Interpreting Mainland company status without losing the Chinese
Chinese status terms can collapse into the same English translation. Keep the original wording to distinguish existence, penalties and deregistration.
By Matthew Lee
A Mainland registry status should be preserved in Chinese alongside its translation. Terms that become “revoked” or “cancelled” in English can describe different legal events, with different implications for onboarding. The practical question is whether the record describes an existing company, a restriction on its business, a registration change or the end of the entity.
The distinctions that matter
| Chinese term | Meaning to establish | Review implication |
|---|---|---|
| 存续 / 在业 | In existence or in business | Continue the activity, authority and risk assessment |
| 吊销 | Business licence revoked as a penalty | Investigate the penalty and liquidation position |
| 注销 | Deregistration completed | Establish that the entity has ended |
| 迁出 / 迁入 | Registration moved between authorities | Locate the current record using the same identifier |
| 歇业 | Filed business suspension | Understand the reason, period and proposed activity |
| 撤销 | Registration revoked or undone | Obtain the underlying decision and its legal effect |
The Company Law and market-entity registration rules explain the underlying events. A summary field is only the starting point; the relevant decision, notice or current record establishes what happened and when. Other wording, such as 停业, should be read in its actual context rather than assumed to mean the same formal process as a filed 歇业.
Existence is different from ongoing business
A company can remain legally in existence during liquidation. Under the Company Law, that does not permit it to conduct business unrelated to liquidation. An apparently live registration therefore needs to be considered alongside liquidation notices, the annual report and the customer’s explanation of its present operations.
Licence revocation is likewise different from completed deregistration. It is a ground for dissolution and requires the relevant winding-up process, while the company’s assets and debts still need to be dealt with. The reviewer should not translate a revoked licence into “the company no longer exists” or treat the surviving identity record as permission for ordinary new trading.
Notice of closure is not completed closure
A simplified-deregistration announcement indicates that a process is under way. It is not the same evidence as a completed 注销 result. If the proposed relationship overlaps that process, obtain the latest record and ask the company to explain its intentions. The authority of a person acting during liquidation also needs to be considered in that setting.
Once deregistration is completed, the historical credit code can still identify the record. That makes it valuable for avoiding a mistaken match to a new business with a similar name. The credit-code guide explains why continuity of an identifier should be distinguished from continuing existence.
Relocation and suspension need context
A 迁出 record may be the old authority’s record following a move, rather than evidence that the company closed. Locate the current record and reconcile its name, code and address. A filed suspension raises another question: how the proposed contract or account activity fits the period and reason for the pause.
Keep retrieval dates and event dates separately, with the underlying notices where the decision depends on them. The annual-report guide and China onboarding guide provide the supporting evidence for interpreting activity and changes.
Requesting the evidence by email
An approved organisational sender can email agent@fill-easy.com with the Chinese legal name, Unified Social Credit Code, requested evidence and case reference. For example:
Please obtain current registry status and available relevant notices for [Chinese name], [credit code]. Reference: [case]. Preserve the Chinese status wording, translate it and identify the date and source of any revocation, deregistration, relocation or suspension.
The agent clarifies ambiguous matches or unavailable items and confirms access, availability, price and turnaround at acceptance. PDFs arrive in the same thread with source, retrieval time and request ID; an optional summary cites the records. The reviewer assesses the evidence and decides.