Check a China supplier
Paste a company name, website, or 18-character USCC code. We search 5,580 public-record supplier profiles, validate the code’s checksum, and decode what its 18 characters actually say — issuer, region, entity type. Facts only, no scores for sale. Below the tool: the 8-step checklist and a field-by-field guide to the Chinese business licence.
How to verify a Chinese company — the 8 checks
The same sequence our sweeps automate, in the order that catches problems cheapest-first. Every step checks a verifiable fact — none of them requires paying anyone except step 7.
- 01
Get the USCC and pull the official registry record
Ask the supplier for their 18-character Unified Social Credit Code — it’s printed on every business licence. Look it up on gsxt.gov.cn, China’s official enterprise registry. You want three facts: the company exists, its status is 存续 (active), and its registered business scope actually covers what you’re buying. A supplier who stalls on sending the code is telling you something.
- 02
Match the registered name to the bank account
The single most expensive mistake in China sourcing: paying an account that doesn’t belong to the registered company. The beneficiary on the proforma invoice must match the licensed entity — not a personal account, not an unrelated Hong Kong company. If they offer a “boss’s personal account to save tax”, your money has no contract behind it. Only know the supplier’s English name? Resolve it to the registered Chinese name first.
- 03
Read registered capital and company age together
Neither number alone proves anything — a young company can be excellent. But paid-in capital of ¥100k, registered last year, quoting a $200k order is a mismatch worth explaining. Both fields are on the registry record and on every FactoryBase profile.
- 04
Establish whether it is a factory or a trading company
Both are legitimate — but you should know which one you’re paying, because it changes pricing, QC access and who actually controls your lead time. Business scope containing 生产 / 制造 (production / manufacturing) and a registered address in an industrial zone point to a factory; “trade”, “import & export” and an office-tower address point to a trader. Full walkthrough: factory or trader — how to tell.
- 05
Ask for export evidence in your market
A real exporter can show customs records, bills of lading, or named references in your region within a day. Ask specifically: “show me a B/L from the last six months to my market.” Vague answers (“we export everywhere”) cost nothing to make and mean nothing.
- 06
Do a live video walkthrough — not a video file
A pre-recorded factory tour proves someone once filmed a factory. A live video call where you direct the camera — “show me the machine that makes my product, show me the outside gate sign” — proves this supplier controls that floor today. Ten minutes, free, and it filters out most misrepresentation.
- 07
Commission a third-party audit before large orders
For orders that would hurt to lose, a factory audit by an independent inspector (SGS, Bureau Veritas, TÜV, QIMA and similar) runs roughly $300–500 and verifies premises, licences, lines and headcount on site. A pre-shipment inspection before the balance payment closes the loop.
- 08
Structure payment so a stranger can’t hurt you
Standard terms are 30% deposit, 70% against shipping documents — never 100% upfront to a new supplier. And treat any email announcing a “changed bank account” at payment time as compromised until confirmed by video call: invoice-swap fraud is the most common scam in this trade, and it targets your inbox, not the factory.
How to read a Chinese business licence (营业执照)
Every registered company holds one, and a real supplier will send a photo of it within minutes of being asked. You don’t need to read Chinese — nine fields in fixed positions carry everything that matters. Here is each field and what to compare it against.
统一社会信用代码
UNIFIED SOCIAL CREDIT CODE
The 18-character USCC, printed top-left under the QR code. Paste it into the checker above — the checksum and decoded region should agree with everything else the supplier has told you.
名称
COMPANY NAME
The only legal name the company has, and it’s Chinese. Contract party and bank beneficiary must match it exactly. Only know the English trade name? Resolve it here.
类型
ENTITY TYPE
有限责任公司 = limited liability company; 股份有限公司 = joint-stock company. 个体工商户 is a sole trader — fine for a market stall, worth a question if it’s quoting your production order.
法定代表人
LEGAL REPRESENTATIVE
The person legally empowered to bind the company. Worth knowing whether the "boss" you negotiate with is this person — or someone the registry has never heard of.
注册资本
REGISTERED CAPITAL
Subscribed capital, not necessarily paid-in. Read together with company age: ¥100k capital registered last year, quoting a $200k order, is a mismatch worth explaining.
成立日期
DATE OF ESTABLISHMENT
Company age, from the registry. Cross-check any "15 years of experience" claim — factories routinely inherit the age of a predecessor that no longer exists.
住所
REGISTERED ADDRESS
An industrial-zone address supports a factory claim; a downtown office tower suggests a trading company. Compare it with wherever they say the plant is.
营业期限
BUSINESS TERM
Licence validity period. 长期 means open-ended — the common case. A licence expiring mid-production is rare but expensive to discover late.
经营范围
BUSINESS SCOPE
What the company is licensed to do. Look for 生产 / 制造 (production / manufacturing); a scope that is all 销售 / 贸易 (sales / trade) is a trader’s licence, whatever the website says.
Common questions
How do I check if a Chinese supplier is legitimate?
Start with the company’s 18-character Unified Social Credit Code (USCC) from its business licence and look it up on gsxt.gov.cn, the official government registry — confirm the company exists, is active, and its business scope covers your product. Then verify the bank account name matches the registered entity, ask for export evidence such as a recent bill of lading, do a live video walkthrough of the premises, and use third-party inspection before large payments. No single check proves legitimacy; the pattern across checks is what protects you.
What is a USCC (Unified Social Credit Code)?
The USCC is China’s single national business identifier: 18 characters covering registration authority, entity type, region, and a checksum digit, printed on every business licence. It replaced the old separate business-registration and tax numbers in 2015. Any Chinese company can be looked up by USCC on public registries, which makes it the fastest way to confirm you are dealing with a real registered entity.
A supplier is not listed on FactoryBase — is that a red flag?
No. FactoryBase profiles 5,000+ export suppliers, built mainly from Canton Fair exhibitor records, and China has millions of registered companies. Absence from our library means we have not swept that company yet — nothing more. Use the checklist on this page to verify any supplier directly from public records, or send us the name and we will run the sweep.
Does a valid USCC checksum mean the company is real?
No. A valid checksum only means the code is well-formed — it filters out typos and invented numbers, but a fraudster can copy a real company’s code. Always confirm the code on gsxt.gov.cn and check that the registered company name matches the name on your invoice and bank transfer.
What do the 18 characters of a USCC encode?
Four segments. Characters 1–2 say which authority registered the entity and what kind it is — 91 is an enterprise registered by market regulation, 92 an individual business, 93 a farmers’ cooperative. Characters 3–8 are the GB/T 2260 division code of the registering authority — normally the company’s registration city and province. Characters 9–17 are the organisation code, which carries its own internal check digit. Character 18 is a checksum over the first 17. Paste any code into the tool above and it decodes all four segments.
How does a company get a Unified Social Credit Code?
It is assigned automatically when the entity registers with the market regulation authority — there is no separate application, and every legally registered mainland Chinese company has had one from its first day, printed on the business licence. That is what makes it useful to buyers: a supplier who cannot produce a USCC is telling you the entity either is not registered or does not want to be checked. As a foreign buyer you never need a USCC of your own unless you incorporate a company in China.
Do Hong Kong or overseas companies have a USCC?
No. The USCC covers mainland-registered entities only. A Hong Kong company has a Companies Registry (CR) number and a Business Registration number instead, and no entry on gsxt.gov.cn. Many mainland factories invoice through a Hong Kong trading arm — legitimate and common, but the Hong Kong entity is legally a different company. Verify the registration and bank account of the entity actually named on your invoice, whichever side of the border it sits.
How do I read a Chinese business licence if I don’t read Chinese?
You only need nine fields, and they sit in fixed positions: the 18-character USCC top-left, then company name, entity type, legal representative, registered capital, establishment date, registered address, business term, and business scope. The two that decide where your money goes are the company name — the Chinese name is the only legal one, so contract and bank beneficiary must match it — and the business scope, where 生产/制造 (production/manufacturing) distinguishes a factory’s licence from a trader’s. This page includes a field-by-field guide.
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