Glossary
What each document proves. And what it doesn’t.
Most guides tell you to “check the business licence”. Almost none tell you what a business licence can actually establish, which is far less than buyers assume. Every entry here is written in two halves: what it proves, and what it does not.
Documents a supplier sends you
What each one is, and what it cannot tell you.
- Business Scope 经营范围 The business scope is the field on a Chinese business licence that lists what the entity is legally permitted to do. It is the single most useful field for separating a factory from a trader: manufacturing entities carry wording such as 生产, 制造 or 加工, while trading entities carry 销售, 批发 or 零售. It is a legal permission, not proof of activity.
- Chinese Business Licence 营业执照 A Chinese business licence is the single-page certificate issued to every registered entity. It carries eight fields that matter to a buyer: name, entity type, address, legal representative, registered capital, establishment date, business scope and the unified social credit code. Chinese regulation requires it to be displayed at the place of business.
Registries you can check yourself
Public records, and how to read them.
- Customs Registration 海关进出口货物收发货人备案 Chinese companies that import or export goods register with customs as consignor or consignee enterprises. The registration is public and carries a credit rating — advanced certified, general certified, general credit, or dishonest. Holding export rights means a company may export; US bill-of-lading data is what shows whether it actually has.
- Unified Social Credit Code 统一社会信用代码 The Unified Social Credit Code is the 18-character identifier printed on every Chinese business licence since 2015. It replaces the old business registration number, tax number and organisation code. The final character is a checksum, so a code can be tested for validity offline — a fabricated number usually fails.
Permits that imply production
The records a trading company does not have.
Trade paperwork
Where money actually moves.
Reading the documents is step one.
Step two is someone standing at the address with a camera. That is what we do.