China

This guide is outdated and will be removed on 1 November 2026. The up-to-date China reference is on the China country page.

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This guide contains public integration notes for China. Use it for identifier formats, search behavior, and country-specific caveats. The live source of truth for coverage, pricing, data sources, documents, legal forms, roles, and status values is the pricing page.

China coverage, pricing, and sources

Open the current catalog for supported datapoints, documents, sources, identifiers, and availability.

Country details below are preserved as integration notes. If a table or example conflicts with the live pricing page, use the pricing page as the source of truth and contact support.

Data Sources
Company Identifiers
Search Capabilities
Quirks & Gotchas
Mappings
Data Availability
Example API Responses

Data Sources

For a given entity, company data and legal representatives are AI-extracted from a single PDF document: the Credit Information Report (信用信息报告) downloaded from the Credit China portal. Shareholders and ultimate beneficial owners are not published by Credit China. They are obtained separately from commercial reports supplied through a local partner, as manually fulfilled products.

All entity types

Credit China (信用中国). Official national credit information platform operated by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) in collaboration with the People’s Bank of China. The portal (creditchina.gov.cn) provides Credit Information Reports (信用信息报告) in PDF format. This is the data source for company profiles, legal representatives, and all structured company attributes.
Local partner (shareholders and beneficial owners). A commercial shareholder report and a commercial beneficial owner report are retrieved by our local partner from a Chinese business-data platform that compiles national business register filings. Ownership data is AI-extracted from these reports. They are not official register certificates. Delivery typically takes a few business days.

Data is retrieved via automated portal access. Requests can take several minutes to complete due to portal complexity.

Company Identifiers

Query Identifiers

Company Type	Source	Format	Example	Notes
All entities	Credit China	18 characters, digits and uppercase letters (USCC)	`9144030071526726XG`	Unified Social Credit Code (统一社会信用代码). Some codes are all digits, e.g. `911000001000013428`

USCC Format Breakdown: The 18-character Unified Social Credit Code follows the GB 32100-2015 standard:

Position 1: Registration authority code (e.g., 9 = industry and commerce, 1 = public institutions and government bodies, 5 = civil affairs, Y = other; the standard also defines 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, A and N)
Position 2: Entity category within that authority (e.g., under 9: 1 = enterprise, 2 = individual business, 3 = farmer cooperative)
Positions 3-8: Administrative division code (6 digits, e.g., 110000 = Beijing)
Positions 9-17: Entity identification code (9 alphanumeric characters, derived from the former organization code)
Position 18: Check character (a digit or an uppercase letter, calculated using weighted modular arithmetic)

Codes use digits and uppercase letters only; I, O, S, V and Z are never used. A code can be all digits (e.g., 911000001000013428) or carry letters (e.g., 9144030071526726XG).

Identifiers in API Response

Once you retrieve company data, the identifiers object contains:

Identifier Type	Format	Example	Found In
`uscc`	18 characters, digits and uppercase letters	`9144030071526726XG`	All entities registered in China

The identifier key in the API response is uscc (Unified Social Credit Code). Its value always corresponds to the query USCC.

Legal Entity Identifier (LEI)

GLEIF is the supplementary data source for this identifier. company.identifiers.lei is optional. It is returned when the Unified Social Credit Code (USCC) matches a registration or validation reference in GLEIF and identifies a single LEI. The LEI has 20 uppercase letters and digits, ending in two digits. Coverage varies by entity; a missing LEI does not establish that the company has none. Lapsed or retired LEIs can still be returned. Annulled LEIs are excluded, so the presence of this identifier does not establish current LEI registration status.

Search Capabilities

Search Type	Pattern	Example	Match Type	Expected Results
By USCC	18 characters, digits and uppercase letters	`9144030071526726XG`	Exact	Exact match returned first (matchType: id); other results may follow
By Chinese name	Chinese characters	`腾讯`	Fuzzy	Multiple results
By full Chinese name	Chinese characters	`腾讯科技(深圳)有限公司`	Exact	Exact match returned first (matchType: exactLegalName); other results may follow

Search uses live portal access. Both identifier and name searches query the Credit China portal in real time. There is no pre-built search index. Search is slower than in most countries and typically takes under a minute.

USCC shape check. An identifier search runs when the input has the USCC shape: 18 characters from digits and uppercase letters other than I, O, S, V and Z, with digits in positions 3 to 8. Codes made only of digits are valid (e.g. 911000001000013428). Anything else is searched as a company name.

Active companies only

Search can return companies that are no longer active, but their status is not known at search time, so activeOnly=true has no effect. Check company.status on the company profile. Search results carry no company status, so the active-only filter has no effect. Check the status on the company profile.

Quirks & Gotchas

Quirk	Details
Profile data is AI-parsed from PDF	Company profile and legal representative data are extracted from a Credit Information Report PDF by AI. Data quality depends on PDF quality and AI parsing accuracy.
Processing time is high	Company profile requests are asynchronous and can take up to 7 minutes per attempt due to portal latency.
Single legal representative per company	Chinese Company Law mandates exactly one legal representative (法定代表人) per company. This differs from jurisdictions that allow multiple legal representatives.
Shareholders are a separate, manual product	Credit China does not publish ownership. Shareholders are available in verification mode, AI-extracted from a commercial shareholder report retrieved through our local partner. Delivery typically takes a few business days, and they are billed separately from company data.
UBOs are a separate, manual product	Credit China does not publish beneficial ownership. Ultimate beneficial owners are available in verification mode, AI-extracted from a commercial beneficial owner report retrieved through our local partner. Delivery typically takes a few business days.
Business scope instead of activity codes	China has a national classification system (GB/T 4754) but the Credit Information Report provides free-text business scope (经营范围) rather than numeric codes. NACE and ISIC codes are therefore always AI-inferred.
No establishment data	Branch or subsidiary information is not extracted from the current data source.
USCC replaced 3 old identifiers in 2015	Before reforms in 2015, Chinese businesses needed separate IDs from SAIC (business permit), STA (tax ID), and AQSIQ (organization code). The USCC unified these into a single 18-character code. Legacy identifiers are not supported.

Mappings

Company Status

Company status is AI-extracted from the Credit Information Report (信用信息报告) PDF. The AI parser reads the status field from the document and maps it to a standardized status.

Local Status	English Translation	Standardized Status	Notes
存续	Existing / In Operation	Active	Company is registered and operating
在业	In Business	Active	Company is actively conducting business
开业	Open for Business	Active	Company has commenced operations
正常	Normal	Active	Normal operating status
迁出	Relocated Out	Active	Company relocated to another jurisdiction
吊销	Revoked	Closed	Business license revoked by authorities
注销	Deregistered	Closed	Voluntarily deregistered
撤销	Cancelled	Closed	Registration cancelled by authorities
停业	Ceased Operations	Closed	Company has ceased business operations
清算	In Liquidation	Under Insolvency Proceeding	Company is undergoing liquidation

Status is AI-extracted from the trade register extract PDF. The local Chinese status term is preserved verbatim and mapped to a standardized status. The isAIInferred flag on status reflects this AI extraction.

Legal Forms

China uses a variety of legal entity forms. Since company data is AI-extracted from the Credit Information Report PDF, the legal form is parsed from the document text. The mapping to standardized forms and ISO 20275 (ELF) codes is AI-enriched.

Legal form standardization and ISO 20275 assignment are AI-enriched. The local Chinese legal form name is preserved verbatim from the trade register extract. Because legal forms are AI-inferred, exact mappings may evolve.

Commercial Companies

Chinese Name	English Translation	Standardized	Notes
有限责任公司	Limited Liability Company	Limited Liability Company	Most common form for SMEs
股份有限公司	Company Limited by Shares	Corporation	Joint stock companies, including listed companies
有限责任公司(自然人投资或控股)	LLC (Natural Person Investment)	Limited Liability Company	Invested/controlled by individuals
有限责任公司(法人独资)	LLC (Sole Legal Person)	Limited Liability Company	Wholly owned by a legal person
有限责任公司(自然人独资)	LLC (Sole Natural Person)	Limited Liability Company	One-person LLC owned by an individual
有限责任公司(外商投资)	LLC (Foreign Investment)	Limited Liability Company	Foreign-invested enterprise (FIE)
有限责任公司(中外合资)	Sino-Foreign Joint Venture LLC	Limited Liability Company	Chinese-foreign equity joint venture
有限责任公司(外商合资)	Foreign Joint Venture LLC	Limited Liability Company	Multiple foreign investors
股份有限公司(上市)	Listed Company Limited by Shares	Corporation	Publicly listed corporation
股份有限公司(非上市)	Unlisted Company Limited by Shares	Corporation	Private joint stock company

Sole Entrepreneurs

Chinese Name	English Translation	Standardized
个体工商户	Individual Industrial and Commercial Household	Sole Proprietorship
个人独资企业	Sole Proprietorship Enterprise	Sole Proprietorship

Partnerships

Chinese Name	English Translation	Standardized
普通合伙企业	General Partnership	Partnership
有限合伙企业	Limited Partnership	Partnership
特殊普通合伙企业	Special General Partnership	Partnership

Chinese Name	English Translation	Standardized
民办非企业单位	Private Non-Enterprise Unit	Nonprofit Organization
社会团体	Social Organization	Nonprofit Organization
基金会	Foundation	Nonprofit Organization

State-Owned & Public Entities

Chinese Name	English Translation	Standardized
全民所有制	State-Owned Enterprise (Wholly People-Owned)	Government-Owned Entity
集体所有制	Collectively-Owned Enterprise	Government-Owned Entity
国有独资公司	State-Owned Sole Proprietorship Company	Government-Owned Entity

Foreign Entities

Chinese Name	English Translation	Standardized
外国(地区)企业在中国境内从事生产经营活动	Foreign Enterprise Operating in China	Branch or Representative Office
外国(地区)企业常驻代表机构	Foreign Enterprise Representative Office	Branch or Representative Office

Legal Representatives

Legal representatives are AI-extracted from the Credit Information Report (信用信息报告) PDF. In China, the legal representative (法定代表人) is a single individual who has binding authority on behalf of the company under Chinese law.

Role (Chinese)	Role (English)	Classification	Notes
法定代表人	Legal Representative	Authorized Signatory	The designated representative; one per company
董事长	Chairman of the Board	Legal Representative	When serving as legal representative
总经理	General Manager	Legal Representative	When serving as legal representative
执行董事	Executive Director	Legal Representative	Common in smaller LLCs without a board
负责人	Person in Charge	Legal Representative	Used for branches and representative offices

Under Chinese Company Law, a company designates a director or manager who executes its affairs as its legal representative (法定代表人). The title does not identify which underlying management office that person holds. Known representative headings use the published role list and return Authorized Signatory; extraction of the person from the report still uses AI. Combined headings retain the alternatives printed in the source rather than assigning every listed office to that person.

Other Key Persons

Not applicable. The Credit Information Report does not include structured data for supervisory board members, auditors, or other key persons beyond the legal representative. Board member or senior executive data is not currently extracted.

Shareholders

The Credit Information Report does not include ownership. Request shareholders in verification mode: this is a separate, manually fulfilled product. Our local partner retrieves the full shareholder list (股东信息) as a commercial shareholder report, and shareholders are AI-extracted from it. Delivery typically takes a few business days.

Shareholders are billed separately from company data. The shareholder report itself is also available as the certifiedTradeRegisterExtract document. Verify AI-extracted ownership against the report before relying on it for compliance.

Ultimate Beneficial Owners

Ultimate beneficial owners (受益所有人 / 最终受益人) follow the same model: a commercial beneficial owner report retrieved through our local partner, AI-extracted, and billed separately. This is not an official beneficial-ownership register certificate. Request ultimateBeneficialOwners in verification mode for structured data, or order ultimateBeneficialOwnersCertificate from availableDocuments for the source PDF. Delivery is asynchronous and typically takes a few business days. Follow the existing request through webhooks or polling; do not submit repeated orders while it is pending. If the report cannot be obtained, the request reports an error rather than a successful empty result.

Activity Code Mapping

China does not use a single standardized industry classification code in the Credit Information Report. Activity information is extracted as a free-text description from the business scope (经营范围) field, then mapped via AI:

Business Scope (经营范围, free text) → AI → NACE Rev. 2 + ISIC Rev. 4

Classification	Source	AI Inferred?
Business Scope	Trade register extract (经营范围)	No (official text)
NACE	AI-derived from business scope text	Yes (always)
ISIC	AI-derived from business scope text	Yes (always)

China has a national classification system (GB/T 4754, 国民经济行业分类) but the Credit Information Report typically provides a free-text business scope rather than a numeric code. Both NACE and ISIC codes are therefore always AI-inferred for Chinese companies. Every activity item includes an isAIInferred: true flag.

Data Availability

Data Availability Matrix

Data Type	Availability	Notes
Company Profile	✅ Async	Legal name, address, status, legal form, capital, activity description (AI-parsed from the Credit Information Report)
Legal Representatives	✅ Async	AI-extracted from the Credit Information Report PDF
Shareholders	✅ Manual	Verification mode. Commercial shareholder report retrieved through our local partner, AI-extracted; typically a few business days
Ultimate Beneficial Owners	✅ Manual	Verification mode. Commercial beneficial owner report retrieved through our local partner, AI-extracted; typically a few business days
Establishments	❌	Not extracted from current data source
Activity Codes	✅ Async	AI-inferred NACE/ISIC from business scope text

Legend: ✅ Available | ❌ Not Available | Async = Asynchronous processing (up to 7 minutes) | Manual = fulfilled by a local partner, typically a few business days

Documents by Company Type

Document Type	API Category	Format	Availability	Notes
Credit Information Report (信用信息报告)	`tradeRegisterExtract`	PDF	✅ All entities	Official credit report from creditchina.gov.cn, included with company data
Commercial shareholder report (股东信息报告)	`certifiedTradeRegisterExtract`	PDF	✅ All entities (manual)	Full shareholder list, retrieved through our local partner; typically a few business days
Commercial beneficial owner report (受益所有人报告)	`ultimateBeneficialOwnersCertificate`	PDF	✅ All entities (manual)	Beneficial owner list, retrieved through our local partner; typically a few business days

The Credit Information Report is used both as a standalone deliverable and as the source for AI-parsed company profile data. The shareholder report and the beneficial owner report are separate commercial documents, not official register certificates, and are the sources for the shareholders and ultimateBeneficialOwners datapoints. Ordering the document or the datapoint triggers the same partner request.

Example API Responses

All examples use placeholder data. Query: POST /v2/company with { "id": "<USCC>", "countryCode": "CN", "dataPoints": ["company", "legalRepresentatives"] }

Active Limited Liability Company

{
  "company": {
    "id": "91110000710926094P",
    "countryCode": "CN",
    "identifiers": {
      "uscc": "91110000710926094P"
    },
    "legalName": "北京示例科技有限公司",
    "legalNameInEnglish": "Beijing Example Technology Co., Ltd.",
    "registrationDate": "2018-05-15",
    "activityDescription": "技术开发、技术咨询、技术服务；软件开发；销售自行开发的产品。",
    "status": {
      "localName": "存续",
      "active": true,
      "statusDetails": {
        "status": "ACTIVE"
      }
    },
    "legalForm": {
      "localName": "有限责任公司(自然人投资或控股)",
      "englishTranslation": "Limited Liability Company (Natural Person Investment)",
      "standardized": "Limited Liability Company",
      "iso20275Code": "8888"
    },
    "capital": {
      "amount": 10000000,
      "currency": "CNY"
    },
    "activities": {
      "NACE": [{ "code": "6201", "description": "Computer programming activities", "isAIInferred": true }],
      "ISIC": [{ "code": "6201", "description": "Computer programming activities", "isAIInferred": true }]
    },
    "legalAddress": {
      "addressLine1": "北京市海淀区中关村大街1号",
      "city": "Beijing",
      "countryCode": "CN"
    }
  },
  "legalRepresentatives": [
    {
      "entityId": "person_001",
      "type": "individual",
      "role": {
        "localName": "法定代表人",
        "englishTranslation": "Legal Representative",
        "standardized": "Authorized Signatory"
      },
      "individual": {
        "name": {
          "fullName": "张伟"
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

Active Corporation (Stock Company)

{
  "company": {
    "id": "91310000XXXXXXXXX1",
    "countryCode": "CN",
    "identifiers": {
      "uscc": "91310000XXXXXXXXX1"
    },
    "legalName": "上海示例制造股份有限公司",
    "legalNameInEnglish": "Shanghai Example Manufacturing Co., Ltd.",
    "registrationDate": "2005-08-22",
    "activityDescription": "金属材料的制造、加工和销售；钢铁冶炼。",
    "status": {
      "localName": "在业",
      "active": true,
      "statusDetails": {
        "status": "ACTIVE"
      }
    },
    "legalForm": {
      "localName": "股份有限公司(上市)",
      "englishTranslation": "Listed Company Limited by Shares",
      "standardized": "Corporation"
    },
    "capital": {
      "amount": 500000000,
      "currency": "CNY"
    },
    "activities": {
      "NACE": [{ "code": "2410", "description": "Manufacture of basic iron and steel", "isAIInferred": true }],
      "ISIC": [{ "code": "2410", "description": "Manufacture of basic iron and steel", "isAIInferred": true }]
    },
    "legalAddress": {
      "addressLine1": "上海市宝山区工业路500号",
      "city": "Shanghai",
      "countryCode": "CN"
    }
  },
  "legalRepresentatives": [
    {
      "entityId": "person_001",
      "type": "individual",
      "role": {
        "localName": "董事长",
        "englishTranslation": "Chairman of the Board",
        "standardized": "Chairman"
      },
      "individual": {
        "name": {
          "fullName": "王强"
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

Revoked (Closed) Company

{
  "company": {
    "id": "91310000MA1FL8XQ30",
    "countryCode": "CN",
    "identifiers": {
      "uscc": "91310000MA1FL8XQ30"
    },
    "legalName": "上海旧商贸有限公司",
    "registrationDate": "2010-03-20",
    "activityDescription": "日用百货、服装鞋帽的销售。",
    "status": {
      "localName": "吊销",
      "active": false,
      "statusDetails": {
        "status": "CLOSED"
      }
    },
    "legalForm": {
      "localName": "有限责任公司",
      "englishTranslation": "Limited Liability Company",
      "standardized": "Limited Liability Company"
    },
    "legalAddress": {
      "addressLine1": "上海市浦东新区张江路100号",
      "city": "Shanghai",
      "countryCode": "CN"
    }
  },
  "legalRepresentatives": [
    {
      "entityId": "person_001",
      "type": "individual",
      "role": {
        "localName": "法定代表人",
        "englishTranslation": "Legal Representative",
        "standardized": "Authorized Signatory"
      },
      "individual": {
        "name": {
          "fullName": "李明"
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

Note: Revoked companies have active: false and status 吊销 (Revoked). The standardized status is CLOSED. Shareholders are not part of this request; request them separately in verification mode.

Available Documents

The table lists supported documents; the example shows a retrieved Credit Information Report. Available document IDs are returned when "dataPoints": ["availableDocuments"] is requested.

API Category	Document	Notes
`tradeRegisterExtract`	Credit Information Report (信用信息报告) PDF	All entities
`certifiedTradeRegisterExtract`	Commercial shareholder report PDF	All entities; partner order, typically a few business days
`ultimateBeneficialOwnersCertificate`	Commercial beneficial owner report PDF	All entities; partner order, typically a few business days

{
  "documents": {
    "tradeRegisterExtract": {
      "id": "doc_cn_xxxxxxxx",
      "name": "信用信息报告 (Credit Information Report)",
      "format": "PDF",
      "url": "https://..."
    }
  }
}

Data Source Priority & Routing

China uses the Credit China portal (creditchina.gov.cn) for company data and legal representatives, and commercial reports obtained through our local partner for shareholders and ultimate beneficial owners. There is no priority chain or fallback mechanism.

Single source per datapoint: Company data and legal representatives come from the Credit Information Report (信用信息报告) PDF downloaded from Credit China. There is no cross-source merging or fallback. If the Credit China portal is unavailable, those datapoints fail; partner reports do not replace the profile source.Attribute-level source mapping:

Attribute	Source	AI Inferred?
Company name (Chinese + English)	Credit Information Report PDF	Yes
Legal form	Credit Information Report PDF	Yes
Status	Credit Information Report PDF	Yes
Registered address	Credit Information Report PDF	Yes
Registration date	Credit Information Report PDF	Yes
Share capital	Credit Information Report PDF	Yes
Business scope (活动描述)	Credit Information Report PDF	Yes
Activity codes (NACE/ISIC)	Derived from business scope	Yes (always)
Legal representative	Credit Information Report PDF	Yes
Shareholders	Commercial shareholder report (local partner)	Yes
UBOs	Commercial beneficial owner report (local partner)	Yes
Establishments	Not extracted	N/A

Europe

North America

Asia

Offshore Centers

Start here

China coverage, pricing, and sources

Table of Contents

Data Sources

All entity types

Company Identifiers

Query Identifiers

Identifiers in API Response

Legal Entity Identifier (LEI)

Search Capabilities

Active companies only

Quirks & Gotchas

Mappings

Company Status

Legal Forms

Commercial Companies

Sole Entrepreneurs

Partnerships

State-Owned & Public Entities

Foreign Entities

Legal Representatives

Other Key Persons

Shareholders

Ultimate Beneficial Owners

Activity Code Mapping

Data Availability

Data Availability Matrix

Documents by Company Type

Example API Responses

Data Source Priority & Routing

​Start here

China coverage, pricing, and sources

​Table of Contents

​Data Sources

​All entity types

​Company Identifiers

​Query Identifiers

​Identifiers in API Response

​Legal Entity Identifier (LEI)

​Search Capabilities

​Active companies only

​Quirks & Gotchas

​Mappings

​Company Status

​Legal Forms

​Commercial Companies

​Sole Entrepreneurs

​Partnerships

​Non-Profits & Social Organizations

​State-Owned & Public Entities

​Foreign Entities

​Legal Representatives

​Other Key Persons

​Shareholders

​Ultimate Beneficial Owners

​Activity Code Mapping

​Data Availability

​Data Availability Matrix

​Documents by Company Type

​Example API Responses

​Data Source Priority & Routing

Start here

Table of Contents

Data Sources

All entity types

Company Identifiers

Query Identifiers

Identifiers in API Response

Legal Entity Identifier (LEI)

Search Capabilities

Active companies only

Quirks & Gotchas

Mappings

Company Status

Legal Forms

Commercial Companies

Sole Entrepreneurs

Partnerships

Non-Profits & Social Organizations

State-Owned & Public Entities

Foreign Entities

Legal Representatives

Other Key Persons

Shareholders

Ultimate Beneficial Owners

Activity Code Mapping

Data Availability

Data Availability Matrix

Documents by Company Type

Example API Responses

Data Source Priority & Routing