ENTITY IDENTITY / 01
One supplier conversation can contain several names with different jobs.
This note is for a buyer comparing an English website, marketplace or sales-contact label with the Chinese company details used in an official record and deal documents. It does not investigate a specific supplier, document or account.
The English name is an alias until its relationship is recorded
Copy the English sales or storefront name exactly as it appears, together with the URL, marketplace listing, quotation or contact channel where you found it. It may be a brand, sales label or storefront label; do not silently turn it into a Chinese legal name or assume that a similar-looking name identifies the registered entity.
Ask the supplier to state the exact Chinese legal entity and Unified Social Credit Code that relate to the proposed transaction. Keep that statement, the channel and the date as a separate evidence line.
Use the Chinese legal entity and USCC as the official-record anchor
Search the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System using the exact Chinese legal name or Unified Social Credit Code. The system’s official help describes searches by enterprise name, Unified Social Credit Code or registration number.
SAMR’s current Unified Social Credit Code measures define the code as a national, unique and life-long identifier for an organization. Record the displayed legal name, code, status, source URL and query date instead of relying on an undated screenshot.
Follow the official China company-registration search steps →
EVIDENCE CHAIN / 02
Keep four lines visible before making them tell one story.
| Evidence line | Record the dated fact | Question before you continue | It does not establish |
|---|---|---|---|
| English sales or storefront name | Exact label, source URL or channel, and capture date | Which Chinese legal entity does the supplier say it represents for this deal? | Registry identity, authority or account ownership |
| Chinese legal name and Unified Social Credit Code | Exact official-record result, source URL and query date | Does the proposed contract seller use this entity, or is a relationship explained? | Factory capability, performance or payment safety |
| Contract and invoice seller | Exact seller name, jurisdiction, issue date and document version | How does it relate to the official-record entity and the sales label? | Authority to sign, product compliance or enforceability |
| Bank beneficiary | Exact beneficiary name, bank details, change notice and approval record | Is any difference documented and checked through an independently verified channel? | Account ownership, transaction safety or delivery |
A chain can make the next question more precise. It does not establish payment safety, account ownership, authority, capacity, product compliance or contract enforceability. Use the bank-beneficiary checklist for the separate payment-document comparison →
Turn a difference into a controlled follow-up
A difference is an unresolved evidence question, not proof of fraud. Re-query the code, preserve the original document and ask for a written relationship explanation through an independently verified contact channel. Do not force a close-looking English label, Chinese name or beneficiary into a match because the commercial story sounds plausible.
For a material decision, hold the decision record open until the relationship, document dates and authority boundaries are explained to the standard your order requires. A buyer can also separate this entity question from the question of a claimed site. Read why a registered address and claimed factory site need their own dated evidence →
Method and limitations
Currawong Web reviewed the official sources below on 2 August 2026. They support the narrow claims that the public system can be searched by enterprise name or Unified Social Credit Code, and that the code is a national, unique and life-long organization identifier. The four-line comparison is a buyer-controlled documentation framework, not an official verification service or legal conclusion.
We did not inspect any reader’s supplier, legal entity, factory, account, product or transaction. This is general research guidance, not legal advice, a fraud finding, a factory audit, product-compliance advice or a guarantee of supplier performance. Live records and deal documents can change.
PRIMARY SOURCES / 03
Official sources used for this note
Links and page content were checked on 2 August 2026. Re-open the live official record for the entity and date you are assessing.
- National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity SystemOfficial market-entity search by Chinese name, Unified Social Credit Code or registration number.
- GSXT — Official system helpOfficial description of the public system’s company-information search functions.
- SAMR — Unified Social Credit Code management measuresNational, unique and life-long organization-identity rules for the Unified Social Credit Code.