A business licence shows the company as it was on the day it was printed.
Nine items must appear on a Mainland company's business licence, plus a QR code that links to the register. Here is what each one proves, and what a photo of the licence can never show.
By Matthew Lee
Nine items by law. One QR code. No proof that any of it is still true.
Article 4 of the Company Registration Implementing Measures (SAMR Order No. 95, in force from 10 February 2025) lists what a company's business licence (营业执照) must state: name, domicile, legal representative, registered capital, company type, business scope, registration authority, date of establishment and Unified Social Credit Code.
Every Mainland counterparty sends one. Here is how to read it.
Field by field
| Field | What it tells you | What it does not |
|---|---|---|
| 名称 Name | The one registered name, in Chinese characters | Any English name; none is registered |
| 统一社会信用代码 Credit code | The 18-character key to the register, fixed for life | That the record behind it is still live |
| 类型 Type | For example 有限责任公司 (limited liability company) or 分公司 (branch) | A branch has no legal personality of its own (Company Law, Article 13) |
| 法定代表人 Legal representative | The person whose acts in the company's name bind it | Who else may sign, or whether this person still holds the role |
| 注册资本 Registered capital | The capital the shareholders subscribed | How much has been paid in |
| 成立日期 Date of establishment | The date the first licence was issued (Regulations, Article 21) | How long the company has actually traded |
| 营业期限 Term | Where printed, the term set in the articles | A term is a filed item since 2022 and may be absent |
| 住所 Domicile | The registered address | That anyone works there |
| 经营范围 Business scope | The general and licensed activities registered | That a permit for a licensed activity was granted |
| 登记机关 Authority and date | The bureau that issued this copy, under its seal, and when | That no later copy exists |
The details that trip readers
The two dates. Article 33 of the Company Law makes the issue date of the first licence the date of establishment. When a registered particular changes, the bureau reissues the licence (Regulations, Article 28), so the date under the seal on a later copy is the date of that reissue. A licence dated last month for a company established in 2009 means something changed.
The term. Expiry of the term in the articles is a ground for dissolution under Article 229 of the Company Law. Since 1 March 2022 the operating term is a filed item under Article 9 of the Market Entity Registration Regulations, and the 2025 list of licence items leaves it out. The register is the place to check it.
The scope. Since the 2014 licence format, the scope line carries a note that items needing approval may be carried on only once approved. The licence is no evidence that the approval exists.
The QR code. SAMR's notice on the current licence format, used from 1 March 2019, links the QR code to the company's entry in the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System and prints a prompt to scan it for registration, filing, licensing and supervision information. Scanning it is the quickest way to compare a copy with the record.
What a photo cannot prove
- Current status: when a licence is revoked, the bureau marks the revocation on the electronic licence (Implementing Rules, Article 64). A photo taken earlier shows nothing of the sort.
- That it is the latest copy: after a change or a deregistration the company must return the paper licence. If it does not, the bureau declares it void on the publicity system (Regulations, Article 37). The old paper still looks the same.
- Authority to sign: the licence names one legal representative. It says nothing about a director, a manager or an agent signing for the company. Our article on the legal representative covers what that role binds.
- Ownership: shareholders are not on the licence at all. They are on the register.
The electronic licence has the same legal effect as the paper one (Regulations, Article 22). The same limits apply to a screenshot of it.
The rule we work to
Compare the licence with the latest information on file. Use the Chinese name and credit code to locate the record, then compare the relevant particulars and their dates. The register can also lag changes; resolve material discrepancies with the company. See the China company verification guide and credit code explanation.
How Fill Easy fits in
Send the Chinese name or the credit code from the licence to agent@fill-easy.com, or through the API. A Mainland China company search returns the registry record from the State Administration for Market Regulation, translated into English, with the original attached. Where it carries personal information it reaches Hong Kong under our filed Standard Contract (Filing No. 202500031), as described on the China Cross-Border Data page. Every result records its source, retrieval time and request ID, so the date you checked is on file.
When your team receives a licence, who compares it with the register, and on which day?