China’s National Business Credit Lookup System was launched in 2014 to provide a single platform for looking up registry and credit information for businesses.

The platform enables users to look up business reporting and disclosures for business entities, agricultural cooperatives, sole proprietors, and any other type of commercial enterprise. Looking up the name of business partners is a fundamental step in due diligence and should never be skipped. Looking up a business’s credit information requires either their name or identification number, with name searches support fuzzy matching. A single search will display up to 50 records, and search results will not display if there is an error. Businesses can also submit their annual reports via the system by selecting the region where the business entity was formed and entering the necessary information into the Business Entity Public Information Report.

This part is filled in by the business regulator. Provincial business regulators add details about businesses to the system, which is displayed during searches; this can provide you with information about potential negative business information.

Comparative Law

The business credit lookup system in China combines features familiar in US Secretary of State business lookup systems and incorporates much of the information typically available from private sector credit bureaus. An important function of the system is the ability to verify whether an entity exists in good standing and is not in significant legal trouble that would otherwise suggest the business is an untrustworthy partner.

Further Reading

See our comprehensive resources on China’s Foreign Investment Law. and an overview of FDI regulation in our Foreign Investment Law FAQ.

Translation Methodology:

See: 企业信用信息公示系统