Before paying a deposit, obtain the seller's Chinese business license details, search the official National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System, and match the registered entity against the contract, receiving bank account, invoice details, and the person signing. A valid registration is useful evidence of identity, but it does not prove solvency, ownership of a venue, permission for every regulated activity, future performance, or the absence of fraud.［1］［2］［3］

Key Takeaways

Ask for the exact Chinese legal name and unified social credit code before searching.

Use the official publicity system rather than a screenshot or a commercial directory alone.

Compare status, legal representative, address, business scope, and abnormal-operation records.

Treat the contract party, payee, invoice issuer, and deposit receipt as one identity chain.

Verify an employee's or intermediary's authority when they sign or collect money.

Stop payment when identities conflict; a registration match is not a performance guarantee.

The China visitor planning guide covers broader preparation. This checklist ends at pre-payment verification; if money has already been paid and a dispute has begun, use the separate 12315 consumer complaint guide.

1. What should you collect before checking a Chinese business license?

Ask the counterparty for a clear, complete copy or photograph of its current business license. Record the exact Chinese enterprise name, the 18-character unified social credit code, registered address, legal representative or responsible person, registration authority, establishment date, enterprise type, and the stated business scope. Do not rely on an English trading name: it may be a brand, translation, storefront, website, or project name rather than the registered legal entity.

Also collect the proposed contract, deposit request, bank-account details, invoice or fapiao information, quotation, and the name and position of the person dealing with you. Preserve the original message thread and file metadata where practical. If the supplier refuses to identify the contracting entity until after payment, changes the name repeatedly, or sends a cropped image that hides the code or status, pause the transaction.

A license image is an input, not the result. Images can be outdated, altered, borrowed from another company, or accurate while the payment request belongs to someone else. Your objective is to build a consistent chain from official registration to the actual party that promises performance and receives the deposit.

Item to collect	Why it matters	Red flag before payment
Chinese legal name	Primary search and contract identity	Only an English brand or nickname is supplied
Unified social credit code	Exact identifier for the registered subject	Missing, blurred, shortened, or inconsistent code
Full license image	Lets you compare multiple fields	Cropped image, unexplained edits, or old copy
Contract and deposit request	Defines who owes the service or goods	Different company named on each document
Receiving account	Shows who will hold the money	Unexplained personal or unrelated-company account
Signer's identity and position	Supports authority checking	Agent will not provide employer or authorization

2. How do you search the official registration record?

Use the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System operated under China's market-regulation framework. Search first by the unified social credit code because it is less ambiguous; if that fails, copy the complete Chinese legal name exactly, including characters such as province, city, brackets, and company type.［1］ The Beijing government verification guide likewise describes checking business-license information through the official system and comparing the displayed record.［2］

Open the result that matches both name and code. Save the query time, the result page or an allowed screenshot, and the fields you relied on. A commercial company-information service can be convenient for discovery, but it should not replace the official record for this decision. Avoid links sent only through a salesperson's private message if you cannot independently reach the official government domain.

If there is no result, do not immediately conclude that the company is fake. A mistyped character, an old name, a non-mainland entity, a sole operator registered under a different form, or a temporary service issue may explain the failure. Ask for the exact current record and verify it with the relevant market-regulation authority through a published government channel before paying.

3. Which registration fields should you compare?

Start with the registration status. Wording can vary by entity type, but you need a record that is not canceled, revoked, or otherwise inconsistent with the claim that the business is currently operating. Then compare the enterprise name, unified social credit code, legal representative or responsible person, registered address, establishment date, and business scope.

Review public notices and abnormal-operation or serious-illegality information shown in the record. The registration rules and implementing measures establish public disclosure and supervision mechanisms, but the meaning of a specific flag depends on its wording and date.［3］ Ask the counterparty to explain relevant changes or listings in writing and verify important explanations with the competent authority or qualified adviser.

Business scope deserves careful reading but not overconfidence. A broad scope does not automatically prove that a company holds every separate permit needed for education, healthcare, travel, finance, food, construction, recruitment, or another regulated activity. Conversely, machine-translated wording may be imprecise. For a regulated service, ask for the specific current license or permit and verify it with the issuing authority.

4. How do you align the company with the contract and payment?

Write the registered Chinese name and unified social credit code into the contract. The party promising the goods, booking, lease, course, event, professional service, or refund should be identifiable without guessing. If a brand operates through a franchisee, property manager, platform merchant, or regional subsidiary, the contract must state which legal entity accepts the obligation.

Compare that entity with the bank-account holder and the invoice issuer. A corporate account in the contracting company's name is the clearest chain, but legitimate arrangements can involve a group company, licensed payment processor, platform escrow, or authorized collection agent. The important point is not to reject every difference automatically; it is to obtain a written, verifiable explanation and supporting authorization before sending funds.

For a personal receiving account, ask why a company deposit is not being collected by the company. Request a company-stamped payment instruction or other reliable authorization, confirm it through an independently sourced company contact, and understand how the payment will appear on the deposit receipt and invoice. The fapiao and receipt guide explains why a payment record, ordinary receipt, and tax invoice serve different purposes.

5. How do you verify the person signing or collecting money?

The legal representative shown in the registry does not personally sign every routine contract. An employee, branch, broker, venue manager, or sales agent may have valid authority, but their title alone is not proof. Ask who employs the person, whom they represent, what they are authorized to sign, whether they may collect the deposit, and how long the authority lasts.

For a meaningful deposit, request written authorization or a company-stamped contract and confirm it using contact information obtained independently from an official website, registered office, published service line, or another reliable source. Do not verify authority only by calling a number supplied in the same suspicious chat. If the representative says the company name on the license is merely a formality and all money must go elsewhere, treat that as unresolved until the company itself confirms the arrangement.

Check signature blocks, company chops, dates, amendments, refund terms, and receipts as a set. A visible chop is not a universal guarantee of authenticity or authority, and a contract without one is not automatically invalid. If the amount or risk is material, obtain advice from a qualified Chinese lawyer rather than trying to authenticate a seal from appearance alone.

6. What does an official registration match not prove?

An official match answers a narrow question: a market subject with those registered details appears in the public system. It does not independently prove the following:

A registration match does not prove	Separate evidence to consider
Solvency or ability to refund	Recent financial evidence, credit terms, escrow, smaller milestones
Ownership or control of a property	Ownership, lease, management, or venue authorization
Permission for every regulated service	Current sector-specific permit from the issuing authority
Quality, inventory, or future delivery	Inspection, references, samples, written milestones
Authority of the salesperson or broker	Employer confirmation and written authorization
Safety of a personal payment account	Verified collection instruction and recoverable payment method
Absence of fraud or disputes	Independent references, public records, realistic contract remedies

Reduce exposure structurally. Pay the smallest justified deposit, connect later payments to inspectable milestones, write refund conditions and deadlines, identify the delivery location and acceptance standard, and use a payment route that produces a durable record. Never let urgency replace the identity checks: a claimed last unit, expiring discount, or manager waiting for payment is not evidence.

7. What should you do when any detail does not match?

Stop before transferring money. Make a short discrepancy list: for example, the code belongs to another name, the status is abnormal, the contract names a brand only, the payee is an unexplained individual, the invoice issuer is different, or the signer cannot show authority. Send the list through a traceable channel and ask for one coherent documentary explanation.

Independently contact the registered business or the competent market-regulation authority using a published channel. For general local routing, the 12345 government-service guide explains how to identify the responsible office without treating the hotline as a decision maker. Do not send passport scans, bank credentials, passwords, or one-time codes merely to obtain a verification answer.

Walk away if the counterparty pressures you to pay before clarification, asks you to describe the transfer as a gift or loan, wants cash without a usable receipt, substitutes a new entity at the last minute, or refuses to state refund terms. If you already paid, preserve the advertisement, chat, contract, license copy, transfer confirmation, receipt, invoice request, and delivery promises; then move to the appropriate consumer, police, civil, platform, bank, or professional-advice route based on the facts.

Summary

Obtain the exact Chinese legal name, unified social credit code, and full license details.
Search and save the official registration record rather than trusting a supplied image alone.
Compare status, representative, address, scope, and public abnormal-operation information.
Align the contracting party, receiving account, invoice issuer, receipt, and signer's authority.
Treat a registration match as identity evidence, not proof of solvency, permits, performance, or honesty.
Stop payment and verify through independent official channels when any material detail conflicts.

FAQ

Is a photo of a Chinese business license enough?

No. Use the name and unified social credit code from the image to find the official record, then compare the record with the contract and payment instructions. A genuine image can still be old or unrelated to the person collecting money.

Can I search using an English company name?

Use the complete Chinese registered name whenever possible. English names and brand names are often non-unique and may not identify the legal entity that will owe you the goods, service, or refund.

What is a unified social credit code?

It is the standardized identifier displayed for registered Chinese market subjects. For pre-payment checking, the exact code helps distinguish entities with similar names and should match the contract and official result.

Does an active registration mean the company is financially safe?

No. Registration status does not establish cash flow, debt, refund capacity, inventory, or future performance. Use payment milestones, inspection, escrow where appropriate, and professional due diligence for material transactions.

Is paying a personal account always fraudulent?

Not automatically, but it breaks the clearest company-to-payment chain and needs a credible written explanation. Confirm the collection authority independently and understand what receipt, invoice, and remedy you will receive before paying.

Does the registered business scope prove that every service is licensed?

No. Some activities require separate permits, and the general business-scope text is not a substitute. Verify any sector-specific authorization with the authority that issues it.

Can I authenticate a company chop by looking at a photograph?

Appearance alone is not a dependable conclusion. Confirm the signer's authority and the company's acceptance through independent channels, and seek qualified legal advice when the deposit or consequences are significant.

What evidence should I keep after paying a deposit?

Keep the advertisement, full message thread, contract, license copy, registry result, payment instruction, transfer record, receipt, invoice request, and promised delivery or refund terms. Preserve originals rather than only edited screenshots.

Should I use 12315 before paying?

This pre-payment process is mainly for identity and authority verification. 12315 may become relevant to a consumer dispute after a transaction, but it does not replace due diligence or guarantee recovery.

Disclaimer: This guide provides general information and is not legal, financial, accounting, or investigative advice. Registration data, licensing rules, authority, and remedies depend on the entity, transaction, place, and current law; obtain qualified advice for a material deposit.

Sources

National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System — https://bt.gsxt.gov.cn/corp-query-homepage.html
Beijing Government Services, Business Licence Information Verification Guide — https://banshi.beijing.gov.cn/pubtask/bhyjs/lxfw/%E4%BC%81%E4%B8%9A%E8%90%A5%E4%B8%9A%E6%89%A7%E7%85%A7%E4%BF%A1%E6%81%AF%E6%A0%B8%E9%AA%8C%EF%BC%88%E6%93%8D%E4%BD%9C%E6%8C%87%E5%8D%97%EF%BC%89.pdf
State Administration for Market Regulation, Implementing Rules for Market-Entity Registration — https://www.samr.gov.cn/zw/zfxxgk/fdzdgknr/fgs/art/2023/art_37bd9ff741584f9289394193fe2c3c3a.html

Sources checked 4 September 2026.

How to Verify a Chinese Business License Before a Deposit