Mainland China: corporate bank account opening
Corporate account CDD under Mainland China's customer due-diligence measures effective from 1 January 2026.
Mainland China · Banks · PBOC / NFRA
Corporate customers, including overseas companies · Account opening: AML/CDD review
By Matthew Lee
For a Mainland company, obtain its business licence and current registration information through the company registry records. Record the legal representative, registered and business addresses, business activities and people authorised to operate the account. Obtain home-country incorporation records for an overseas entity.
Ownership and account authority
Article 7 of the 2026 CDD Measures requires identification of the customer and its beneficial owners, reasonable measures to verify beneficial-owner identity, and an understanding of ownership and control. Obtain the shareholder information and any agreements needed to trace indirect holdings or control.
Where an agent submits the application, Article 24 requires checks on both the agent and the authority to act. Request the company's mandate or power of attorney and the agent's identification; do not accept a contact person's employment details as the account mandate.
Complete verification and assess the activity
Article 9 covers opening bank accounts. Establish the proposed account use, expected transactions and funding. Request trade contracts, invoices or a shareholder-loan agreement where those records are needed to substantiate the proposed payments.
Verification is required before or during establishment of the relationship, with deferral only under the conditions in Article 23. Higher-risk customers require enhanced measures under Article 20, including additional information and approvals appropriate to the risk.
Update CDD when ownership, representatives or activity changes. The 2026 Measures require customer identity and transaction records to be retained for at least ten years, using the separate starting events in Articles 42–44.