Direct answer

Use NNN, not a Western NDA, before you send drawings to a China factory.

NNN means the factory must not use the information to compete, not disclose it, and not go around you to your customer. A one-way NDA copied from a US template often fails that job: it may allow internal ‘use’, omit circumvention, choose a useless forum, or skip a China-facing damages and evidence plan. Trade-secret law still requires reasonable secrecy measures. Register designs and trademarks in China; the NNN is a contract layer, not a property right. The manufacturing sprint guide is the deeper playbook.

The classification screen

4 questions before you choose the route.

This page identifies the right question and evidence. It does not determine the legal outcome on a reader’s facts.

01

Who will actually see the drawings?

Trading company, factory, sub-supplier and WeChat groups are different signers.

Recipients
02

Does the paper ban use and circumvention, not only disclosure?

If it only says ‘keep confidential’, it is still an NDA.

NNN test
03

Which law, language and forum can you actually use?

A Delaware NDA with a US court is a weak China factory tool.

Forum
04

What secrecy measures sit around the paper?

Marking, sample control, mould ownership and access logs.

Measures

Working rule: Map the regulated role before marketing or launch in China.

What changes the answer

The signal ledger.

These facts move the question beyond a label and into a product, money-flow and control analysis.

Signal
Ask the operating question
Why it changes the route
Wrong party chopped
Did the factory that will tool the mould chop, or only an offshore trading company?
An NNN with the wrong entity does not bind the shop floor.
Use permitted internally
Does the template allow use for ‘business purposes’ or with affiliates?
That hole is how an NDA becomes a free licence.
No China evidence path
Are damages, language and forum usable in a PRC court or a China-related arbitration?
A theoretically perfect clause you cannot enforce is not a factory control.
Prepare before you escalate

Bring a compact evidence docket—not a pitch deck.

Give a compliance team or counsel the operating facts that reveal the perimeter.

01NNN textNon-use, non-disclosure, non-circumvention, term, damages and forum.
02Party mapLicence of the factory, related companies, and who holds the moulds.
03Disclosure logWhat was sent, when, through which WeChat or email, and how it was marked.
04IP filingsChina trademark, design and patent status around the same product.
Common confusions

Questions people ask before they build.

Short answers for orientation. The right result can change with the service model and current rules.

Is an NNN a China-specific statute?

No. It is a contract label. The Civil Code and Anti-Unfair Competition Law still supply the background. The value is the three promises plus a usable China enforcement path.

Where is the full manufacturing playbook?

Use the maintained NNN manufacturing guide for the one-week sprint. This wiki page stays at definition and routing.

Primary authorities

Reviewed sources support orientation, not a fact-specific assessment.

National laws database (NPC)
PRC Civil Code (gov.cn text)
Anti-Unfair Competition Law (gov.cn)