What is a unified social credit code?
Question
I just started contacting China suppliers for verification. Many people mentioned the concept of "unified social credit code" and said that it was the basis for checking China companies. I'm not sure what this code is, how it is composed, and why it is so important.
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The unified social credit code can be said to be the master key to your verification of China companies. Understanding it is worth two minutes.
The unified social credit code is an 18‑digit alphanumeric combination that has been implemented in China since 2015. The purpose is to unify the numbers issued by different systems such as industry and commerce, taxation, and quality supervision into one. You can understand it as the "ID number" of a China company. Each company has only one and remains unchanged for life. Even if the company changes its name, moves, or changes shareholders, this code will not change.
Why is it the starting point for verification? Because almost all your subsequent verification actions start with this string of code. Go to the national enterprise credit information publicity system to check industrial and commercial information, and enter the code to find all the company's industrial and commercial registration data. To go to the tax system to verify invoices, you need to use this string of codes. Check customs records, judicial records, and social security information. Many query entrances support the use of unified social credit codes for retrieval. Without this string of code, your verification work cannot be carried out systematically.
The first step in compiling credit reports for China enterprises is to use codes to retrieve basic data from the industrial and commercial system, and then use the codes as the primary key to associate data from other channels such as tax, customs, judicial, and social security. If the other party cannot provide a unified social credit code, or if the given code cannot be found in the industrial and commercial system, then other verification actions are irrelevant.
When cooperating with a China company, when receiving a supplier's business card, PI, and contract, the first thing to do is to find the unified social credit code above, write it down or take a photo to archive it. Whether you check it yourself or entrust CheckChinaCompany to make a report later, this string of code is necessary. If the unified social credit code never appears on the materials provided by the other party, this in itself is an abnormal signal, and regular China companies will not deliberately hide their credit codes.
The unified social credit code is composed of 18 digits and letters. After getting the business license picture from a China supplier, you must go to the China National Enterprise Credit Information Disclosure System (gsxt.gov.cn) to verify it. Some scammers use the business license of another company to modify it. If the unified social credit code displayed by the information system does not match the company name, it proves that the other party is a fraud.
After the core information is correct, don't take it lightly. We must also focus on operating status and registered capital. If the business status is "revoked" or "cancelled" but is still receiving external orders, then you must be a liar. If the registered capital is too small, it proves that the supplier's ability to resist risks is too low. If you want to obtain more detailed corporate background information, it is recommended to ask CheckChinaCompany to issue a professional corporate credit report. Understanding the background of cooperating suppliers is the beginning of all business cooperation.
People Also Ask
Will changing the company's name affect the Unified Social Credit Code?
If a company simply changes its name or address, the Unified Social Credit Code will remain the same. A new code is only generated when a company is dissolved and a new entity is registered. If a supplier's code has changed, it is highly likely that it is now a different company.
If a business license does not include a Unified Social Credit Code, does that mean the company is fake?
It is not necessarily fake, but it indicates a very outdated, old-version license. China completed the integration of codes long ago, and normally operating businesses have already switched to the new version of the license. In such cases, it is recommended that you ask the other party to update their license and then verify the entity's status on the official platform.
Are the Unified Social Credit Code, the customs registration code, and the tax ID number the same?
The Unified Social Credit Code, customs registration code, and tax ID are not three completely separate sets of numbers. Following the "Three Certificates in One" reform in mainland China, a company's tax ID and Unified Social Credit Code are the same sequence of numbers; however, the customs registration code is a separate 10-digit code used exclusively for import and export customs clearance and is different from the Unified Social Credit Code. When conducting due diligence on overseas companies, it is recommended to verify the Unified Social Credit Code and the customs registration code separately to confirm the company's genuine qualifications.