营业执照 · GB 32100-2015

Chinese business license reader

Know what the supplier's licence says before the deposit goes out.

Paste the text of a supplier's 营业执照 to get every field in English, the credit code checked and decoded under GB 32100-2015, and the business scope gaps that matter for chemicals. It reads the paper; the registry at gsxt.gov.cn is still the record.

Last updated 2026-09-28. Math runs in your browser, no data leaves your computer.

Copy the text from the licence scan the supplier sent, with the Chinese labels, and paste it below. The labels can come in any order, and nothing leaves your browser; the credit code is checked with the GB 32100-2015 rule.

Keep the Chinese labels such as 名称 and 经营范围 in the text, because the tool finds each field by its label.

Before the booking, screen the name on the invoice. Shipment pre-check is on the paid plans, from USD 59 a month.

General guidance only. Verify against the cited primary sources before you commit to a shipment, declaration, or contract.

How the fields and the code are read

The field list follows the Regulations on the Registration and Administration of Market Entities, State Council Decree No. 746, in force since 1 March 2022. Article 8 lists what every licence records: name, entity type, business scope, domicile or main place of business, registered capital or contribution, and the legal representative, managing partner or person in charge. Article 21 makes the licence issue date the date of establishment, and Article 9 puts the business term among the filed items.

The credit code is checked with the rule in GB 32100-2015. Each of the first 17 characters takes its value from appendix A (0 to 9, then A = 10 through Y = 30, skipping I, O, S, V and Z), is multiplied by the weight 3 to the power (i minus 1) mod 31, and the products are summed. The check character is 31 minus the sum mod 31, written as 0 when the result is 31, and the standard's own example 91350100M000100Y4 gives a sum of 1,640, a remainder of 28 and the check character 3.

The first two characters are decoded from tables 2 and 3 of the standard, as amended in 2016. For a code starting with 9 the second character is 1 for an enterprise, 2 for an individual business (个体工商户) and 3 for a farmers' cooperative, so the company type itself comes from the 类型 field, not the code.

Scope flags come from Article 14 of the registration regulations, which splits scope into general items and licensed items, and from Articles 14 and 33 of the hazardous chemicals regulations, which require separate licences to produce or trade hazardous chemicals; those articles are quoted from the 2011 text in the State Council Gazette, so check the current version before relying on them. The tool looks for wording, so a flag is a question to ask the supplier, not a finding.

Worked example. The factory that was a trader

The booking. A US buyer is about to wire a 30 percent deposit of USD 16,200 on 18 tonnes of a flammable solvent, and the supplier's sales manager sends a licence scan to prove the company is a factory. The credit code passes the check digit, the name matches the proforma invoice and the registered capital is RMB 5 million, which looks fine on paper.

The failure. The business scope reads 化工产品销售（不含许可类化工产品）and 货物进出口, with no production wording and hazardous chemicals excluded. Under Article 33 of the hazardous chemicals regulations a company without a business licence for them cannot trade a solvent that is on the hazardous chemicals catalogue, so the choice is simple: find the real maker, or find a trader licensed to sell it.

The fix. The buyer asks for the producer's name, pastes that licence in, and sees production wording for the solvent plus a reference to a 危险化学品安全生产许可证. The code and name match on gsxt.gov.cn, the buyer receives a copy of the safety production licence with a valid date, and the deposit goes to the factory that makes the product.

Want the check digit on its own, or the registry links ready to open? The USCC validator checks any 18 character code, and the Tianyancha and Qichacha quicklink builds both registry searches from the Chinese name or the code.

Frequently asked

How do I read a Chinese business license in English?

Each field on a 营业执照 has a fixed Chinese label: 统一社会信用代码 is the credit code, 名称 the registered name, 类型 the entity type, 法定代表人 the legal representative, 注册资本 the registered capital, 成立日期 the date of establishment, 住所 the registered address and 经营范围 the business scope. Most of these are the registered items listed in Article 8 of the Regulations on the Registration and Administration of Market Entities. Paste the licence text above and the tool labels each one in English.

How can I verify a Chinese business license is real?

Search the credit code or the Chinese name on the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System (gsxt.gov.cn), run by the market regulator, and compare every field with the copy you were sent. A passing check digit only proves the code was typed correctly. Article 37 of the registration regulations says a lost licence is declared void on that same system, so the registry, not the paper, is the record.

What does the 18 character credit code tell me?

Under GB 32100-2015, position 1 is the registration department (9 for industry and commerce, now market regulation), position 2 the entity category (1 for an enterprise), positions 3 to 8 the administrative division code of the registering authority, positions 9 to 17 the organisation code, and position 18 a Mod 31 check character. The letters I, O, Z, S and V are never used.

How do I tell a factory from a trading company on the license?

Read the business scope, because a manufacturer's scope includes production wording such as 生产 or 制造 for the goods you buy, while a trader's scope lists 销售, 批发 or 进出口 only. Traders are not wrong to use, but you should know which one you are paying, and a chemical trader also needs its own hazardous chemicals business licence for regulated products.

Does a chemical supplier need a licence beyond the business license?

Yes, hazardous chemicals need a separate licence. Article 33 of the Regulations on the Safe Management of Hazardous Chemicals says nobody may trade hazardous chemicals without a 危险化学品经营许可证, except a producer selling its own products inside its plant, and Article 14 requires producers to hold a 危险化学品安全生产许可证. Ask for a copy and check its scope and expiry against your product.

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Sourzi shows what official files say. It is not customs or legal advice. For a binding answer, ask a licensed customs broker, a CBP ruling or an Australian Border Force Tariff Advice.

File dates and links are on Data sources.