To read a Chinese business license, check the legal company name, the 18-digit unified social credit code, the registered capital, the business scope, and the validity status. These five fields tell you whether a supplier is a real, registered business licensed to make or sell what you are buying.
This guide explains each field on the license, what it reveals about your supplier, and how to cross-check it against official records, so you can confirm a company is legitimate before any deposit leaves your account.
What a Chinese Business License Is
Every legitimate company in China holds a business license issued by the market regulation authority. It is the foundational proof that a business is legally registered. No license, or an invalid one, means you are dealing with an entity you cannot hold accountable.
The license is issued in Chinese. Suppliers often send an English summary, but the fields that matter are on the original document, so it is worth knowing what each one says regardless of the translation you receive.
The Five Fields That Matter Most
A license contains several fields. These five carry the most weight when you are verifying a supplier before an order.
| Field | What It Tells You |
|---|---|
| Legal company name | The registered entity you are actually contracting with. |
| Unified social credit code | The 18-character ID used to verify the company officially. |
| Registered capital | The company’s declared capital, a rough scale indicator. |
| Business scope | Whether it is licensed to manufacture or only to trade. |
| Validity and status | Whether the registration is current and in good standing. |
Field 1: The Legal Company Name
The legal name on the license must match the company you are dealing with. Contracts, invoices, and payments should all use this exact registered name, not a trading name, a brand, or an individual’s account.
A mismatch between the name on the license and the name on the invoice or bank account is a serious warning sign. Payments should go to the registered legal entity, not a personal account or an unrelated company.
Field 2: The Unified Social Credit Code
The 18-character unified social credit code (USCC) is the company’s official ID and the key to verifying it. This single code lets you cross-check the company against government records to confirm it is real and registered as claimed.
Since 2015 the USCC has replaced the old three-number system, a separate business registration number, organization code, and tax registration number, which were phased out by the end of 2017 under China’s “three-in-one” reform. The same code now doubles as the company’s taxpayer ID, so it also appears on tax invoices (fapiao), customs declarations, and court filings, which makes it easy to reconcile across documents.
Treat this code as the most useful number on the license. It is what turns a document you were sent into something you can independently verify, rather than taking on trust. A modern post-2018 license shows the USCC prominently with a QR code; a pre-2015 license shows a 15-digit registration number instead, and you should ask for a current reissued copy.
Field 3: Registered Capital
Registered capital is a rough indicator of scale, not a guarantee of anything. A higher figure suggests a more substantial business, but it is a declared amount, not proof of cash in the bank, so read it as context rather than confirmation.
Use it alongside other signals. Very low registered capital for a company claiming large production capacity is worth questioning, but the figure alone neither confirms nor condemns a supplier.
Field 4: The Business Scope (The Most Important Field)
The business scope reveals whether a company can legally manufacture or only trade. This is the field that separates a factory from a trading company. A manufacturer’s scope includes production of its product category. A trader’s scope centers on import, export, and sales.
If a supplier claims to make your product but the scope permits only trade, it is not the manufacturer. This single field settles the factory-or-trader question faster than anything else. One more thing to look for: the scope should include import/export or foreign-trade rights (进出口 or 对外贸易) for the company to handle its own customs clearance. If it does not, the supplier exports through an agent, which adds a middleman and another entity to verify.
This is exactly the check behind factory versus trading company, where license scope is the clearest documentary tell.
Field 5: Validity and Status
Confirm the license is current and the company is in good standing. A registration can be expired, suspended, or flagged for irregularities. Dealing with a company whose status is not clean adds risk you can avoid by checking.
The registry uses specific status words worth knowing. 存续 or 在营 means active and in operation, so you can proceed. 注销 means the company is deregistered, and 吊销 means its license was revoked; both mean stop. 经营异常 means the company is on the Abnormal Operation list, often for failing to file annual reports, which is a clear red flag. The paper copy may look valid while the online status tells a different story, so always check the live record.
How to Cross-Check the Chinese Business License Officially
A license you were sent means little until you verify it against official records. Use the USCC to confirm the company on the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System (NECIPS, also called GSXT), the free official registry run by China’s market regulator, rather than relying on the PDF a supplier provided.
Enter the full Chinese name or the USCC, then match every field, name, USCC, legal representative, registered capital, address, business scope, status, and establishment date, character for character against the license. Any mismatch means the document has been altered, belongs to a different entity, or the registration has changed. A document can be edited; the live registry cannot be faked as easily, which turns the license from a claim into evidence.
This cross-check is one part of verifying a manufacturer, which combines the license with export history, certifications, and a factory check for full confidence.
Red Flags on a Business License
Certain issues on or around a license should stop an order until resolved.
- Legal name does not match the invoice or bank account.
- Business scope is trade only for a claimed manufacturer.
- Registration is expired, suspended, or flagged.
- Supplier resists sending the full original license.
These often accompany the wider supplier verification checklist failures that signal a supplier worth avoiding.
| How JEES Global Verifies a License for You
A license means little until it is cross-checked against official records. JEES Global verifies the registered name, scope, and status of a supplier against the government registry, then combines it with export history, certifications, and a factory check for full confidence. Paired with independent quality inspection, it covers the supplier and the goods. Send the license or supplier details to have it verified before you order. |
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I verify a Chinese business license is real?
Use the 18-character unified social credit code to cross-check the company against the official government registry, confirming its name, scope, and status. The China National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System is the official registry maintained by China’s market regulation authority for this purpose.
What does the business scope on a Chinese license mean?
The business scope lists what a company is legally permitted to do. For suppliers, it reveals whether they can manufacture your product or only trade it, which is the clearest way to tell a factory from a reseller.
Is registered capital a reliable sign of a good supplier?
Only partly. It indicates rough scale but is a declared figure, not proof of financial strength. Read it alongside export history, certifications, and a factory check rather than as a standalone measure of reliability.
Can a supplier fake a business license?
A document can be edited, which is why an official cross-check using the USCC matters. Verifying against the government registry is far harder to fake than a PDF. Note too that genuine licenses are issued only in simplified Chinese, so any “English business license” is a translation or a fabrication; always verify the original Chinese record.
Should payment always go to the name on the license?
Yes. Payments should go to the registered legal entity on the license, not a personal account or an unrelated company name. A request to pay a different account is a serious warning sign.
Read the License, Then Verify It
A business license is the first proof a supplier is real, but only once you have read the right fields and cross-checked them. If you would rather have a team confirm a license and its status before you order, send the document to JEES Global and get the supplier verified against official records first.