How do you check a supplier’s licence photo?

1. Read the company code and registered fields

Find the 18-character Unified Social Credit Code. Copy it exactly, including letters. Use it to look up the company’s current registration.

Also note the Chinese name, entity type, business scope, address, registered capital and legal representative. Use the licence field guide if you need help locating or interpreting them.

A valid check character helps catch typing errors. It does not prove that the code was assigned to a company or that the photo is genuine.

2. Keep these checks with your order file

• Save the code, source and query date. Names can change. In the 264-company sample, 53.4% had changed their legal name at least once.
• Reconcile the licence entity, invoice issuer and payee. Get any payment relationship in writing at quotation stage. Resolve unexplained differences before paying.
• Check production separately. A licence does not show capacity or product quality, and a registered address is not proof of a factory site.
• Re-check before payment. Use a fresh lookup when the order has taken months or the supplier changes its details.

Follow the official registration search steps, or request a scoped China-side check. Commercial platforms can lag the official record. Check the returned source and query date; a missing result is not proof that no record exists.

3. Check the current record, even if the photo looks recent

The licence issued at establishment records the company’s start date. That date does not show when the image was taken or last checked.

Order No. 746 generally requires an application to change registration within 30 days of the relevant decision or legal change. A change to a printed item requires a replacement licence. A saved photo may still show the old details.

In a dated sample of 264 officially recognised manufacturers, queried on 8 August 2026:

• 54.9% had changed their registration within the previous 12 months.
• 78.4% had changed it within 24 months.
• The median most recent change was 320 days old; the median lifetime count was 39 changes.

These figures describe that sample, not the chance that your supplier’s photo is out of date. Check whether the current status shows revocation (吊销) or deregistration (注销). Neither can be ruled out by an old image.

4. Confirm who is behind the document

A genuine licence can belong to a company other than your seller. Compare the named entity with the contract, invoice and bank account holder. Ask for a written explanation if they differ.

Visual clues such as stamps and compression marks cannot reliably settle authenticity. Photographing and resaving a document changes its pixels. A registry match checks the printed claims; it does not establish that the sender represents that company.

Order No. 746 prohibits forging, altering, leasing, lending or transferring a business licence. Serious cases can carry fines of up to RMB 500,000. The rule is a reason to check the relationship, not evidence about any particular sender.

Sources and check-character test

• Market Entity Registration Regulations, Order No. 746. Articles 21, 24 and 28 cover establishment, change applications and licence replacement. Articles 37 and 48 cover licence misuse and penalties. Official text checked 5 September 2026.
• Company record change study: 264 manufacturers, queried 8 August 2026. The study explains its sample and limits.

Optional: check-character experiment

What the check character actually catches. 2.9 million deliberate errors run through both algorithms on 9 August 2026, fixed seed 20260809 — reproducible end to end, no estimates.

Error injected	USCI (18-character company code)	VIN (17-character vehicle code)
Single-character substitution (1,080,000 trials)	100% caught	92.5%
Swap between data positions	100% caught	86.8%

The test caught all 1,080,000 single-character substitutions. An altered code can still have its check character recomputed. This is a typing-error test, not a test of document authenticity.

This guide explains published rules and dated research. It is not legal advice or a document-authentication service.

Frequently asked questions

What does a Chinese business licence photo actually prove?

It shows the printed fields, including the 18-character company code. Use that code to check the current registration. The image alone proves neither authenticity nor current status.

How can I tell if a Chinese business licence is fake?

You cannot reliably decide from the image alone. Compare its code and fields with the current registration, then check the sender’s link to that company. A matching record does not authenticate the photo.

Can a real licence belong to someone other than the party I am dealing with?

Yes. Compare the licence entity with the contract, invoice issuer and bank account holder. Ask for a written explanation of any difference before relying on the document.

How quickly does a saved licence go out of date?

There is no fixed shelf life. In a sample of 264 manufacturers, 54.9% had changed registration within the previous 12 months. Your supplier needs its own dated lookup.