Document verification
How to Read a Chinese Business License
Understand every field on a Chinese business license, why it matters, and how QinCheck cross-checks licenses against official SAMR data. Use this guide to confirm legal identity, spot trading companies, and detect fraudulent or outdated documents.
- • Validate USCC, legal name, address, and scope directly with SAMR
- • Detect forged or outdated licenses before wiring payments
- • See ownership, legal representative, and change history
- • Understand business scope to distinguish trading companies from factories
Business license fields, explained
Use this breakdown as you read the license or compare data inside QinCheck reports. Each field below links directly to the panels you see in our UI.
Unified Social Credit Code (统一社会信用代码)
The 18-digit ID uniquely identifies the company. We run checksum validation, decode the issuing authority, and flag mismatches.
Legal name (公司名称)
Must match the name on contracts and bank documents. We highlight historical names when a company has recently rebranded.
Company type (公司类型)
Indicates whether the entity is an LLC, JV, branch, or sole proprietorship. Helps determine if a supplier is a factory or intermediary.
Legal representative (法定代表人)
The person authorized to sign legally binding documents. We include biographies and whether the representative controls other high-risk entities.
Registered capital (注册资本)
Shows how much stakeholders have committed. Unrealistically low capital for a claimed large factory is a red flag.
Establishment date (成立日期)
Helps you see how mature the company is and whether it existed during previous production runs.
Registered address (住所)
We provide map context and verification status so you can see whether the address is industrial, residential, or virtual.
Business scope (经营范围)
Translated and summarized to determine if the company is licensed to manufacture, trade, or provide services in your category.
Operating period & issue date
Lets you see whether the license is current and when it was last updated.
Registration authority & QR code
Shows which AMR office oversees the company and links back to the official registry.
Common red flags
- USCC checksum fails or belongs to another entity
- Company status shows 注销 (cancelled), 吊销 (revoked), or 歇业 (suspended)
- Business scope lists only “sales/import-export” while claiming to be a factory
- Registered capital is far below the scale of the claimed operations
- Registered address is a residential unit or virtual office
- QR code redirects to a different company or to an unofficial website
Real example snapshot (anonymized)
USCC
91440300MA5XXXXXX (checksum valid)
Status
Active (存续)
Company type
有限责任公司 (Manufacturing LLC)
Legal representative
Zhang Wei (also director of 1 other electronics company)
Registered capital
¥5,000,000
Establishment date
2016-08-31
Address
Shenzhen Bao’an District Industrial Park (verified industrial site)
Business scope summary
Electronics manufacturing, component assembly, export rights
Last license update
2023-05-12 (address change logged)
FAQ: Chinese business license
Can I trust a scanned business license?
Always verify the license against the SAMR registry and confirm the USCC checksum. Scanned copies are frequently altered. QinCheck cross-references every field automatically.
What if the business scope does not mention manufacturing?
The company is likely a trading intermediary. Our reports highlight scope text, translations, and whether manufacturing permissions exist.
How often does the business license update?
It updates whenever the company changes names, shareholders, addresses, or scope. We show change history so you can track recent restructuring.
Does QinCheck provide the original Chinese document?
Yes. Each verification includes screenshots, PDF downloads when available, and bilingual summaries so legal and finance teams can audit the evidence.
Want QinCheck to validate a license for you? Order a full China company report.