NECIPS in English: Check a Chinese company on the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System

What is NECIPS?

NECIPS is the English shorthand for 国家企业信用信息公示系统, the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System. It is the national website where China’s market regulators publish registration and credit information about businesses registered in mainland China: limited companies, but also individual businesses and other market entities.

The system lives at gsxt.gov.cn. “GSXT” is simply the initials of 公示系统 (gōngshì xìtǒng, “publicity system”), which is why buyers use NECIPS and GSXT for the same thing. It is run by the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) under the Enterprise Information Disclosure Interim Regulations, which took effect on 1 October 2014 and were last amended in 2024.

China’s state newspaper describes the system as official, authoritative and free. By the end of October 2023 it held records on 182 million businesses, with information gathered from 56 government departments. If a company is registered in mainland China, it should be on NECIPS.

The catch for foreign buyers: the portal is Chinese-only. There is no official English version, and search works best with the company’s Chinese registered name or its 18-character Unified Social Credit Code. That is what this site helps with.

Official NECIPS entry points

Everything official sits under the gsxt.gov.cn domain. There is no official English site: anything offering “NECIPS in English”, including this guide, is independent.

How to search NECIPS in English, step by step

You don’t need an account or a paid service for the basic check. You need the right identifier and about five minutes. Annotated screenshots of each screen are in the GSXT walkthrough.

1. Get the Chinese registered name or the USCC. Both are printed on the supplier’s business license (营业执照). Mainland companies must register their names in Chinese characters, so an English name is never the legal name. Ask for a clear copy of the license rather than translating a name yourself.
2. Check the code before you search. Paste the USCC into the checker above. A wrong character is the most common reason a search returns nothing.
3. Open gsxt.gov.cn and search. A security check runs for a moment as the page loads. The search box takes a company name, a USCC or an older registration number. Name searches match keywords and show at most 100 results, so a full name or the USCC narrows the list.
4. Solve the picture puzzle. A GEETEST check shows a few small icons or characters in its prompt and asks you to click them in that order in a picture (请在下图依次点击, “click in the picture below, in order”). Match them by shape, then press 确定 (confirm). You’ll get a new puzzle for each search.
5. Pick the right company. Each result shows the full Chinese name, status, USCC, legal representative and establishment date. Open the one whose USCC matches the business license exactly; it opens in a new tab. Similar names are common.
6. Read and save the record. Without an account you see the business license details (营业执照信息). The page ends with 请登录后查看更多信息, “log in to see more information”: licenses, penalties, annual reports and the other sections need a real-name account. Save or print what you see with the date you checked.

Nothing found? Compare every character with the license, try the USCC instead of the name, and ask whether the company is registered in Hong Kong rather than the mainland. A company that has been deregistered may also be harder to find. A failed search is a reason to ask questions, not proof of fraud.

What’s on a NECIPS company record

A NECIPS company page brings together what the regulators record and what the company itself must publish under the disclosure regulations and Article 40 of the Company Law. Section names on the portal vary a little between record types, so look for the Chinese terms below.

Without logging in, the portal shows only the first row, the business license details. The other sections need a real-name account.

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The 2024 upgrade also added notices of dissolution, compulsory deregistration and termination (People’s Daily, July 2024). For a field-by-field reading guide, see the registry field guide.

How to read a Chinese company name

Mainland company names follow a fixed pattern set by the Enterprise Name Registration Regulations: where the company is registered, its trade name, its line of business and its legal form. Reading the parts tells you a lot before you even search.

The line of business is a useful first hint: 贸易 (trading) or 进出口 (import and export) usually means a trading company, while 制造 (manufacturing) or 实业 (industrial) suggests production. Companies that operate across provinces may leave out the region. The legal form matters more:

• 有限公司 / 有限责任公司: a limited liability company, the most common form for suppliers.
• 股份有限公司: a company limited by shares, the form used by larger and listed companies.
• 分公司: a branch. It has its own business license and code but is not a separate legal person; under Article 13 of the Company Law, the parent company bears its liabilities. Search the parent too.
• 个体工商户: an individual business run by a person rather than a company. It can hold a business license and appear on NECIPS, but it is a very different counterparty from a limited company.

Warning signs worth a closer look

None of these proves a supplier is dishonest. Each one is a reason to ask a direct question before you pay.

• A status other than 存续 or 在业. 注销 means deregistered; 吊销 means the business license was revoked. A company in either state should not be taking new orders.
• Names that don’t match. The Chinese name on the contract, invoice and bank beneficiary should be the registered name. A different entity needs a documented explanation.
• An establishment date that contradicts the sales pitch. “Twenty years in manufacturing” from a company registered last year may be a new trading arm. Ask which entity owns the factory.
• A business scope that doesn’t cover your goods. Scope wording is broad, but a trading company with no manufacturing in its scope is not the factory.
• Capital that is subscribed but not paid. Registered capital is a promise. Under Article 47 of the Company Law, shareholders of a limited company must pay it in within five years of formation; the record shows how much has been paid so far.
• An entry on the abnormal operations list, especially for being unreachable at the registered address.
• Frequent recent changes to the legal representative, shareholders, name or address.
• Pledged equity or registered mortgages. Common in normal business, but worth understanding before a large deposit.

Work through these alongside the payment checklist, which covers the contract, beneficiary and order-specific evidence.

What NECIPS doesn’t show

NECIPS answers one question well: is this the legal entity it claims to be, and what has been officially recorded about it? Several things a buyer cares about are not on it.

NECIPS vs Qichacha vs Tianyancha

Qichacha (企查查) and Tianyancha (天眼查) are private Chinese platforms. They compile NECIPS data with court, intellectual-property and other public records, and draw links between related companies and people.

They are most useful once you know which entity you are dealing with: to map its shareholders’ other companies, see past names, or spot litigation. Both are in Chinese and keep fuller detail behind an account. Their data is compiled rather than official, so confirm anything that affects your deal on gsxt.gov.cn.

Hong Kong companies are not on NECIPS

Many suppliers work through a Hong Kong company: it signs the contract, issues the invoice or receives payment, while production happens on the mainland. Hong Kong companies are not on NECIPS. They are registered with Hong Kong’s Companies Registry, which has its own English-language search.

A Hong Kong company has no USCC. Since 27 December 2023 it is identified by its eight-digit Business Registration Number. A company name search on the registry is free, and a report of the company’s current particulars costs HK$22.

If your paperwork names a Hong Kong entity, search it there, and ask how it relates to the mainland factory. How to search the Hong Kong register.