How to read a Chinese manufacturer's business license and 18-digit credit code before you order

Short answer

A Chinese business license (营业执照) shows that a company is registered, what it may do and who represents it. Its key is the unified social credit code: 18 characters, digits and capital letters. Type that code into China's national company registry. Then read the business scope to see if the company may manufacture, or only sell.

The license is a registration record. It does not show that a working factory exists at the address.

Why it matters when buying from China

Many quotes for fertilizers, pesticides and machines come from trading companies, not manufacturers. Buying from a trader is legal and often useful. You should still know who makes the goods, because quality, lead time and documents depend on the plant.

The license answers three early questions: does the company exist, may it produce, and do the names on your documents match it. What the license cannot show, a factory visit in China can: a dated record of the production line, taken by our team.

How the license works

Since 2015, one license and one code replace the old business, organization and tax certificates. The code stays the same for as long as the company exists. One code belongs to one company only (State Council notice 国发〔2015〕33号, 11 June 2015).

The license records the company's name, address, registered capital, business scope and legal representative (PRC Company Law, revised 29 December 2023, Art. 33). Its issue date is the company's founding date (Market Entity Registration Regulations, Decree 746, Art. 21).

How to read the 18-digit credit code

The code has five parts (State Council notice, 2015; national standard GB 32100-2015). Buyers often call it the 18-digit code, but it can contain letters.

• Character 1: registry. 9 means the market regulator, which registers companies.

• Character 2: entity type. 1 is a company, 2 an individual business, 3 a farmers' cooperative. So a company code starts with 91.

• Characters 3–8: place of registration. The first two digits are the province, the next two the city (National Bureau of Statistics coding rules). For example, 33 is Zhejiang and 37 is Shandong.

• Characters 9–17: the company's own identifier.

• Character 18: check character. It is calculated from the other 17, so one wrong character usually makes the code invalid.

The place digits are a quick test. If the code says Zhejiang but the "factory" is in Shandong, ask which company owns the plant.

Where to look a company up

Search the code, not the name, in the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System (gsxt.gov.cn). The site is in Chinese; a browser translation tool helps. Check four things on the record:

• Status. 存续 or 在业 means active. 吊销 means the license was revoked, and 注销 means the company was closed.

• Annual reports. Companies must file one between 1 January and 30 June each year (Enterprise Information Publicity Regulations, Decree 654, Art. 8). It shows paid-in capital; headcount appears only if the company chooses to publish it (Art. 9).

• Abnormal operations list (经营异常名录). A company lands here for a late annual report or false information (Art. 17).

• Penalties. Read any administrative penalty and what it was for.

Registered capital is a promise. Shareholders of a limited company must pay it within five years of founding (Company Law, Art. 47). Compare it with the paid-in figure in the annual report.

Example: a fertilizer quote from a trading company

A buyer in Türkiye receives a quote for NPK 15-15-15 in 50 kg bags. The license sent with it shows the following (fictional data):

• Name: Hangzhou ___ Agricultural Trading Co., Ltd. (贸易 in the name).

• Code starts with 913301: a company registered in Hangzhou, Zhejiang.

• Business scope: fertilizer sales (化肥销售) and goods import and export (货物进出口). No production (生产) or manufacturing (制造).

• Registered capital RMB 5 million; founded in 2023; address in an office building.

• The sales deck shows a granulation plant in Shandong.

Reading: this is a trading company, and the plant belongs to someone else. Ask for the manufacturer's name and its license. Check that the manufacturer's scope covers fertilizer production. Then decide who signs the contract and who receives your payment. The Fertilizers catalog and the MOQ you are quoted both depend on that plant.

A scope that includes production is still only a registration. Our fertilizer bagging line checks show what a dated visit records instead.

The next layer for pesticides and fertilizers

A business license is only the first document. Chinese pesticides need a pesticide registration certificate (农药登记证) from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. The plant needs a pesticide production license (农药生产许可证) from the provincial agriculture department (Regulations on Pesticide Administration, Decree 677, Art. 12 and 17). Ask for both, and check that the company names match the business license.

For fertilizers, ask which Chinese registration or license covers the product type, and ask for a copy. For Agrochemicals (Pesticides) bound for Türkiye, the Turkish rules are in pesticide import rules for Türkiye.

Common mistakes

• Searching by English name. Chinese companies are registered in Chinese. Search the code.

• Trusting the QR code or a PDF. A copy can be edited. Type the code into the registry yourself.

• Reading registered capital as cash. It is subscribed capital. Check paid-in capital in the annual report.

• Paying a different name. The bank account name should match the license name. If it does not, stop and ask why.

• Taking the scope as proof of a factory. The scope says what a company may do, not what it has.

Related terms

Manufacturer or trading company: the license scope gives the first answer. OEM and private label: see OEM vs ODM. More guides on Manufacturer Due Diligence.

Sources and last checked

All Chinese legal texts were read on gov.cn and the other official sites linked above. Last checked 8 November 2026. The sample license and the trading-company example use fictional data.