How to verify a Chinese supplier from your desk: 4 free public registers

Before paying a deposit, check your Chinese supplier for free in four public sources: its business licence and USCC code on gsxt.gov.cn, sanctions and lawsuits, the Safety Gate alerts for its product category, and the real location of the factory on a satellite map.

Suppliers and purchasing · By Guerric Laspougeas · Updated 5 October 2026

A polished website, a marketplace profile and a responsive salesperson tell you nothing about the company that will receive your deposit. Before a first order, four free public sources let you check that the supplier legally exists, that it has no serious track record of problems, which defects get products in its category recalled in Europe, and where it actually produces.

Step 1: the business licence and USCC code

Every Chinese company holds a business licence (营业执照) bearing an 18-character Unified Social Credit Code (统一社会信用代码, USCC). Ask your supplier for a copy of the licence, then check it yourself on the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System (国家企业信用信息公示系统): www.gsxt.gov.cn. Recent licences also carry a QR code that links to this record.

On the record, check:

• The Chinese name: it is the only legal name. It must be identical on the contract, the proforma invoice and the bank account that receives your payment. An English name has no legal value, and an account held by another company or by an individual is a warning sign.
• The status (登记状态): “存续” or “在业” means the company is active; “注销” (deregistered) or “吊销” (licence revoked) should stop you.
• The date of establishment: a company set up a few months ago that claims fifteen years of experience deserves questions.
• The capital: the amount shown is subscribed capital (注册资本), not money actually paid in. Paid-in capital (实缴) only appears in annual reports, when the company chooses to publish it.
• The business scope (经营范围): the words 生产 or 制造 (production, manufacturing) are a good hint that you are dealing with a manufacturer, but not proof: many trading companies have them in their scope too. 销售 or 批发 (sales, wholesale) alone point to a trader.
• The register’s blacklists: listing in the abnormal operations directory (经营异常名录) or on the list of serious violations (严重违法失信名单), as well as administrative penalties (行政处罚), appear on the same record.

The site is in Chinese only and can be slow or hard to reach from abroad. If you cannot get through, our supplier due diligence does this research for you, including an interview with the company in Chinese.

Step 2: sanctions and lawsuits

Two different searches, not to be confused:

• International sanctions: OpenSanctions brings together, free of charge, the sanctions lists of the European Union, the United States, the United Kingdom and other countries. If you also sell in the United States, check the UFLPA Entity List (forced labour): goods from listed companies are barred from import there.
• Lawsuits and debts: Chinese courts publish judgment debtors and “dishonest judgment debtors” (失信被执行人) free of charge on zxgk.court.gov.cn, and part of their judgments on wenshu.court.gov.cn (account required). Search with the company’s exact Chinese name. Repeated disputes with customers or employees, or unpaid debts, say a lot about how solid a supplier is.

Step 3: Safety Gate alerts in your product category

Safety Gate is the European Union’s rapid alert system: market surveillance authorities in every EU country report the dangerous products they withdraw or recall. The alerts say little about your supplier in particular, but they show which defects keep coming back in your product category.

In our product safety barometer, filter by sector and country of origin, then note:

• the most frequent hazards (choking on small parts, electric shock, chemicals…);
• the standards quoted in the alerts, for example EN 62368-1 for electronic equipment, or the phthalates restricted by REACH in toys and childcare articles;
• what to require: write these standards into your product specification and purchase order, ask the supplier for the matching test reports, and have them checked through laboratory testing.

Step 4: where is the factory really?

Compare the address on the licence with the factory address the supplier gives you, then look it up on a satellite map:

• Baidu Maps (or Amap): in China, its imagery and street view (全景) are more up to date than Google Earth. Factory buildings in an industrial park (工业园, 工业区) are consistent; an office tower or a residential block rather suggest a middleman.
• Open Supply Hub: an open database of production sites disclosed by brands. It mostly covers textiles and apparel; useful if that is your sector.

A factory address that differs from the licence address is not necessarily a problem (several sites, subcontracting), but you need to know who makes your order. Also ask for a live video call from the workshop floor.

What the registers do not tell you

Public registers prove that a company legally exists and has no known serious record. They say nothing about its production capacity, its quality system or whether the 5,000 pieces you are about to receive will conform. For that, someone has to go on site:

• before the first order, an initial factory evaluation checks that the site exists, actually makes this type of product and can meet your requirements; for a long-term relationship, a technical factory audit goes further;
• before you pay the balance, a final random inspection checks an AQL sample of your finished goods.

Met the supplier at a trade show? Our guide Canton Fair: checking a supplier details the questions to ask on the spot. To see how these steps fit together, read our complete guide to quality control in China.