Measurement recordUpdated when we re-test
Chinese official sites: 5 of 8 returned no HTTP 200.
A failed request is not evidence about a supplier. On 8 August 2026, five of eight official hosts returned no HTTP 200 to our scripted requests from mainland China. Later sessions and an overseas panel show why each result needs its date, client and controls. See the separate GSXT study for that host.
Short answer
On 8 August 2026, five of eight official hosts returned no HTTP 200 in three browser-header rounds from mainland China. Both controls returned 200 in their recorded first-round requests. None of the three target responses with status 200 carried an English-version marker. These scripts did not run browser searches.
26 August overseas result: the court host returned 403 in 23 requests from 19 countries and 200 in one request from Hong Kong. Node sets varied by host and round. This does not isolate geography as the cause. Read the counts and control limits →
Before treating a failed lookup as supplier evidence
Separate a source refusing the request from a supplier having no record. The panel below measures the source only.
Each target host was requested at its root three times with a browser user agent on 8 August 2026. The browser-user-agent request returned the same status in all three rounds. An extra CLI request differed for the court-enforcement host. Control hosts were requested from the same machine in the same session.
| Host | What buyers use it for | Result (3 of 3) | English front page |
|---|---|---|---|
www.gsxt.gov.cn | Company registry (GSXT) | 521 | — |
www.creditchina.gov.cn | Credit China: penalties, dishonesty lists | 412 | — |
wenshu.court.gov.cn | Court judgments | 200 | No marker found |
zxgk.court.gov.cn | Court enforcement records | 200 (browser UA only) | No marker found |
sbj.cnipa.gov.cn | Trademark office | 403 | — |
credit.customs.gov.cn | Customs enterprise credit | 412 | — |
openstd.samr.gov.cn | National standards (GB) texts | 200 | No marker found |
cx.cnca.cn | CCC certification queries | 521 | — |
www.gov.cn | Control: government host | 200 | |
www.baidu.com | Control: commercial host | 200 |
zxgk.court.gov.cn returned 403 to the bare client and 200 to the script with a browser user-agent header in the same session. The other seven hosts returned the same codes under both profiles. Both clients were scripts; neither result establishes what a person with a browser would see.
These codes record HTTP responses, but do not identify which server or intermediary returned them. IANA lists 521 as unassigned. RFC 9110 defines 412 as a failed request precondition; 403 means the request was refused. The codes alone do not establish an outage, geographic block or its cause. Sources read 9 September 2026.
The saved follow-up notes report 412 with both plain and fuller browser headers. They do not isolate the cause. TLS handling or a JavaScript challenge remained possible explanations, not findings. The attempted overseas browser result failed a government-host control and was excluded.
The two hosts returned 412 to the recorded method in the tested locations. That does not establish that they were unreachable by a browser. The earlier wording, “refuse every client”, was too broad. The court counts likewise describe requests; they do not by themselves prove the cause of the different outcomes.
The 14 August challenge write-up discusses a separate GSXT observation. This panel did not run that browser test. Its saved status codes cannot show that a challenge was passed or a company search completed.
We do not attempt to defeat challenges. Use this panel for its dated HTTP results, not as proof that all scripts fail or all browsers work. Human checks and commercial-provider routes have separate scopes.
Method
- Requests. HTTPS GET to each host root, three rounds, recording the status code. Round one was sent as a matched pair: a plain command-line user agent and a desktop-browser user agent, to compare the recorded response codes. Rounds two and three used the browser user agent.
- Controls. The same-session requests to
www.gov.cnandwww.baidu.comreturned 200. That distinguishes those responses from the target responses. It does not prove every route to China worked or locate the cause of a target failure. - English detection. For hosts that served, the first 120 KB of front-page markup was scanned for English-version markers (an
Englishlink,lang="en", an/en/path). This is a front-page markup scan, nothing deeper. - What we did not do. No searches were submitted, no CAPTCHA was touched, no data was collected from any of these portals, and nothing was proxied or mirrored. Measuring whether a front door opens is a different activity from walking through it.
What this does not establish
- The first panel covers mainland requests only. Earlier overseas attempts failed their controls and remain excluded. The 26 August node data is a separate panel with unpaired nodes and one missing government-control status. It does not close every overseas-access question.
- Nothing beyond the front page. A 200 on the root does not mean a search completes: the interactive path may require verification steps this measurement never touched. And an English sub-site could exist somewhere the front-page markup does not announce.
- Nothing permanent. One connection, one date. A host that refuses this week may serve next week. A different Chinese ISP may see something else. Re-test before citing it; conditions move.
- Nothing about any company. An unreachable portal is a fact about infrastructure on a date. It is no evidence that a record is missing, or that anyone is concealing anything.
What a buyer does with this
Keep access and the supplier claim separate. The first 120 KB scan found no English marker in the three target responses with status 200. It did not search for English sub-sites or test interactive searches. A buyer may use the official search steps or request a dated human check with an agreed scope.
Related: the registry-availability record this panel extends · how to read a registration record once you have one.
Re-probed two weeks later: seven of eight unchanged, one moved
The 22 August 2026 retest used the same eight targets and two user agents, with no redirects or retries. It ran from a Shanghai cloud node; the baseline used a consumer connection. Both date and network changed.
| Result after two weeks | Hosts |
|---|---|
| Status code identical to 8 August | 7 of 8, plus both controls |
| Changed: stopped refusing command-line clients (403/200 → 200/200) | 1: the court enforcement portal |
Seven of eight hosts repeated their codes on 8 and 22 August. These are two sessions with no monitoring between them. They do not establish that a retry between those dates would fail.
One host had a different status pair at the two dates. The court host changed from 403/200 to 200/200. These observations do not isolate a filtering rule or a network cause. Keep both dates and networks when citing the comparison.
The overseas round of 22 August was voided in full. A government control host returned nothing while a commercial control returned 200, which under this study’s own rule 3 means the round describes the link. The targets stay unmeasured. Both rounds and the controls: the two-week retest; raw records in china-official-source-retest-2026-08-22.json.
Re-probed a month later: all eight hosts back on the 8 August pattern
The probe ran again on 7 September 2026 from the same domestic vantage. Same eight targets, same two user agents, no redirects followed, no retries. Both control hosts answered 200.
| Result after thirty days | Hosts |
|---|---|
| Status codes identical to 8 August, for both clients | 8 of 8, plus both controls |
| Still serving no front page to either client | 5 of 8 |
| 200 with a browser header; 403 with the bare client | 1 of 8: the court enforcement portal |
The court host returned 200/200 on 22 August, then 403/200 on 7 September, matching the 8 August pair. The recorded response pair changed in both directions. The observations do not explain the cause or show whether a buyer could complete a search.
The overseas round of 7 September was voided under rule 3, as the 22 August round was. The government control host reset the connection while the commercial control answered 200, so that round describes the egress and says nothing about the targets. Dataset: china-official-source-panel-retest-2026-09-07.csv; raw probe: official-source-probe-2026-09-07-direct.json.
26 August: 240 overseas requests, with unpaired controls
The 26 August file holds 240 requests across 34 countries and territories: 24 requests for each of eight targets and two controls, split across two rounds. The court host alone has 20 country or territory labels. Hosts used different node sets; this is not a fully paired country comparison.
| Host | Inside mainland China | From overseas nodes | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|
zxgk.court.gov.cnCourt enforcement records | 200 | 23 × 403; 1 × 200 | 24 requests; 20 country/territory labels |
sbj.cnipa.gov.cnTrademark office | 403 | 23 × 301; 1 × 403 | 24 requests; 18 country/territory labels |
www.gsxt.gov.cnCompany registry | 521 | 21 × 403; 1 × no status; 2 × 521 | 24 requests; 19 country/territory labels |
wenshu.court.gov.cnCourt judgments | 200 | 23 × 200; 1 × no status | 24 requests; 16 country/territory labels |
openstd.samr.gov.cnNational standards | 200 | 24 × 200 | 24 requests; 17 country/territory labels |
www.creditchina.gov.cnCredit China | 412 | 24 × 412 | 24 requests; 17 country/territory labels |
credit.customs.gov.cnCustoms enterprise credit | 412 | 23 × 412; 1 × no status | 24 requests; 17 country/territory labels |
cx.cnca.cnCCC certification | 521 | 23 × 521; 1 × no status | 24 requests; 17 country/territory labels |
www.gov.cnControl | 200 | 23 × 200; 1 × no status | 24 requests; 19 country/territory labels |
www.baidu.comControl | 200 | 24 × 200 | 24 requests; 19 country/territory labels |
The court file contains 23 responses with status 403 and one with 200. The 200 came from Hong Kong in round two. Other hosts also had exceptions to their most common status, shown above. These counts do not establish a general geographic block or predict what a buyer would see.
What the location comparison can show
The domestic requests and overseas nodes used different network paths and client setups. Even within the node network, changing a node changes its IP, route and resolved destination. The court result is a location-associated difference; it does not isolate a country rule or exclude client handling.
- Keep the dates separate. Domestic court codes changed from 403/200 on 8 August to 200/200 on 15 and 22 August, then back to 403/200 on 7 September. These are short sessions. They do not establish the domestic result for every client on 26 August.
- Only one Hong Kong response. It returned 200 only in round two. India, Turkey and the United States have 403 observations in both rounds. The shared tool narrows the comparison but does not hold IP, routing or resolved server constant.
Neither observation tells us how the distinction is enforced, and we have not tried to find out. Filtering could sit at the network edge, in a CDN rule, or in the application. This panel reports what a request receives. The mechanism behind it is out of scope.
Method, and the rule that voided two earlier attempts
- Nodes. The complete file spans 34 countries and territories; each host spans 16 to 20. The court subset spans 20. Use each row’s node, round and host. The file does not contain 34 paired country tests.
- Control limits. The government control returned 200 in 23 requests and no HTTP status in one. The commercial control returned 200 in all 24. This corrects the earlier claim that every control answered. Target and control nodes differ, so these results do not clear every target path. Earlier failed-control attempts remain excluded; the published file is retained for review with this limitation.
- Two sessions. Each host’s most common status was the same in both rounds, but exceptions occurred. Two sessions do not prove a lasting refusal. Counts of all responses, including missing statuses, appear in the table.
- Saved reports. Each row includes its original report URL. The court reports are 48dc04dek23b and 48dc4c0ck9d0. The downloads below preserve the recorded observations; report availability has not been rechecked in this review.
What this overseas panel still does not establish
- Nothing about a person with a browser. These are automated requests from data-centre nodes. A buyer sitting in Rotterdam with an ordinary browser and an ordinary connection may see something different, and we have not measured that.
- Nothing about intent. A 403 is a refusal. It is not a motive. Geographic access rules exist for many reasons, including licensing, load and abuse control.
- Nothing permanent. Two rounds on one day. The domestic sessions also recorded different status pairs on different dates. Neither panel predicts future access or isolates a filtering cause.
- Nothing beyond the front door. A 200 means the root responded. It does not mean a search completes, and it does not mean the record you want is reachable behind it.
The data. Every observation behind this panel, one row per node per host per round — 240 rows across 34 countries and territories, with the public report URL on each row: CSV · JSON. Recompute any figure above from it yourself.
Archived independently of this site, each with its own DOI: Zenodo · Harvard Dataverse · figshare. If this page ever disappears, the measurement does not.
Independent context: Vincent Brussee, “Conceptualizing the reverse great firewall”, Journal of Cybersecurity 12(1), 2026. Its November 2025 tests covered 13,508 government websites using residential proxies in 14 countries, with rotating request headers and retries. We checked the published methods on 10 September 2026. They differ from this panel and do not validate our node controls or establish the cause of our Hong Kong result.
What the records hold, for anyone deciding whether the obstacle is worth clearing
A separate commercial-source run on 21–22 August 2026 requested nineteen dimensions for 45 selected company codes. The selection method does not establish 45 verified manufacturer identities. These returned counts do not measure what the official hosts would return.
| Dimension | Codes with returned records |
|---|---|
| Company-type query | 45 of 45 |
| Shareholders and annual reports | 44 of 45 |
| Change history and import/export credit | 41 of 45 |
| Qualification certificates | 36 of 45 |
Ask which source supplied the result and what is missing. A commercial-provider hit does not prove complete records or direct official access. This table does not show that a China-side person is necessary for every check.
This is a different access route. It is not a way around the refusals measured above, and it does not contradict any observation in this study.
Citing this panel
Quote or reproduce these results freely, including commercially, provided the test dates (8 and 22 August 2026 domestic; 26 August 2026 overseas), the vantage for each panel and the stated limits travel with them. The dates are load-bearing: a status code from August 2026 says nothing about these hosts today. Machine-readable evidence, every host and round: the domestic panel data · the overseas panel data.
Archived copies, each with its own DOI, resolving independently of this site: Zenodo · Harvard Dataverse · figshare.
Currawong, “Chinese official sites: 5 of 8 returned no HTTP 200”, three-round observations of eight official hosts with same-session controls, 8 August 2026, from one consumer connection inside mainland China.
https://currawongweb.com/verify/china-official-source-availability/
BibTeX
@dataset{currawong_verify_china_official_source_availability_china_official_source_panel_2026_08_08_2026,
author = {Bao L. Zhou},
title = {{China official verification source availability panel}},
year = {2026},
publisher = {Zenodo},
doi = {10.5281/zenodo.21859883},
url = {https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21859883}
}
@dataset{currawong_verify_china_official_source_availability_china_official_source_overseas_2026_08_26_2026,
author = {Bao L. Zhou},
title = {{Which Chinese official verification portals answer from outside China: 240 observations}},
year = {2026},
publisher = {Zenodo},
doi = {10.5281/zenodo.22108839},
url = {https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22108839}
}If you re-run this from another network or date and see something different, we want to hear it. Corrections that survive checking get published here with attribution, including ones that contradict us.
Browse all measured studies and methods in the research index.
This page reports connectivity observations. It is not legal advice, and it is not a statement about any company or about the completeness of any official database.
Official source timing out? Prepare a company check using the details you hold. Review the available route and its scope; this access study does not promise a live lookup result.