The business register in mainland China is the Guojia Qiye Xinyong Xinxi Gongshi Xitong (National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System), published at gsxt.gov.cn. Registration itself is carried out by the Guojia Shichang Jiandu Guanli Zongju — SAMR (State Administration for Market Regulation) and by local market regulation departments at county level and above. Every registered entity holds an eighteen-character tongyi shehui xinyong daima (Unified Social Credit Code), which appears on its business licence and is the key for looking it up.

The company registry in China

Registration is governed by the Shichang Zhuti Dengji Guanli Tiaoli (Regulations on the Registration and Administration of Market Entities), State Council Order No. 746, in force since 1 March 2022, and, for companies, by the Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo Gongsi Fa (Company Law of the People’s Republic of China). Article 5 of the Regulations gives SAMR nationwide responsibility and places day-to-day registration with the market regulation departments of local governments at county level and above; Article 6 requires SAMR to set unified data and system-building standards. The result is one national data standard and one national publicity system, served by many local registering authorities: in practice a company is registered by the district, municipal or provincial market regulation bureau competent for it.

Publicity is governed by the Qiye Xinxi Gongshi Zanxing Tiaoli (Interim Regulations on Enterprise Information Publicity), State Council Order No. 654. Entities file their own information into the system, in particular the niandu baogao (annual report), which must be filed between 1 January and 30 June for the preceding year.

Individually-owned businesses

Geti gongshanghu (individually-owned businesses) — the Chinese equivalent of a sole trader, operated by a natural person or a household with unlimited liability and no legal personality — are registered in the same system and by the same authorities, as one of the six categories of market entity listed in Article 2 of the Regulations. They benefit from a dedicated development regulation and from a simplified deregistration route.

Hong Kong and Macau are separate jurisdictions with entirely separate company registers and are outside the scope of this system.

Legal forms that can be registered in China

The revised Company Law, adopted on 29 December 2023 and in force from 1 July 2024, reshaped several of these forms. Three changes matter for anyone reading Chinese corporate records: subscribed capital of a limited liability company must now be paid up within five years of incorporation, with a transition to mid-2027 for companies registered earlier and publicity of the adjusted terms in the system; promoters of a joint-stock company must pay their subscriptions in full before incorporation; and the jianshihui (board of supervisors) is no longer mandatory, since companies may place an audit committee within the board and smaller companies may have a single supervisor or, with unanimous consent, none.

  • Youxian zeren gongsi (Limited liability company) — shareholders are liable up to their subscribed capital contributions. The default vehicle for domestic business and for foreign-invested enterprises.
  • Gufen youxian gongsi (Joint-stock company, company limited by shares) — formed by one to two hundred promoters, over half of whom must be domiciled in China; liability is limited to the shares subscribed, and this is the only form that may be listed.
  • Yiren youxian zeren gongsi (Single-shareholder limited liability company) — no longer governed by a separate chapter of the Company Law. It is now an ordinary limited liability company with written shareholder decisions, but a sole shareholder who cannot prove that the company’s assets are separate from their own becomes jointly liable for its debts.
  • Guoyou duzi gongsi (Wholly state-owned company) — Chapter 7 of the Company Law; it has no shareholders’ meeting, its articles are adopted by the state capital contributor body, and its board must have a majority of external directors.
  • Putong hehuo qiye (General partnership), teshu putong hehuo qiye (Special general partnership) and youxian hehuo qiye (Limited partnership) — under the Hehuo Qiye Fa (Partnership Enterprise Law). General partners are jointly and severally liable without limit; the special general partnership is designed for professional firms; the limited partnership, with unlimited general partners and limited partners, is the standard private equity and venture capital fund vehicle.
  • Geren duzi qiye (Sole proprietorship enterprise) — under the Geren Duzi Qiye Fa (Sole Proprietorship Enterprise Law); a single natural-person investor with unlimited personal liability and no legal personality.
  • Geti gongshanghu (Individually-owned business) — a natural person or household carrying on business with unlimited liability and no legal personality.
  • Nongmin zhuanye hezuoshe (Farmers’ specialised cooperative) and their unions — under the Nongmin Zhuanye Hezuoshe Fa (Farmers’ Specialised Cooperatives Law); members are liable to the extent of their capital shares.
  • Waiguo gongsi fenzhi jigou (Branch of a foreign company) — Chapter 13 of the Company Law. It requires approval followed by registration and a business licence, must appoint a China-based representative and allocate working funds, must state the foreign company’s nationality and form of liability in its name, and has no Chinese legal personality: the foreign company bears civil liability for its activities.
  • Fen gongsi and fei gongsi qiye faren (Domestic branches and non-company enterprise legal persons) — further categories of market entity recognised by the Regulations.

Foreign-invested enterprises no longer form a separate corporate category: under the Waishang Touzi Fa (Foreign Investment Law), in force since 2020, they take the ordinary company or partnership forms of Chinese law.

Information available from the Chinese business register

The publicity system carries a wide range of data on each entity: registration and filing particulars — name, type, unified social credit code, address, legal representative, registered capital, business scope and term; shareholders and promoters; chattel mortgage and equity pledge registrations; administrative licences; administrative penalties; the annual report; liquidation, simplified deregistration and dormancy notices; and void or revoked business licences.

Two supervisory lists are a distinctive feature and are published against the entity’s record. The jingying yichang minglu (list of enterprises with abnormal operations) catches companies that file their annual report late, fail to publicise ordered information, fail to register a change of address or cannot be reached at their registered address. The yanzhong weifa shixin mingdan (list of serious violations of law and dishonesty) is governed by a market regulation measure of 2026 that replaced the earlier 2021 rules.

What is restricted

Two important limits apply. First, there are no audited financial statements on the register. In the annual report only part of the content is compulsory: contact details, status, investments, shareholders’ subscribed and paid-in contributions, equity transfers and the company’s website are publicised, while the financial block — employee numbers, total assets, total liabilities, revenue, profit and taxes paid — is publicised at the enterprise’s option.

Second, beneficial ownership is filed but not public. The Shouyi Suoyouren Xinxi Guanli Banfa (Measures for the Administration of Beneficial Owner Information), issued jointly by the central bank and the market regulation administration and in force from 1 November 2024, require companies, partnerships and branches of foreign companies to file beneficial owner information, with individually-owned businesses exempt and an undertaking-based exemption for small entities wholly owned by natural persons. The threshold is twenty-five per cent of equity, profit or voting rights, or actual control, failing which senior management is filed. The filed data include identity document numbers, residence and contact details, and access is limited: state organs may obtain the information from the central bank for their statutory duties and financial and designated non-financial institutions may query it for anti-money-laundering purposes, all under a duty of confidentiality. The data are not published in the publicity system.

Note that the publicity portal is oriented to domestic users and may be difficult or impossible to reach from outside mainland China.

Documents that can be obtained from the register

  • Yingye zhizhao (Business licence) — issued in an original and a duplicate and also as an electronic business licence. It states the name, entity type, address, legal representative or executive partner, registered capital or contribution, date of establishment, term, business scope, unified social credit code and the issuing authority and date. It must be displayed at the premises and, for e-commerce operators, on the homepage; a lost licence is declared void through the publicity system.
  • Qiye xinyong xinxi gongshi baogao (Enterprise credit information publicity report) — the consolidated printout generated from the publicity system, covering registration data, filings, annual reports, penalties and any listing for abnormal operations or serious violations. Used for tenders, banking and counterparty checks.
  • Dengji dang’an chaxun (Registration archive search) — certified copies from the file held by the registering market regulation authority, including incorporation and change applications, shareholder and board resolutions and capital contribution documents. Access is generally limited to the entity itself, its shareholders, lawyers acting in a filed case and state organs.
  • Gongsi zhangcheng (Articles of association) — a filing item under the Regulations rather than a published item; obtained through the archive search rather than from the publicity system.
  • Qiye xinxi chaxun jieguo (Query result printout) — a snapshot of the public record as displayed in the publicity system.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the business register in China called?

The public register is the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System at gsxt.gov.cn, operated under the State Administration for Market Regulation.

What is a unified social credit code?

An eighteen-character identifier assigned to every market entity, shown on the business licence and used as the search key in the publicity system.

What changed in the 2024 Company Law?

The revised Company Law, in force from 1 July 2024, introduced a five-year deadline for paying up subscribed capital in limited liability companies, required promoters of joint-stock companies to pay in full before incorporation, and made the board of supervisors optional where an audit committee is established or for smaller companies.

Are Chinese companies’ financial statements public?

No. The register holds no audited accounts, and the financial section of the annual report is published only at the enterprise’s option.

Is beneficial ownership information public in China?

No. Since 1 November 2024 beneficial owner information must be filed, but access is limited to state organs and to financial and designated non-financial institutions for anti-money-laundering purposes, and it is not shown in the publicity system.

Are sole traders in the same register?

Yes. Individually-owned businesses are one of the six categories of market entity and are registered by the same authorities in the same system.

Sources

Keywords

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