China Company Search Guide 2026: How to Verify a Chinese Business

TL;DR. The People’s Republic of China’s official company registry is the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System (NECIPS) at gsxt.gov.cn, operated by the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR). Basic search is free and publicly accessible but the interface is in Chinese with limited machine-translation quality; CAPTCHA is heavy and VPN access is typically required for users outside mainland China. Commercial aggregators Tianyancha and Qichacha provide considerably more data depth and usable interfaces, but require a Chinese mobile number for full access. Foreign compliance buyers must also screen against the US Entity List, OFAC SDN list, Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) entity list, and EU restrictive measures before onboarding any Chinese counterparty. This guide covers mainland China only. Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan have separate registries.

What is the official China business registry?

The NECIPS system (gsxt.gov.cn)

The People’s Republic of China’s authoritative public company registry is the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System (国家企业信用信息公示系统, NECIPS), accessible at gsxt.gov.cn. NECIPS is operated by the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR, 国家市场监督管理总局), which is the central government agency responsible for business registration, market supervision, and anti-monopoly enforcement in mainland China.

NECIPS was established under the State Council’s Interim Regulations on Enterprise Information Publicity (2014) and substantially expanded after SAMR was created in 2018 by merging the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC), the General Administration of Quality Supervision, and the China Food and Drug Administration. Every legally registered enterprise in mainland China is required to publish its basic registration information through NECIPS.

NECIPS covers:

• Inland companies registered under PRC company law (limited liability companies, joint-stock companies)
• State-owned enterprises (SOEs) and their subsidiaries
• Foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs), including wholly foreign-owned enterprises (WFOEs) and Sino-foreign joint ventures
• Branches of domestic and foreign enterprises
• Partnerships and sole proprietorships
• Farmer cooperatives and certain other entities

NECIPS does NOT cover entities registered in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Macau Special Administrative Region, or Taiwan.

The provincial layer

In China’s business registration system, companies are registered at the provincial or municipal level with local State Administration for Market Regulation offices. NECIPS aggregates this provincial data into a national search portal. For some entity types and some provinces, the data depth available on NECIPS differs from what is available directly from the provincial SAMR portal. Key provincial portals include those for Guangdong, Beijing, Shanghai, Zhejiang, and Jiangsu, which collectively account for the majority of registered enterprise entities in China.

If NECIPS returns limited information for a given entity, checking the corresponding provincial SAMR portal directly may return additional filings.

Credit China (信用中国)

A related government portal, Credit China (信用中国) at creditchina.gov.cn, aggregates compliance and credit data across government agencies including tax compliance records, customs data, court enforcement records, and administrative penalties. It is useful as a supplementary source and focuses on the government’s social credit scoring framework for enterprises.

What can you search on NECIPS?

NECIPS provides the following data fields for each registered enterprise:

Basic registration data (publicly available, no account required):

• Enterprise name (registered name in Chinese characters)
• Unified Social Credit Code (统一社会信用代码, USCC): the 18-character alphanumeric identifier assigned to every registered enterprise in China, analogous to a company registration number
• Registration date and authority (the local SAMR office)
• Registered address
• Legal representative (法定代表人): the individual with legal authority to act for the enterprise
• Registered capital (注册资本) and paid-up capital [VERIFY: disclosure requirements vary; not all entities must disclose paid-up capital]
• Business scope (经营范围): a description of permitted business activities
• Enterprise type (企业类型): limited liability company (有限责任公司), joint-stock company (股份有限公司), wholly foreign-owned enterprise, Sino-foreign joint venture, etc.
• Current operating status: normal (正常), revoked (吊销), cancelled (注销), or abnormal (经营异常)

Annual report data (disclosed yearly):

• Shareholder information and ownership percentages (for certain entity types)
• Change history for key registered fields
• Equity pledge information
• Administrative penalties from market regulatory authorities
• Import/export license status

What NECIPS does NOT show:

• Financial statements are not filed through NECIPS (unlike many jurisdictions). Chinese companies file financial statements with the tax authorities, not through the public SAMR system.
• Litigation and court enforcement data is not on NECIPS but is available via the Supreme People’s Court’s enforcement database and Credit China.
• Beneficial ownership information beyond direct shareholders is limited; China does not have a fully public UBO register in the Western sense.

The Unified Social Credit Code (USCC)

The USCC (统一社会信用代码) is the anchor identifier for all Chinese registered entities. Introduced in 2015 and fully implemented from 2018, the USCC is an 18-character code structured as follows:

• Character 1: registration category (1 = enterprise, 2 = government body, 3 = social organization, 5 = institution, 9 = other)
• Characters 2-8: registration authority code (6 digits), which encodes the province/city/registration level
• Characters 9-17: unique entity identifier (9 digits)
• Character 18: check digit

The USCC replaced the previous system where companies held separate company registration numbers, organization codes, and tax registration numbers. All three were consolidated into the single 18-character USCC. When verifying a Chinese counterparty, always obtain the USCC and use it as the primary identifier across NECIPS, tax databases, and commercial aggregator searches.

Commercial aggregators: Tianyancha and Qichacha

Foreign compliance buyers will quickly encounter the practical limitations of NECIPS: the interface is Chinese-only, CAPTCHA is aggressive and blocks automated and sometimes manual access, and VPN access may be required for users outside China. The government portal’s data depth on shareholders and annual reports is also limited compared to commercial sources.

Two dominant commercial aggregators fill this gap:

Tianyancha (天眼查, tianyancha.com)

Tianyancha (“Sky Eye Check”) is China’s leading enterprise information platform with over 200 million registered enterprise profiles. It aggregates NECIPS data and supplements it with:

• Litigation and court records (from the Supreme People’s Court’s public database)
• Investment and subsidiary relationships (equity maps up to multiple levels)
• Patent and intellectual property filings
• Import/export records
• Administrative penalties from multiple agencies
• News and media monitoring
• Equity pledge and mortgage records
• Court enforcement (被执行人) and dishonest debtor (失信) blacklist status

Access barriers for foreign buyers:

• Basic company search is accessible via web browser and returns a summary profile
• Full data depth requires account registration, which requires a Chinese mobile number for SMS verification [VERIFY: as of 2026; mobile verification requirement may change]
• Some features require a paid subscription (premium reports cost approximately CNY 50-200 per report, roughly USD 7-28)
• The interface is Chinese-only; browser translation tools (Google Translate, DeepL) are partially effective

Tianyancha provides an API for enterprise users and institutional buyers under a commercial agreement. API pricing is not publicly listed and requires direct contact with Tianyancha’s enterprise sales team.

Qichacha (企查查, qichacha.com)

Qichacha (“Enterprise Check Check”) is Tianyancha’s primary commercial competitor, with comparable coverage and a similar product profile. Qichacha covers approximately 200 million enterprise records and provides:

• Registry data drawn from NECIPS and provincial SAMR portals
• Shareholder and investment chain visualization
• Litigation, enforcement, and blacklist status
• Financial data for listed companies (drawn from CSRC filings)
• Patent, trademark, and brand information
• Regulatory approvals and licenses

Access barriers are similar to Tianyancha: free basic search, account required for full depth, Chinese mobile number for registration, Chinese-language interface.

For foreign buyers, the practical workflow is:

1. Obtain the USCC from your counterparty
2. Search NECIPS for basic verification (name, status, legal representative)
3. Use Tianyancha or Qichacha (via a local China desk, local partner, or translation-assisted) for full shareholder and litigation data
4. Layer mandatory sanctions and restricted-party screening (see below)

Cunzheng and UBO disclosure

China introduced requirements for companies to maintain shareholder registers and equity structures in their internal records, but there is no publicly accessible central UBO registry comparable to the EU’s beneficial ownership registers. [VERIFY: SAMR 2024 regulatory updates on UBO disclosure requirements]

The Cunzheng platform (部分省份股东信息系统) in certain provinces allows look-up of equity pledge records. Commercial aggregators like Tianyancha provide multi-level equity mapping that partially serves the UBO function, but this is commercial aggregation, not a government-operated public UBO register.

For foreign institutional buyers subject to FATF-standard CDD requirements, obtaining a direct corporate structure declaration from the Chinese counterparty, supported by Tianyancha equity map data, is the practical approach. Notarized share register extracts are available via local Chinese counsel.

Sanctions and restricted-party screening: non-negotiable for any China counterparty

China-related compliance is meaningfully more complex than most other jurisdictions because of the overlapping US, EU, and multilateral sanctions and export-control regimes that apply. Any compliance buyer onboarding a Chinese counterparty must screen against:

US Entity List (Bureau of Industry and Security)

The BIS Entity List (bis.doc.gov) restricts the export, re-export, and transfer of US-origin technology and goods to listed entities. Chinese companies representing a large share of the Entity List. Being on the Entity List does not necessarily constitute a sanctions designation under OFAC, but triggers licensing requirements for US-origin technology transfer and effectively restricts business with US companies and their affiliates. Updated regularly; verify at point of transaction.

OFAC SDN List and sectoral sanctions

The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) maintains the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, which includes Chinese entities designated under various sanctions programs including CAATSA (defense sector), CMIC (military-industrial complex), and individual designation programs. Full-blocking sanctions prohibit US persons from transacting with SDN-listed entities. See ofac.treasury.gov for the current list.

Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) Entity List

The UFLPA, enacted in December 2021 and effective June 2022, creates a rebuttable presumption that goods produced in whole or in part in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), or by entities on the UFLPA Entity List, are produced with forced labor and are prohibited from US import. The UFLPA Entity List (dhs.gov/uflpa-entity-list) includes producers, suppliers, and other companies across industries including cotton, polysilicon, tomatoes, and adjacent supply chains. This is highly relevant for any buyer sourcing goods from or through China.

EU Restrictive Measures

The EU has designated Chinese entities under its cyber-related sanctions regime and human rights framework (relating to XUAR), and the EU Investment Screening Regulation adds additional controls. Check the EU Consolidated Financial Sanctions List at eeas.europa.eu.

UN Security Council

China is a permanent member of the UN Security Council and generally not subject to UN sanctions as a country, but individual Chinese nationals and entities may be listed under UN regimes (North Korea, DPRK proliferation financing). Check at scsanctions.un.org.

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) context

For US-nexus buyers, the FCPA applies to any transaction involving Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Chinese SOEs are entities where the PRC government holds a controlling or material ownership stake. SOE employees are classified as foreign government officials under FCPA. Dealing with an SOE or an SOE subsidiary creates FCPA exposure for facilitation of any payment. Chinese company records on NECIPS and Tianyancha disclose whether a company is state-owned (国有). Verify SOE status before any commercial engagement.

Variable Interest Entities (VIEs): understanding listed Chinese companies

A large number of Chinese companies listed on US and Hong Kong exchanges use a Variable Interest Entity (VIE) structure to navigate PRC restrictions on foreign ownership in certain sectors (internet, education, media, healthcare). Under a VIE arrangement:

• Offshore holding companies (typically Cayman Islands or BVI) list on a foreign exchange
• The offshore entity controls onshore PRC operating companies through contractual arrangements rather than direct equity ownership
• Investors in the offshore listed entity do not hold direct equity in the PRC operating company

For compliance buyers, VIE structures mean that the entity appearing on NECIPS may be the operating company, while the publicly listed entity is incorporated offshore. Beneficial ownership tracing across a VIE structure requires both the NECIPS entity record and the offshore registry filings (Cayman or BVI). Regulators in the PRC have signaled ongoing concern about VIE structures; the legal status of VIE arrangements remains a risk factor for foreign investors. [VERIFY: any 2025-2026 regulatory changes to VIE legality in PRC]

How to search NECIPS

For users outside mainland China:

Access to gsxt.gov.cn from outside mainland China is blocked by the Great Firewall. A VPN with a Chinese IP endpoint is required for direct portal access. This is a practical reality for foreign compliance buyers; selection of an appropriate VPN provider is outside the scope of this guide but is a standard requirement for accessing PRC government services from abroad.

Search steps:

1. Navigate to gsxt.gov.cn
2. Enter the company name in Chinese (required for name search) or the 18-digit USCC in the search box
3. Complete the CAPTCHA (image-based, typically characters from Chinese text)
4. Select the correct entity from the results list (Chinese names may have multiple similar entries)
5. The entity profile page returns registration data, annual report summaries, and linked records

Browser translation: Chromium-based browsers with Google Translate enabled provide partial translation. Key data fields (USCC, status, registration date, legal representative) are reliably translatable. Business scope descriptions and annual report text translate with variable quality.

Alternative access points: Several provincial SAMR portals (e.g., Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong) are sometimes more responsive than the national NECIPS for entities registered in those provinces.

How much does it cost?

CNY/USD approximate rate: 7.1 (May 2026 approximation; verify at pbc.gov.cn or a live FX provider before any transaction).

Account and access requirements

NECIPS requires no account for basic search. A CAPTCHA must be completed per session. No Chinese identity document is required.

Tianyancha and Qichacha require account registration for full data access. Account registration currently requires a Chinese mobile number for SMS verification [VERIFY: subject to change]. Foreign buyers without a Chinese mobile number typically access aggregator data through:

• Local China desks at established due diligence firms
• International data suppliers with China coverage (see local data suppliers section)
• Chinese legal counsel or local compliance partners

Is the interface in English?

NECIPS is predominantly in Chinese (Simplified Chinese characters). A partially translated interface existed at gsxt.gov.cn with some English-language navigation, but the depth of English content is limited. Company profile data is in Chinese. Browser-based machine translation provides functional but imperfect output.

Tianyancha and Qichacha are Chinese-only. No official English interfaces exist for either platform.

For foreign buyers who do not have Chinese language capability, engaging a local partner, China-specialized due diligence firm, or commercial data supplier offering English-language reports is the practical solution.

Practical tips for foreign compliance buyers

• USCC is the non-negotiable identifier. Always obtain the 18-character Unified Social Credit Code from your counterparty before any search. Name searches on NECIPS are unreliable for disambiguation, especially for common business names.
• Four-layer screening is mandatory. Before onboarding any Chinese entity: (1) NECIPS status check, (2) OFAC SDN list, (3) BIS Entity List, (4) UFLPA Entity List. None of these can be skipped in a compliant workflow.
• Distinguish entity types. A wholly foreign-owned enterprise (WFOE, 外商独资企业) has different governance and disclosure characteristics than a Sino-foreign joint venture (合资企业) or a state-owned enterprise (国有企业). SOE status has direct FCPA implications for US-nexus buyers.
• VIE structures require offshore filings. If the counterparty is a listed company using a VIE structure, the PRC operating company on NECIPS is not the same legal entity as the offshore holding company that is the counterparty on your contract. Clarify which legal entity is the contracting party before signing.
• Registered capital vs. paid-up capital. In China’s 2013 company law reform, the requirement to actually pay in registered capital within a specific timeframe was removed for most entity types. As of 2026, PRC reform discussions are ongoing regarding restoring paid-in capital requirements. Verify the current position and interpret registered capital figures accordingly. [VERIFY: 2025-2026 company law reform outcomes regarding paid-in capital requirements]
• Business scope restrictions are real. Chinese companies are legally restricted to conducting business within their registered business scope. A company showing a registered scope that does not include your intended transaction may be operating outside its authorizations. This carries regulatory risk for the Chinese entity and counterparty risk for you.
• Operating status flags. “Abnormal operation” (经营异常) status means the company has failed annual reporting or other regulatory requirements. This is a material red flag. “License revoked” (吊销) means the operating license has been administratively revoked. Always check current status before relying on any other data.
• Court enforcement blacklist. The Supreme People’s Court maintains a list of entities and individuals subject to enforcement proceedings (被执行人) and a separate dishonest debtor list (失信被执行人). These are accessible via Tianyancha, Qichacha, and Credit China and should be part of any standard China due diligence check.

Alternatives if you cannot access NECIPS directly

• Tianyancha (tianyancha.com) and Qichacha (qichacha.com): commercial aggregators with the most complete China company data outside the government system. Requires VPN for non-China access. Requires Chinese mobile for full account access.
• OpenCorporates China data: OpenCorporates indexes some SAMR data and provides English-language name searches. Coverage depth is more limited than Tianyancha or the NECIPS portal directly.
• Commercial data suppliers: see the section below.

Local and international data suppliers

Given the language and access barriers, most foreign compliance buyers working with Chinese counterparties at scale use commercial suppliers:

• Dun & Bradstreet China (dnb.com/cn). Provides D-U-N-S registered company reports for Chinese entities in English. Covers basic registration, credit risk, payment behavior, and director information. Standard supplier for US and European procurement teams requiring English-language Chinese company intelligence.
• Orbis / Bureau van Dijk (a Moody’s company). Orbis aggregates Chinese company financial and ownership data from SAMR, Tianyancha, and other sources into a structured database with English-language output. Used by financial institutions for China counterparty and UBO analysis.
• Mintz Group (mintzgroup.com). A specialized due diligence firm with operations in Beijing and Shanghai. Provides enhanced due diligence reports for Chinese entities in English, drawing on primary-source registry research, court records, and field-level verification. [VERIFY: current operational status in China given 2023 office raid; Mintz operations may have changed] [VERIFY]
• Control Risks China Desk. Global risk consultancy with established China practice. Provides political and operational risk analysis alongside standard registry due diligence for Chinese counterparties.
• Sayari Analytics (sayari.com). Provides structured China ownership data including equity chains and linked entities in English, with specific focus on trade and sanctions compliance workflows.

FAQ

Can a foreign company verify a Chinese company without any Chinese contacts?

Partially. NECIPS is accessible via VPN for basic status verification. Commercial aggregators Tianyancha and Qichacha provide deeper data but require Chinese mobile numbers for account registration. In practice, most foreign compliance teams either engage a local China partner or subscribe to a commercial supplier (Dun & Bradstreet, Orbis, Sayari) that provides English-language Chinese company data without requiring direct portal access.

What is the Unified Social Credit Code (USCC)?

The USCC (统一社会信用代码) is the 18-character unique identifier assigned to every registered enterprise and institution in mainland China. It replaced the previous three-number system (company registration number + organization code + tax registration number) and is now the single cross-government identifier. The USCC appears on business licenses and official company documents. It is the primary search key for NECIPS and all commercial aggregators.

Does China have a public beneficial ownership register?

China does not have a publicly searchable central UBO register comparable to EU member state registers. Shareholders are disclosed in NECIPS annual reports (one level of ownership), and commercial aggregators map equity chains to multiple levels, but this is aggregated data rather than a formal government UBO register. China’s AML regulations require financial institutions and certain other entities to verify UBO internally, but that data is not publicly accessible. A formal public UBO register has been discussed in the context of FATF mutual evaluations. [VERIFY: any 2025-2026 Chinese UBO register developments]

Is China on the FATF grey list?

No. China is a FATF member country. China’s 2019 FATF Mutual Evaluation found material improvements in AML/CFT effectiveness but noted gaps in beneficial ownership enforcement and virtual asset regulation. China has been in follow-up since 2019 and has not been grey-listed. Check current status at fatf-gafi.org. Note that FATF grey-list status is separate from bilateral sanctions and export-control regimes (OFAC, BIS Entity List) that apply to China.

What is a WFOE and how do I identify one?

A Wholly Foreign-Owned Enterprise (WFOE, 外商独资企业) is a Chinese limited liability company with 100% foreign ownership. WFOEs appear on NECIPS with the enterprise type designation 外商独资企业. They are subject to PRC company law and sector-specific foreign investment restrictions listed in the Negative List (国家外商投资准入负面清单), updated periodically by the Ministry of Commerce.

How do I know if a Chinese company is state-owned?

NECIPS discloses the enterprise registration type, which indicates whether the company is a state-owned enterprise (国有独资公司), a state-controlled entity, or a private company. Tianyancha and Qichacha further classify entities by their position in state ownership chains and show the equity chain up to the ultimate state shareholder. For FCPA purposes, entities where state capital accounts for a majority or controlling share are SOEs; their employees are foreign officials under the FCPA.

How current is NECIPS data?

Changes to key registered fields (legal representative, address, registered capital, business scope) are filed with the local SAMR office and reflected in NECIPS typically within a few business days of registration. Annual report data is filed once per year (due June 30 for the prior calendar year) and reflects information as of the end of that annual period. Financial data is not on NECIPS; it must be obtained from commercial suppliers or directly from the company.

Last verified: May 2026. Sources: State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) (samr.gov.cn); National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System (gsxt.gov.cn); US Bureau of Industry and Security Entity List (bis.doc.gov); OFAC SDN List (ofac.treasury.gov); UFLPA Entity List (dhs.gov/uflpa-entity-list); FATF China country page (fatf-gafi.org); EU Consolidated Sanctions List (eeas.europa.eu). This guide covers mainland China only. Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan have separate registries not covered here. [VERIFY:] flags throughout indicate fields subject to regulatory change in an active reform environment.