The legal form at the end of a Chinese company name tells you who owns it, who is liable, and what to expect from its records.
| Chinese | English | What it means for a buyer |
|---|---|---|
| 有限责任公司 | Limited liability company (LLC) | The most common form for suppliers. 1–50 shareholders, liability limited to their capital. Under the revised Company Law in force since 1 July 2024, subscribed capital must generally be paid in within 5 years. |
| 一人有限责任公司 | Single-shareholder LLC | One owner, which can be a person or a company. Check who that owner is. |
| 股份有限公司 | Company limited by shares (joint-stock company) | Usually larger. Can be listed on a stock exchange or unlisted. Listed ones publish financial filings. |
| 外商投资企业 / (外商投资、上市) | Foreign-invested enterprise | Has foreign shareholders. Since the Foreign Investment Law (2020), these are LLCs or joint-stock companies flagged as foreign-invested. |
| 国有企业 / 国有独资 / 国有控股 | State-owned or state-controlled enterprise | Owned or controlled by a government body. Generally stable, but procurement and payment terms can be rigid. |
| 个体工商户 | Individual business (sole trader) | Not a company. The owner is personally liable. Common for small workshops and market stalls. They have a USCC starting "92". |
| 个人独资企业 | Sole proprietorship enterprise | One individual owner with unlimited liability, but registered as an enterprise. |
| 合伙企业 (普通 / 有限) | Partnership (general / limited) | Often used as holding vehicles, for example employee shareholding platforms. |
| 分公司 | Branch | Not a separate legal person. The parent company is liable. Contract with and pay the parent unless you have a reason not to. |
| 子公司 | Subsidiary | A separate legal person owned by a parent. The parent is not automatically liable for it. |
| 农民专业合作社 | Farmers' cooperative | Agricultural producers; USCC starts "93". |
| Hong Kong companies (有限公司 / Limited) | Hong Kong-registered company | A separate jurisdiction, registered with the Hong Kong Companies Registry. No USCC. Many mainland factories use a Hong Kong company to invoice and receive payments abroad. Make sure you understand why. |
Why it matters
- Pay the entity you contract with. The bank account name should match the exact Chinese legal name, or the Hong Kong company if that is who you contracted with. Be cautious with personal accounts or unrelated companies.
- Branch vs subsidiary: a branch is the parent. A subsidiary is a different company, with its own (possibly much smaller) capital and history.
- Individual businesses can be legitimate small workshops, but they carry personal rather than corporate liability, and their registry records are thinner.
Canton Check shows the legal form in the free report ("Company type"), and in the full report it flags results that look like subsidiaries or branches of the company you searched.