How to Verify a Chinese Supplier: License, USCC, GSXT

By ChinaManufacturers.com Editorial Desk · Updated 30 October 2026 · How this page was researched

The short answer: match one code across every document

To verify a Chinese supplier, take the Unified Social Credit Code from its business license, look it up on the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System (gsxt.gov.cn), and confirm that the registered entity is the same one named on the contract, the invoice and the bank account. If those four records describe one legal entity in good standing, the supplier exists as it claims; if they do not, the gap needs a written explanation before any payment.

The Unified Social Credit Code (统一社会信用代码, USCC) is the single identifier assigned to every legal person and organization in mainland China. It is the key that ties a license to the public record. GSXT is the state-run register maintained under the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR); the State Council names it as the channel through which companies must disclose their capital (State Council Order No. 784, Art. 4, in force 1 July 2024).

Verification in this sense confirms legal existence, registered activities and standing. It does not confirm that the company makes your product, that its quality is adequate, or that it will deliver. Those questions belong to the factory audit and to inspection.

What the business license shows

The Chinese business license (营业执照) carries the fields an importer checks against the register:

USCC — the 18-character code.
Company name in Chinese — the name to match on the register, rather than an English trading name.
Type — for example, a limited liability company (LLC).
Legal representative — the person registered to act for the company.
Registered capital — the subscribed amount, not the amount paid in.
Date of establishment.
Business scope (经营范围) — the activities the company is registered to carry out.
Registering authority.

A license image that "looks real" proves nothing. What matters is whether its USCC returns the same name, type, representative and scope on GSXT. Product-specific licenses, such as China Compulsory Certification for regulated categories or food production licenses, are separate documents and are not covered on this page.

How the USCC is built

The USCC system was set up by State Council document Guo Fa [2015] No. 33, approved on 11 June 2015 and published on 23 June 2015. The code is "designed to be 18 digits" (统一代码设计为18位), in the document's words. Industry-and-commerce registrations began issuing USCCs on 1 October 2015; most transitions were to finish by the end of 2017 and special cases by the end of 2020. Issuance is free.

Position	Meaning
1	Registration management department code
2	Organization-type code, set by that department
3–8	Administrative-division code of the registering authority (for example, 110000 for Beijing)
9–17	Nine-character subject identification code (the former organization code)
18	Check character

Two limits apply. The State Council text says "digits", but position 18 is described as a check character, and whether letters may appear in the code is set by national standard GB 32100-2015, which was not reviewed for this page. The table of department and organization-type codes is likewise governed by that standard and is not reproduced here. The practical point stands without them: a code of the wrong length, or one that returns no record, ends the check.

What GSXT shows, and the lists that matter

GSXT shows a company's registration details, its shareholders and their subscribed and paid-in contributions, its annual reports, administrative penalties, and any listing on the Abnormal Operations List or the Serious Illegal and Dishonest Entities List. The site is in Chinese and uses CAPTCHA, so many importers use commercial data aggregators that repackage the same data; the register itself remains the authoritative source.

Disclosure deadlines

Under Order No. 784, changes to subscribed or paid-in capital, contribution method or contribution period must be published on GSXT within 20 working days of the information arising.

The Abnormal Operations List

A company is placed on the list for not publishing its annual report between 1 January and 30 June of the following year, for not publishing required information within 20 working days, or for being unreachable at its registered address. SAMR's updated measures for the list took effect on 1 May 2025 and allow a company that has been removed to apply to have the related records taken off GSXT, according to a China Briefing summary (a secondary source). A listing is a reason to ask questions; a removed listing may no longer be visible.

Registered capital vs paid-in capital

Registered capital (认缴, subscribed capital) is what shareholders have promised to contribute. Paid-in capital (实缴) is what they have actually contributed. Before July 2024, a Chinese LLC could subscribe a large figure with a contribution date decades away, so registered capital was a poor guide to a supplier's resources.

The revised Company Law took effect on 1 July 2024 and requires an LLC to pay in its subscribed capital within five years of establishment (Article 47), according to a summary by the law firm Pinsent Masons. For companies registered on or before 30 June 2024, Order No. 784 sets the transition:

An LLC whose remaining contribution period runs more than five years beyond 1 July 2027 must shorten it to within five years, and record the change in its articles, before 30 June 2027 (Art. 2).
Promoters of a joint-stock company must pay in full by 30 June 2027 (Art. 2).
Registration authorities may require a company to adjust a contribution period or registered capital that is "clearly abnormal" (Art. 3). The Order sets no numeric threshold for "abnormal".

SAMR's implementing measures were published on 20 December 2024 and took effect on 10 February 2025, per the same Pinsent Masons summary. For an importer, the reading is simple: a large registered figure with little or nothing paid in is not evidence of financial strength. Whether GSXT shows paid-in capital for every company type, including branches and sole proprietorships, was not confirmed.

Business scope and export status

Compare the business scope with the product. A company whose scope is limited to "sales" or "technology services" is not shown to be licensed to manufacture, which signals that it may be a trading company.

No separate export registration since 2022

China abolished the separate Foreign Trade Operator Registration (对外贸易经营者备案登记); the commerce ministry stopped requiring registration materials with effect from 30 December 2022, after a revision of the Foreign Trade Law, according to the State Council information office. There is no longer an "export license" to check for ordinary goods.

Customs recordation still applies

An enterprise that files its own customs declarations must still be recorded with Chinese customs by submitting the Information Form for Recordation of the Customs Declaration Entity — the filing that registers a company as a customs declarant. Customs records it within three working days and publishes it on its credit platform, according to a Shanghai government guide dated 9 December 2023.

Source conflict. The same Shanghai guide still says consignors must hold a "Registration of Foreign Trade Operators", which contradicts the 30 December 2022 abolition reported by gov.cn. The gov.cn notice is the more authoritative and more specific source; the Shanghai page appears not to have been updated.

Many small factories export through a trading company or export agent that is the shipper of record. In that case the contract, invoice, export declaration and bank account should name that entity consistently. The Foreign Trade Law was revised again, adopted on 27 December 2025 and effective on 1 March 2026, adding countermeasure and national-security tools, according to Covington and the USTR 2026 Special 301 Report.

Matching the paperwork to the payment

The final check connects the register to the money. The beneficiary on the bank details should be the legal entity on the contract, with the same Chinese name and USCC record, or a payee the contract names expressly. A mismatch between contracting party and account holder is the core pattern in payment-diversion fraud.

Platform badges do not replace this step. On Alibaba.com, "Gold Supplier" is a paid membership and "Verified Supplier" is a membership tier with a third-party on-site profile assessment; the assessment report, and its date, show what was actually checked. The government register is a separate source, maintained under statute, and it is the one that answers whether the company exists as described.

Common mistakes

Treating registered capital as a measure of size or solvency.
Checking that a license "looks real" instead of matching its USCC on GSXT.
Paying a beneficiary that is not the contracting entity.
Treating a platform badge as a substitute for the register.
Asking for an "export license" that has not existed since December 2022.

Frequently asked questions

How many characters is a Chinese Unified Social Credit Code?

Eighteen. State Council document Guo Fa [2015] No. 33 says the code is designed to be 18 digits: one for the registration department, one for the organization type, six for the administrative division, nine for the subject identifier and one check character. Whether letters can appear is set by national standard GB 32100-2015, so a code of the wrong length is the clearest error.

Where do I look up a Chinese company officially?

On the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System at gsxt.gov.cn, which State Council Order No. 784 names as the disclosure channel for company capital information. It shows registration details, shareholders, annual reports, penalties and abnormal-operations listings. The site is in Chinese with CAPTCHA, so many importers use commercial aggregators, but the register is the authoritative record.

Does registered capital mean the company has that money?

No. Registered capital is what shareholders have subscribed; paid-in capital is what they have contributed, and GSXT discloses it separately. Since 1 July 2024, the revised Company Law requires a new LLC to pay in within five years, and older companies must bring long contribution periods into line before 30 June 2027 under State Council Order No. 784.

Does my Chinese supplier need a special license to export?

Not for ordinary goods. China abolished the separate foreign-trade operator registration with effect from 30 December 2022, according to the State Council information office. A company that files its own customs declarations is still recorded with customs as a declarant, and regulated products may need product-specific certification, which is separate from the business license.

What does the Abnormal Operations List mean?

It is a public flag on GSXT that most often means the company missed its annual report, due by 30 June of the following year, missed a 20-working-day disclosure, or could not be found at its registered address. Updated SAMR measures took effect on 1 May 2025. A listing does not prove fraud, but it does mean the company has not met basic filing duties.

Is a platform's verified badge enough to trust a supplier?

No; a badge reflects the platform's own process, not the government register. On Alibaba.com, Gold Supplier is a paid membership and Verified Supplier adds a dated third-party on-site assessment whose report shows what was checked. The USCC match on gsxt.gov.cn, and a match between that entity and the bank beneficiary, remain separate checks.

How to verify a Chinese supplier