How to Check a Chinese Company's Business License and Registration Records
The business license is the single most important document a Chinese supplier will hand you. Here's what every field means and how to verify it.
In China, a company does not legally exist until it has a business license (营业执照) issued by the local Administration for Market Regulation (AMR). That license is the foundation of every supplier-verification exercise, so knowing how to read and check it is a core skill for any overseas buyer.
The fields that matter
A modern license is a single A4-style sheet (older versions have a separate 'duplicate' copy). The key fields are printed in Chinese, but they map to concepts you already know:
- 公司名称 — the registered company name (must be in Chinese; there is no official 'English name').
- 统一社会信用代码 — the 18-character Unified Social Credit Code (USCC), a permanent unique ID.
- 法定代表人 — the legal representative, the person who legally acts for the company.
- 注册资本 — registered (subscribed) capital, not necessarily money actually paid in.
- 成立日期 — date of establishment.
- 经营范围 — the approved business scope.
- 营业期限 — the term of the license.
- 登记机关 — the issuing registration authority.
The registered-capital trap
Since the 2014 Company Law reform, most Chinese companies register under a 'subscription' system (认缴制): shareholders commit to contribute capital by a future date, but there is often no requirement to actually pay it in up front. A supplier proudly showing 'registered capital of 100 million RMB' may have paid in nothing. Always distinguish registered (认缴) capital from paid-in (实缴) capital — commercial databases display both, and a large gap is a warning sign.
How to verify the license is real
- Take the USCC and search gsxt.gov.cn (National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System) — the authoritative free registry.
- Cross-check the company name and USCC against a commercial database (Tianyancha / Qichacha) for an easier-to-read summary.
- Confirm the registration status is 'active' — not revoked (吊销), deregistered (注销), or 'business abnormal' (经营异常).
- Match the registered address with the address the supplier actually operates from.
- Check whether the business scope actually covers what the supplier is selling.
Chinese company names are precise and hard to forge casually. Scammers often use a lookalike name — one character off from a legitimate, well-known factory. Always transact with the exact registered name and USCC, and put that exact name in your contract.
A supplier that is evasive about its license, sends an edited or cropped image, or whose name doesn't match its bank account should be treated with extreme caution. Legitimate factories are used to this request and will comply.
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