Every Canton Check report says which source each fact came from, when it was fetched, and whether it is an official record or something the supplier says about itself. This page explains each source and how we obtain it.
We are not affiliated with any government agency, registry or marketplace mentioned below.
1. Chinese company records
What:
- registered name, Unified Social Credit Code (USCC), status, founding date, capital, legal representative,
- shareholders, former names, business scope, branches, licences,
- court, enforcement and penalty records,
- tax-credit ratings, trademarks and patents,
- contact details and figures published in annual reports.
Original source: companies in mainland China must publish this information through the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System (国家企业信用信息公示系统). Courts and other authorities publish judgments, enforcement and credit-blacklist records; stock exchanges publish listed-company filings. Hong Kong company information comes from the Hong Kong Companies Registry.
How we obtain it: through third-party business-information services that aggregate these public records (currently Tianyancha, 天眼查), accessed via data-collection providers (Apify). We do not access government systems directly.
Type: official records, as republished by an aggregator. Errors or delays at the aggregator can affect our reports.
2. US import records
What: US ocean-freight shipments (bills of lading) filed under a supplier's name, including dates, US ports, product descriptions and HS codes, US buyers and volumes.
Original source: US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) vessel manifest data. Under US regulations this data is public unless a shipper or consignee requests confidentiality.
How we obtain it: from ImportYeti, a public customs-data website, via a data-collection provider.
Type: public customs records. Coverage is US sea imports only. Air freight, shipments to other countries and shipments filed under a forwarder's name are not visible. Records are counted only when the shipper name matches the supplier under our strict name-matching rules.
3. Marketplace information
What: the supplier's Alibaba.com store and company profile (years on platform, staff, floor space, badges, products, prices, minimum orders, main markets, reviews, onsite-verified company details) and Global Sources listings (business type, certifications, main products).
How we obtain it: from publicly visible supplier pages and marketplace search results.
Type: self-reported by the supplier, except fields the marketplace labels as verified, such as Alibaba's "onsite" checks. We label self-reported data clearly and use it only as corroboration.
4. Stock-exchange filings
What: announcements and filings of companies listed on the Shenzhen and Shanghai stock exchanges.
Original source: CNINFO (巨潮资讯网), the official disclosure platform designated by the China Securities Regulatory Commission.
How we obtain it: via a data-collection provider.
5. Translations and name matching
Chinese text is translated into English by AI models (via the Lovable AI gateway). Person names are shown in pinyin. Translations can contain mistakes; the original Chinese is always shown alongside.
To match English trade names to Chinese registered names, we use:
- English names on file with the registry,
- pinyin comparison,
- AI-suggested Chinese names. These are always confirmed against the registry record and labelled "Matched via Chinese name".
AI is never used to calculate the risk score; the score is rules-based (see /docs#methodology).
Freshness and caching
Data is fetched live when you run a check. To keep checks fast and affordable:
- registry search results may be reused for up to 30 days,
- full company profiles may be reused for up to 7 days.
Each report shows when its data was fetched.
Corrections and removal
If something in a report is wrong, use "Report an inaccuracy" on the report or /contact. If you are an individual named in a report, see section 3 of our Privacy Policy (/privacy) for your rights.
Limits
Absence of a record is not proof that nothing happened. Chinese court publication rates have fallen since 2021, and private companies rarely publish financial statements. Each report includes a "What we couldn't verify" section.