Find a Chinese supplier's legal name from its English name

You have a supplier’s English name from a website, an email signature or a quotation: “Shenzhen Sample Technology Co., Ltd.” You want to check the company, but the official registry does not know that name.

A mainland Chinese company’s registered name is in Chinese characters. Its English name is a translation the company chose itself; the registry does not record it, and two companies can use the same one. To check the company, you need its Chinese registered name or its 18-character unified social credit code (USCC). The most reliable source for both is the supplier’s business licence. An English-name search can suggest candidates, but you confirm the match against the licence, not the other way round.

Why the English name does not identify the company

Chinese rules require a company’s registered name to use standard Chinese characters. Enterprise Name Registration Regulations, art. 5. A company that wants to use its name in a foreign language translates it itself, following general translation principles; the translation is not a registered particular. Enterprise Name Registration Measures, art. 7. The business licence shows the Chinese registered name and has no field for an English one. SAMR, 2018.

Three consequences follow:

• Two unrelated companies can use the same English name. An English name such as “Ningbo Sample Trading” may stand for several different Chinese names, held by different companies in different districts.
• One company can use several English names. The website, the quotation and the bank details may each render the name differently, and none of them is wrong in a registry sense.
• The official registry cannot be searched by English name. The National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System (GSXT, Chinese only) searches by Chinese name, USCC or the older registration number. It does not record English names.

An English name may still appear in some official records. A company that registers with customs as a declarant fills in an English name on the registration form, but it supplies that name itself. Customs registration form. That makes it a self-declared translation on file, not a registered name.

Ask the supplier for the licence

The simplest route is to ask for a clear, complete image of the current business licence (营业执照). It shows the Chinese registered name and the USCC, which together identify one legal entity. A supplier that sells abroad will usually have sent it many times, and asking for it is ordinary.

When it arrives, record the Chinese name exactly, character by character, and the 18-character code. Our free credit code checker confirms that the code is well formed and decodes the region it was registered in; it does not confirm that the company exists. The guide on reading a Chinese business licence explains the other fields.

A licence image is a claim, not a check. It tells you which company the supplier says it is. The next step is to confirm that this company is on record and that its details match.

Other places the Chinese name appears

If you do not have the licence yet, or want something to compare it with, the Chinese name often appears elsewhere:

• The proforma invoice or contract. Ask for the seller’s full registered name in Chinese on the document you will sign. A seller that gives one English name on the quotation and a different Chinese name on the contract has told you which entity it is.
• The company seal. Seals on contracts and invoices normally carry the Chinese registered name. A seal image can be copied, so treat it as a lead, not proof.
• The website’s filing number. Websites that provide information services from within mainland China must file with the authorities and show the filing number at the foot of the home page. Filing Measures for Non-commercial Internet Information Services, art. 13. The filing record names the organisation that filed it. Many export websites are hosted outside mainland China and have no filing number; its absence tells you nothing.
• Bank details for a mainland account. The account name may be in Chinese or in a romanised form of it. If it is a different company, see the guide on beneficiary names that do not match the supplier.

Record each Chinese name you find, and note where it came from. If they do not agree, that is a question to put to the supplier before you go further.

Search by the English name and confirm the match

If all you have is the English name, you can look the company up in English on this site. Finding it is free; the full English report is paid. The search first looks for companies whose recorded English names match yours. If none do, it searches the Chinese names your English name most likely stands for. The right company may not be the first result, and it may not appear at all.

Treat every result as a candidate. Confirm it with at least two of the following before relying on it:

• the city or district matches what the supplier has told you, including the address on its documents;
• the USCC on the supplier’s licence or contract matches the candidate’s code;
• the Chinese name matches the one on the supplier’s own documents, character by character.

A match on the English name alone is not a match. The same English name can point to several companies, and a fraudulent seller can choose an English name that resembles a well-known company’s.

When you cannot find it

If no candidate fits, do not take the closest one. Ask the supplier for the licence or the Chinese name. A seller that will not give its Chinese registered name before you pay has left you unable to check who you are paying; hold the payment until it does.

If the English name belongs to a Hong Kong company rather than a mainland one, the mainland registry is the wrong place to look. Hong Kong companies are searched in the Hong Kong Companies Registry; see a Hong Kong company receiving payment.

What this guide does not cover

This guide covers going from an English company name to the Chinese registered entity in mainland China. It does not cover what the registry record then tells you, which is in the guide to verifying a Chinese supplier, and it does not cover Taiwan, Macao or Hong Kong registrations in detail. It is not legal advice.

If you have the supplier’s documents but cannot tell which legal entity is behind them, you can start a verification. We identify the entity from the documents; if they do not allow that with confidence, we ask for more, and refund if it cannot be resolved.