Business
How to check a Chinese company
Data on Chinese companies is public — the question is what to look at in it.
What to check
The unified registration number and the business licence: both must exist in the state register.
The permitted activities: manufacturing and trading are separate entries, and they show whether you are dealing with a factory or an agent.
The registered capital, the registration date and the legal address.
Whether they hold an import-export right — without it the company cannot export directly.
Worth knowing
A company’s English name has no legal force. What you check is the Chinese name and the registration number — only those are unambiguous.
Signs worth a second look
Payment details in an individual’s name, or in the name of a company that is called something else.
A refusal to show the licence, or sending it only as a low-quality image.
An address at which the register lists dozens of other companies.
A company far too new for the long experience it claims.
Careful
In China the company chop matters more than a signature. A contract without the company’s chop is not a contract and will not help you in court.
Checked: 26 August 2026
Editor: The PANDA editorial team
What you can hand to PANDA
Sources
- State Administration for Market Regulation of the PRCofficial source
- Ministry of Commerce of the PRCofficial source
- PRC government portal for foreignersofficial source
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