Know a Company and Trade Safely

A Chinese company does not necessarily have an official English name, as only a Chinese name is required by law for business registration, making it difficult to perform a background check if you are provided only with the company name in English.

Some web articles may suggest you search the record of Registration and Filing Form for Foreign Trade Business (对外贸易经营者备案登记) in a system provided by the Ministry of Commerce of China.

However, this method is outdated, as since 30 December 2022, according to amendments to the Foreign Trade Law of China, registration and filing for foreign trade business have no longer been required.

We have summarized some other (six) ways for company searches starting with an English name.

1. Web search

Searching on the web is simple and direct. Hopefully, you will find the official website, introductory pages, and recruitment information. Please screen the search result carefully, and the official company name may locate at the bottom of a web page or in the "About us" section.

Once you get the official company name, you can use this name for conducting a further search, such as:

• Search on the government website (the result is in Chinese); or 
• Via third-party service providers (Knowaco.com provide an instant company search tool that can generate English reports).

2. Reverse check against company domain name

If you know the domain name or email address of a Chinese company, you can also do a reverse check again the domain name to see if the official company name appears as the domain name registrant.

For example, if you have a contact email like "[email protected]," you could go to a domain look-up site (such as https://www.whois.com/whois/) and do a reverse check on abccompany.com.

Due to privacy protection, nowadays, only a few companies may list their official names in the domain look-up information.

3. Translation engine

You can also put the English name in a translation engine, such as Google Translate. The translation engine may give the correct answer if the company is well-known.

4. Search fillings of listed companies

Suppose you know the English name of a company that belongs to an overseas-listed company or group, such as the Chinese listed companies in Hong Kong, the United States, London, Singapore, and Australia. In that case, you may go to its annual reports with audited financial information and search the name. Fortunately, you can find the target in the disclosures of subsidiaries of the listed company.

5. Search on social media

WeChat public account is a standard marketing tool in the Chinese community. If you know the public account of the company or have the barcode, you can search on WeChat and further identify the company's full name behind the public account.

6. Asking your supplier or counterparty

This way is direct but may not apply when conducting anonymous research or searching for personal interests.

7. Consultation

You can also consult a Chinese specialist to identify the right official company name. Please contact [email protected] when you need assistance with company searches starting only with an English name. 

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