Every legitimate mainland Chinese company holds a business licence with an 18-character Unified Social Credit Code (USCC). Learning to read that licence — and matching it to the quotation and the bank account you are asked to pay — filters out a large share of supplier fraud before any money moves.
- The USCC is an 18-character alphanumeric code unique to the company — ask for it on every first order.
- The registered Chinese name is authoritative; English names are marketing and can be anything.
- Check status ('存续' = active) and business scope on the official registry or reputable mirrors like NECIPS.
- The company name on the bank account you pay must match the licence name — mismatch is the single loudest red flag.
- Registered capital and founding date give context: a 3-month-old company with tiny capital 'manufacturing' electronics deserves questions.
What the licence contains
- Registered name (Chinese characters — the only legally binding name).
- USCC: 18 characters mixing digits and letters, e.g. 91440300MA5XXXXXXX.
- Type: limited company, sole proprietorship, partnership.
- Legal representative: the person empowered to bind the company.
- Registered capital: declared, not necessarily paid-in — context, not proof.
- Establishment date and business scope: what the company is licensed to do.
- Registered address: which district and province — useful to sanity-check 'our factory in Shenzhen' claims.
Ask the supplier to WeChat you a photo of the licence. Refusal on a commercial order is itself an answer.
Verifying the licence independently
- 1Copy the Chinese company name (not the English one) and USCC.
- 2Search the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System (gsxt.gov.cn) — the official registry — or established commercial mirrors (Qichacha, Tianyancha, Aiqicha) which are easier to use outside China.
- 3Confirm the status shows the company is active/existing ('存续' or '在业'), not revoked ('吊销') or deregistered ('注销').
- 4Read the business scope: a company whose scope is 'clothing wholesale' selling you industrial machinery merits a harder look.
- 5Note establishment date and registered capital; cross-reference with how big the supplier claims to be.
Matching licence → invoice → bank account
Fraud rarely announces itself on the licence; it appears in the gaps between documents. The licence says one company, the invoice a second, the bank account a third 'because of foreign exchange reasons'. Each may have an explanation; together they are how buyers lose deposits.
| Check | Pass looks like | Red flag |
|---|---|---|
| Invoice header vs licence | Same registered name (Chinese) | 'Sister company' or personal name |
| Bank account name | Matches licence name exactly | Personal account, different company, offshore entity you have never heard of |
| Payment change requests | None after PI issued | Email announcing 'new account' mid-order — classic hijack sign |
A documented RMB payment to a verified corporate beneficiary operationalises this: the beneficiary is checked against the company records before funds move, so an account-name mismatch stops the payment instead of being noticed afterwards.
Limits of licence checking
A genuine, active licence proves the company exists — not that it is competent, honest or the actual manufacturer. Combine the licence check with a video call from the factory floor, samples, third-party inspection on the first order, and modest order sizes until trust is earned. Verification is a stack, and the licence is its foundation layer.
Frequently asked questions
The supplier sent a licence but I cannot read Chinese. What now?
Paste the Chinese name and USCC into a registry mirror and use machine translation for the scope and status fields. The key fields — status, dates, capital, name-match — survive translation well.
Is a Hong Kong company licence the same thing?
No. Hong Kong companies register with the HK Companies Registry and have no USCC. Many legitimate traders invoice via HK entities, but then the HK entity is who you verify — and whose name must be on the bank account.
What if everything checks out but the price still smells too good?
Licence checks filter identity fraud, not bad business. A verified company can still quote unsustainable prices and vanish. Price sanity remains its own test.
SilkBridge helps importers in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania pay Chinese suppliers in RMB — documented, reviewed in Nairobi, and tracked to payout.
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