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I'm going to apply for a Chinese M visa (for business purposes) and I will have to give an invitation letter from the business entity I'm going to visit in China. This letter will include my complete itinerary, where I will be on which date and when I will leave China.

I need to go to China to meet a prospective supplier, but I also want to stay in China after that in order to look for and meet other potential suppliers but there is no fixed itinerary.

What should I do? I want to stay there for around one month after my interaction with the supplier is over.

Depending on your country where your passport is issued, the Chinese consulate will typically provide a 1, 2 and sometimes 10 year M visa, usually with 60 day stay maximum, despite the detailed information you provide in your letter of invitation.

As a US citizen, I was granted 10 year unlimited, 60 day stay M visa based on a rather sparse letter of invitation. The letter stated coming for some business meetings.

My coworkers, US or British passport, have all received 10 year, 60 day M visas. The only exception is a British national residing in US. He typically gets a 1 year, 60 day M visa because he is applying at the consulate in NY. Other British nationals applying in the UK have received 10 year M visas.

In my experience, your letter of invitation does not need to explicitly state your itinerary. If you plan to spend extra time in China it should not be a problem as long as you don't overstay your visa. The itinerary and bookings you use for visa application don't need to be held to.

I would expect that you would be awarded with an M visa, 1, 2, or 10 year. If you plan to stay an extra month past your work time be careful to stay within the allotted days for each stay. Taking a weekend trip to Taiwan, Hong Kong or Macau or a foreign country does count as a separate exit/entry which can be useful if you are approaching the maximum days on your visa.