we provide. We do not guarantee the commercial performance of the Goods in the Client market, because that depends on factors outside our control.

We may decline an enquiry or a programme at our discretion, for example where a category carries regulatory risk that we cannot properly manage, where a supplier cannot meet the required standard, or where the terms proposed by the Client cannot be reconciled with the obligations we owe our own suppliers.

Enquiries and Quotations

A quotation, sourcing sheet or indicative price list is an invitation to treat and is not a binding offer. Prices and lead times shown in an enquiry response are valid for the period stated in that response, and if no period is stated they are valid for fourteen days from the date of issue.

Quotations are based on the specification, quantity and destination market provided by the Client. If any of those details change, the Company may adjust the price, the sampling plan or the delivery schedule accordingly. We will explain a change before we act on it, so that the Client can approve or withdraw.

All quotations exclude duties, taxes, customs charges and any fees levied by a port or an authority, unless the quotation expressly states otherwise. The Client is responsible for confirming that the destination market permits the import of the Goods.

Orders and Acceptance

An order becomes binding only when the Company confirms it in writing. A confirmation may take the form of a signed purchase order acknowledgement, an emailed confirmation or a pro forma invoice accepted by the Client. Until that confirmation is issued, no order is valid and no obligation to produce or ship arises.

Once an order is confirmed, the Client may request a change only with the written agreement of the Company. A change to quantity, specification or timing may affect price and lead time, and the Company will state the effect before the change is accepted. The Company is not liable for a delay caused by a change requested after production has begun.

If a confirmed order is cancelled by the Client, the Company may recover the costs already incurred, including sampling costs, material deposits, production progress payments and any inspection fees that cannot be recovered. We will provide a written account of those costs on request.

Pricing and Payment

Prices are stated in the currency named in the quotation. Unless the quotation says otherwise, the Company may adjust a price if the cost of materials, labour, freight or currency movement changes materially between the quotation date and the production date. Where an adjustment is necessary, the Company will notify the Client before production begins.

Payment terms are set out in the quotation or the signed contract. Where the parties have not agreed special terms, the following default applies: a deposit is payable on confirmation of the order, and the balance is payable before the release of the documents that allow the Goods to be collected. The Company may withhold documents until payment is received in full.

If an amount is not paid when due, the Company may suspend work on the affected programme and on any other programme with the same Client, and may charge interest on the outstanding amount at a reasonable commercial rate. The Client remains responsible for bank charges, transfer fees and any costs of recovering an unpaid amount.

Sampling and Approvals

Where a programme requires a sample, the Company will arrange it and submit it for the Client approval. Bulk production begins only after the sample is approved in writing. An approval given by email is sufficient, provided that the email clearly identifies the sample and states the approval.

The approved sample becomes the reference standard for the programme. If the Client later changes the reference, the Company may treat the change as a new sample request and may charge for the additional sample and for any production that must be repeated.

Minor variation between a sample and a bulk production run is normal in manufactured goods. The Company works to keep variation within the tolerance stated in the approved specification, and the Client should state that tolerance clearly at the sampling stage so that the inspection checklist can reflect it.

Inspection and Quality Control

The Company arranges inspections under a written checklist that matches the approved specification. An inspection may be an audit of a factory, an inline check during production or a final inspection before shipment. Findings are reported with photographs and a clear pass, hold or rework decision.

An inspection is a sampling exercise. It reduces risk but it does not guarantee that every unit in a consignment is free of defect. The Company reports what the inspection found, and the Client should review the report before authorising shipment. Where an inspection results in a hold or a rework decision, the Company will coordinate with the Supplier to correct the issue before re inspection.

Third party inspection partners may be used where a programme requires an independent eye. The Company selects those partners with care, but it does not control their internal operations and is not liable for an error made by a partner that the Company could not reasonably have prevented.

Shipping and Delivery

Delivery dates are estimates unless the Company has agreed in writing to a fixed date. The Company will use reasonable efforts to meet an agreed schedule, but it is not liable for a delay caused by a Supplier, a carrier, a port, a customs authority or an event outside its reasonable control.

Unless the quotation states otherwise, delivery terms follow the international commercial term named in the quotation. The Client is responsible for customs clearance at the destination and for any duty, tax or inspection fee charged by a destination authority.

Risk of loss or damage passes in accordance with the named delivery term. Where the Client arranges its own carriage, the Company will make the Goods available at the agreed point and will provide the documents that the Client reasonably needs to collect them.

Title and Risk

Title to the Goods passes to the Client only when the Company has received payment in full for the relevant programme and for any other amount then due from the Client. Until title passes, the Client holds the Goods as bailee for the Company and must store them so that they can be identified as the Company property.

Risk of loss or damage passes in accordance with the delivery term named in the quotation. Where risk and title pass at different moments, the Client should insure the Goods from the moment risk passes, even if title has not yet transferred.

If the Client resells the Goods before title passes, the Client must hold the proceeds of that resale on trust for the Company to the extent of the amount still owed.

Supplier Relations

The Company manages the relationship with the Supplier and places orders in its own name. The Client agrees not to contact a Supplier directly for the purpose of bypassing the Company during an active programme, and not to place an order with a Supplier introduced by the Company without first agreeing terms with the Company.

This restriction protects the work that the Company has invested in vetting, sampling and negotiating the programme. It does not prevent the Client from working with a Supplier independently after the programme has ended, provided that the Client has paid all amounts due and has not used confidential information belonging to the Company to obtain more favourable terms.

The Company does not disclose the identity of a Supplier where doing so would expose the Company to a commercially unreasonable risk. Where the Client needs a supplier declaration for a regulatory purpose, the Company will provide the required information in a form that satisfies the authority without giving away more than the regulation requires.

Buyer Obligations

The Client agrees to provide accurate and complete information at the enquiry stage, including the specification, the quantity, the destination market and any regulatory requirement that applies to the Goods. The Client is responsible for the accuracy of its own artwork, brand names and product claims.

The Client agrees to review samples, inspection reports and proofs promptly, because every delay in an approval delays production and shipment. The Client agrees to pay each amount when it is due and to maintain the confidentiality of any commercial information the Company shares during the programme.

The Client agrees not to use the website or the services for an unlawful purpose, and not to ask the Company to source goods that infringe a third party right or that cannot lawfully be imported into the destination market.

Intellectual Property

The content of this website, including its text, layout, graphics and code, belongs to the Company or is used with permission. You may read and print the content for your own business use, but you may not copy it into another website, resell it or present it as your own work without written permission.

Client supplied artwork, brand names and specifications remain the property of the Client or its licensors. The Client grants the Company a limited licence to use that material only for the purpose of the programme, and that licence ends when the programme ends.

Where a programme produces a new design, the ownership of that design is set out in the quotation or the signed contract. If the contract is silent, the Company assigns to the Client the design rights that the Company owns, while the Company retains the right to use general know how and non confidential methods in future work.

Confidentiality

Each party may receive confidential information from the other, such as prices, supplier identities, specifications and business plans. Each party agrees to use that information only for the programme and to protect it with the same care it applies to its own confidential information.

Confidentiality does not apply to information that is already public, that was lawfully known before disclosure, that is received from a third party without a duty of confidence, or that must be disclosed by law or by a court order. Where disclosure is required, the party subject to the order will give the other party notice where it is lawful to do so.

The obligation of confidentiality continues after the programme ends, for as long as the information remains commercially sensitive. This section survives the termination of any other agreement between the parties.

Warranties and Disclaimers

The Company warrants that it will provide its coordination services with reasonable skill and care, and that inspection reports will fairly describe what the inspection found. The Company does not warrant that the Goods will be free of every defect, because it does not manufacture them and it inspects by sampling.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Company disclaims all implied warranties that are not expressly stated in these terms, including any implied warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. The Client is responsible for confirming that the Goods suit the intended use and comply with the law of the destination market.

The website is provided as it is. The Company does not warrant that the website will be uninterrupted or free of error, and it may suspend the website for maintenance or for a security reason without notice.

Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Company is not liable for indirect, incidental, special or consequential loss, including loss of profit, loss of goodwill or loss of business opportunity, however that loss arises.

Where the Company is liable for a programme, its total liability is limited to the total amount paid by the Client to the Company for that programme. This limit does not apply to fraud, to wilful misconduct or to any liability that cannot be limited by law.

The Client agrees to notify the Company of a claim within a reasonable time after the Client becomes aware of the issue, and to give the Company a fair opportunity to investigate and to propose a remedy. A claim brought after the agreed notice period may be refused where the delay has prejudiced the Company position.

Force Majeure

The Company is not liable for a failure or delay caused by an event outside its reasonable control. Such events include natural disaster, epidemic, war, civil unrest, government action, a labour dispute, a factory fire, a transport failure and a material shortage that could not reasonably have been foreseen.

Where a force majeure event occurs, the affected party will notify the other promptly and will use reasonable efforts to reduce the impact. If the event continues for a period that makes the programme impracticable, either party may terminate the affected programme by written notice without liability for the termination itself.

Amounts already due for work performed before the event remain payable. The Company will return any amount held for work that will no longer be performed, after deducting costs already incurred.

Termination

Either party may terminate a programme by written notice if the other party commits a material breach and does not remedy it within a reasonable period after receiving notice of the breach. Either party may also terminate immediately if the other party becomes insolvent or ceases to carry on business.

On termination, the Client must pay for all work performed and for all costs properly incurred up to the termination date. The Company will return or account for any materials and documents that belong to the Client, and will cooperate in transferring an un completed programme to a new partner if the Client requests it.

Termination of one programme does not automatically terminate any other programme, and it does not affect the sections of these terms that are intended to survive, including confidentiality, intellectual property, liability limits and governing law.

Governing Law

These terms are governed by the laws of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The parties submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Hong Kong for the resolution of any dispute arising from these terms or from a programme, unless the signed contract provides for a different forum.

Before beginning a formal proceeding, the parties agree to attempt to resolve a dispute through good faith discussion at a senior level. If that discussion does not resolve the matter within a reasonable period, either party may proceed to a court or to a dispute resolution process named in the signed contract.

The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods does not apply to these terms. If any part of these terms is found to be unenforceable, that part will be removed and the remaining parts will continue in force.

Changes to These Terms

The Company may update these terms from time to time to reflect a change in its practices or in the law. The revised terms take effect when they are published on this page with a new effective date, and they apply to a programme confirmed after that date.

A programme that is already confirmed continues to be governed by the terms in force when it was confirmed, unless the parties agree in writing to apply the revised terms. We encourage you to review this page before you begin a new programme so that you always understand the terms that will apply.

How to Contact Us

If you have a question about these terms, if you need a clarification before placing an order, or if you wish to discuss a commercial matter, please contact us. We will respond as quickly as we reasonably can during Hong Kong business hours.

These terms are provided in English. They form the complete statement of the general terms that apply to this website and to our trading services, and they replace any earlier version that may still be cached or quoted elsewhere.