> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.topograph.co/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # China > Country-specific identifiers, data sources, and implementation details This guide is outdated and will be removed on 1 November 2026. The up-to-date China reference is on the [China country page](https://www.topograph.co/countries/cn). ## Start here 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. 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. ## Table of Contents * [Data Sources](#data-sources) * [Company Identifiers](#company-identifiers) * [Search Capabilities](#search-capabilities) * [Quirks & Gotchas](#quirks--gotchas) * [Mappings](#mappings) * [Data Availability](#data-availability) * [Example API Responses](#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](https://www.gleif.org/en/about-lei/introducing-the-legal-entity-identifier-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`](/essentials/search#active-companies-only) 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 | #### Non-Profits & Social Organizations | 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": "", "countryCode": "CN", "dataPoints": ["company", "legalRepresentatives"] }` ```json theme={null} { "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" } } } ] } ``` ```json theme={null} { "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" } } } ] } ``` ```json theme={null} { "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. 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 | ```json theme={null} { "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 | This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.