How do you read a Chinese business licence?

1. The six fields are set by regulation, never by the supplier

China’s Regulations on the Registration and Administration of Market Entities (State Council Order No. 746, in force 1 March 2022) lists the general registered items: the fields that exist for every market entity:

• 名称: name
• 主体类型: entity type (a limited company, a partnership and an individually-owned business are not the same counterparty)
• 经营范围: business scope
• 住所或者主要经营场所: domicile or principal place of business
• 注册资本或者出资额: registered capital or capital contribution
• 法定代表人、执行事务合伙人或者负责人姓名: name of the legal representative, executive partner or person in charge

The six general items do not show turnover, headcount, factory floor area or export history. The regulation also defines filed items (备案事项). These include the articles of association, operating period, subscribed contributions and payment deadlines. Read those records separately from the licence.

2. Read the code, not the name

The code contains a check character. In these trials, it caught every single-character error and data-position swap. If the code you received fails, ask for a clear copy and check the number again. A passing checksum does not prove the code was issued or the licence is genuine.

The 18-character Unified Social Credit Code identifies the entity behind the brand or English sales name. SAMR’s Measures for the Administration of Unified Social Credit Codes for Organisations set the rule. The authority assigns the entity’s sole identity code at registration and prints it on the business licence. The code stays with that organisation for life and is never given to another.

Names can change. In our census of 264 officially recognised “Little Giant” manufacturers, 53.4% had changed their legal name at least once. A name from an old invoice may be out of date. Check the code before choosing a similar-looking name from the results.

The code also doubles as the company’s tax number. Any fapiao (发票) the entity issues must carry this same code. A fapiao is the official tax invoice in China’s invoicing system, never the commercial invoice a supplier types up for export. This gives you a cross-check: a matching code links the fapiao to the licence entity. A different tax ID identifies a different billing entity.

Practical rule: take the code off the licence, check the current record against the code, and record how the English trading name relates to it.

3. Check what the capital figure means

Order No. 746 generally uses a subscription registration system (认缴登记制), subject to legal exceptions. The RMB figure records a contribution commitment. It does not show how much cash the company has today.

Check contribution disclosures and payment deadlines separately. The licence does not show what has been paid in, and even a paid-in figure is not a current bank balance.

In the same 264 records, 37% showed paid-in capital below the subscribed figure. That gap alone does not show financial distress. Read the five-year contribution rule and transition timetable under the Company Law in force since 1 July 2024. The licence figure does not show funds in a bank account.

4. Read the scope and check any required approvals

Order No. 746 distinguishes general operating items (一般经营项目) from licensed operating items (许可经营项目). Some licensed items require approval before registration. For those items, Article 14 requires the applicant to submit approval documents. Do not assume every licensed item on the scope was approved at registration.

Read the whole scope. Compare manufacturing verbs with trading wording. Treat the import-export line as a drafting signal. In the 264-company sample, 25.4% carried no import-export wording.

5. Compare the issue date with the current record

At establishment, the licence issue date marks the entity’s date of establishment. It does not show how recently you checked the record. A later replacement licence should not be read as a newly established company.

Article 24 requires an application to register changes within 30 days of the decision or relevant legal event. Under Article 28, changes to printed licence items require a replacement licence. Compare the document with the current record, even when the photo looks recent.

In the same 264-company sample, 54.9% had changed their registration within the previous 12 months as of 8 August 2026. That count does not tell you whether this supplier’s licence is out of date. Compare its fields with the current record. See what a licence photo can and cannot prove.

6. What the document cannot do

• It cannot show current status. An old licence photo can look unchanged after revocation (吊销) or deregistration (注销). Active status labels include 存续 and 在业. Check the current record.
• It cannot prove production. 住所 is where the entity is registered — frequently an office or a unit in a building. Registered address is not factory site.
• It cannot tell you who signs, and in mainland China the company chop matters alongside the signature. The 法定代表人 is the recorded legal representative; if someone else signs, ask for written evidence of authority. The company chop (公章) is engraved with the company’s full Chinese legal name, the same name printed on this licence. If the chopped name differs from the licence name, stop and identify which entity issued the document.
• It cannot authenticate itself. The regulation separately penalises forging, altering, leasing, lending and transferring a business licence, with fines up to RMB 500,000 in serious cases. Rules exist for behaviour that happens.

This guide draws on published registration rules and my own dated counts. It is not legal advice, an audit or a compliance opinion. A public record helps identify the entity; it cannot make the transaction safe.

We obtain records through licensed commercial platforms that republish official filings. A missing platform result does not prove the official record is absent. Follow the official search steps. The free in-browser check reads a scope you already hold. A scoped China-side check returns the record with its source and query date.

You have the licence. Read it in this order.

1. Check the code before anything else. The 18-character 统一社会信用代码 carries a check digit, so one mistyped character fails before you ever reach a registry. Validate it in your browser: nothing is uploaded.
2. Read the full 经营范围. 制造 (manufacturing) and 贸易 (trading) sit in the same field and describe different counterparties. Paste the scope for an indicative reading.
3. Line up three names. Check whether the contract seller, invoice issuer and bank beneficiary are the same entity. If they differ, ask for documents explaining their roles. Compare them character by character: no upload, no network request.

All three run in your browser without an account or uploading what you type. To check whether the record is current, look the code up in the registry.

Need someone to read the registry record for you? The “who is this company” option in the supplier report menu starts from $26.55. It includes the source and query date. You see the scope and total before any charge.

Buying through a Chinese seller of record is a separate purchasing route, with its own terms and trade-offs.

Primary sources

• Regulations on the Registration and Administration of Market Entities (State Council Order No. 746) — full text as published on a government portal; promulgated 27 July 2021, in force 1 March 2022. Registered items, filed items, the subscription capital system, scope categories, issue date, the 30-day change rule and the licence penalties all come from it. Checked 5 September 2026.
• Measures for the Administration of Unified Social Credit Codes for Organisations — State Administration for Market Regulation, published 22 December 2025. One code per organisation for life, printed on the licence, one-licence-one-code. Checked 5 September 2026.
• National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System, the official record these fields are published from. It is in Chinese and does not always serve.

Frequently asked questions

What fields are on a Chinese business licence?

Order No. 746 defines six general registered items. These include name (名称), entity type (主体类型), business scope (经营范围) and domicile or principal place of business (住所或者主要经营场所). The other two are registered capital or capital contribution (注册资本或者出资额), and the legal representative, executive partner or person in charge (法定代表人、执行事务合伙人或者负责人姓名). The 18-character Unified Social Credit Code identifies the entity.

Does registered capital on a Chinese business licence mean the company has that money?

No. Registered capital generally records a contribution commitment, subject to legal exceptions. It does not show cash on hand. Check contribution disclosures and payment deadlines separately. In our 264-company check, 37% showed paid-in capital below the subscribed figure.

Should I search for a Chinese supplier by name or by code?

Use the code. The Unified Social Credit Code stays with the entity; company names can change. Among the 264 elite manufacturers we checked, 53.4% had at least one former legal name. A name from an old invoice may be out of date.

What does the date on a Chinese business licence mean?

At establishment, the licence issue date marks the entity's creation. Later changes to printed items require a replacement licence. The 30-day rule concerns applying to register changes; it does not make a licence photo a current registry check. Compare the document with the live record and save the query date.