International buyer guideOfficial-source workflow

China company registration check: use the official record.

Start with the supplier’s exact Chinese identity, search China’s official National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System, and compare the live record with the licence, contract and payment details.

· 7-minute read · Official links checked 30 July 2026

Prepared by Currawong Web’s China-side verification desk.

OFFICIAL WORKFLOW / 01

Verify identity before interpreting risk.

The registration search answers a narrow but necessary question: which Chinese legal entity is behind the documents you received? Do not use an English storefront name as if it were the registered identity.

01

Collect the exact search keys

Ask for a current business licence and copy the full Chinese registered name and Unified Social Credit Code exactly as shown. Keep the English trading name, marketplace account and salesperson name as separate aliases.

Under China’s current unified-code rules, the code is a nationwide unique identity code assigned to an organisation and displayed on its business licence. The official coding standard is GB 32100-2015.

03

Match the live record to the deal documents

Record the query date and compare the legal name, Unified Social Credit Code, entity status, registered address, legal representative and business scope with the licence and contract. Then compare the contracting seller and bank beneficiary.

China’s market-entity registration regulation identifies fields such as name, entity type, business scope, address, registered capital and legal representative as general registration matters. Changes must be registered, so a dated live result matters more than an undated screenshot sent by a supplier.

Read what a supplier’s registered business scope can — and cannot — signal about a factory role →

Read how an English sales name, Chinese legal entity and Unified Social Credit Code should stay as separate evidence fields →

Read why a registered legal representative and a person signing a deal are separate dated evidence questions →

Read how company changes should be kept as dated evidence questions, not supplier verdicts →

Read why a registered address and claimed factory site must be checked separately →

Read how annual reports, abnormal-list entries and administrative penalties work as dated public-record signals →

04

Separate identity confirmation from supplier approval

If the official record and deal documents align, continue to product-specific compliance, manufacturing-role and payment controls. If a material field differs, hold the decision until the supplier explains the difference through a known and independently verified channel.

A registered wholesaler can be a legitimate supplier, and a company with manufacturing wording can still outsource your order. Registry language is a clue about the entity, not proof of the site, equipment, capacity or quality system behind your product.

Put identity into the global supplier due diligence sequence →

Use the free factory-or-trader reading for a narrow first-pass signal →

Then verify the production site, processes, certificate scope and fit for your order →

Before payment, match that registered identity to the seller, invoice and bank beneficiary →

05

Treat “no result” as an unresolved identity

No-result does not, by itself, prove that a supplier is fraudulent. It can reflect a copied-name error, use of an English alias, a changed entity name, an inaccessible session or invalid search conditions.

Re-copy the Chinese name and code from the licence, remove added spaces or punctuation, try the exact code, and preserve the failed query date. If the identity still cannot be matched, hold the transaction and request corrected official identity evidence rather than guessing which similar company is yours.

If access or matching remains unresolved, prepare a dated China-side human check →

MATCH TABLE / 02

What to compare before proceeding

FieldCompare againstProceed, hold or escalate
Chinese legal nameBusiness licence, contract, invoice and official recordProceed only when the seller identity is consistent or a documented relationship explains the difference
Unified Social Credit CodeBusiness licence and official recordHold when codes differ, are missing from a supplied licence, or resolve to another entity
Registration statusCurrent official recordEscalate inactive, revoked, cancelled or otherwise material status wording before contracting
Address and legal representativeLicence, contract and current recordAsk for a dated explanation when material details have changed
Business scopeQuoted role and productUse only as a first-pass role signal; obtain order-specific manufacturing evidence separately
Contract seller and payeeContract, invoice and bank beneficiaryHold an unexplained third-party or personal beneficiary

METHOD / 03

How this guide was prepared

Currawong Web’s China-side verification desk reviewed the live official sources below on 30 July 2026. We mapped each source to the narrow claim it can support: how to search, how the unified code works, which fields are registration matters and why the live record should be dated.

We did not inspect any reader’s supplier, factory, product or transaction. This page is general research guidance, not legal advice, a product-compliance opinion, a factory audit or a guarantee of transaction safety. Official portal availability and displayed records can change.

PRIMARY SOURCES / 04

Official sources used for this guide

Links and page content were checked on 30 July 2026. The live official record remains authoritative for a specific entity and query date.

COMMON QUESTIONS / 05

Keep these four boundaries clear

Can I search with an English supplier name?
The official registry is built around the registered Chinese identity. Ask for the Chinese legal name and Unified Social Credit Code instead of relying on a translated brand.
Does a matching registration prove the supplier is reliable?
No. It confirms the matched registered identity at the query time. Reliability, capacity, product compliance, delivery and payment safety need separate evidence.
Does business scope prove the company owns a factory?
No. Scope wording is a first-pass clue. Site control, process capability and order-specific production still require separate evidence or an audit.
What if the bank beneficiary is another company?
Hold payment until the relationship is disclosed, documented and confirmed through an independently verified contact channel. A mismatch is a question to resolve, not automatic proof of fraud. Verify the bank account details before payment →

NEXT CHECK

Turn the search into a dated evidence trail.

Prepare a China-side public-record request when the portal is inaccessible or the identity will not match. For regional obligations, Australian importers can continue with the Australia-focused supplier checklist.