What a Chinese business licence can tell you
A Mainland Chinese business licence commonly contains the unified social credit code, Chinese legal name, entity type, legal representative, date of establishment, registered address, business scope and registration authority information.
Layouts can change over time and the licence may have been reissued. Focus on the underlying identifiers and compare them with current registration information rather than relying only on visual appearance.
Start with the company name and code
Read the Chinese legal name exactly as shown and record the complete 18-character Unified Social Credit Code. These are more reliable identifiers than an English name, logo, email signature or marketplace shop name.
Confirm that the name and code correspond to the same registered entity. If the code is missing, unclear or different across documents, request a clearer copy and an explanation.
Compare the legal representative and address
The legal representative is a formal role and is not necessarily the salesperson or day-to-day manager dealing with you. A different contact person is therefore not automatically a problem.
The registered address may also differ from a factory, office or warehouse. Ask the supplier to explain each location and consider an inspection when physical operations matter to the transaction.
Understand registered capital and business scope
Registered capital should not be treated as cash available to pay creditors or as proof of financial strength. Contribution arrangements and company circumstances require context.
The business scope describes registered activities but does not prove that the company currently performs every listed activity. Compare it with the goods or services offered and investigate material mismatches.
Common warning signs
- The supplier refuses to provide a readable licence
- The Chinese legal name differs between the licence and contract
- The USCC is incomplete or belongs to another entity
- Important fields appear altered or obscured
- The invoice or payment request names a different company
- The company claims a factory location that cannot be explained
- The licence information is inconsistent with current records
What a licence does not prove
A licence does not prove that the holder owns a factory, has export experience, controls a particular bank account, holds required product certifications or will perform a contract. Use it as the beginning of due diligence, not the end.