What is a Unified Social Credit Code?
A Unified Social Credit Code (统一社会信用代码) is the 18-character identifier carried by every registered Chinese organisation. It is simultaneously the company registration number and the tax number, it never changes, and it is the key you use to look a company up on China’s national registry at gsxt.gov.cn.
Before 2015 a Chinese company carried several different numbers — a business registration number, a tax registration number, an organisation code. The reform known as 三证合一 (“three certificates in one”) merged them into a single identifier. If you have a supplier’s Unified Social Credit Code, you have everything you need to find their official record.
How the code is structured
| Characters | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 1 | Registering authority category |
| 2 | Entity category |
| 3–8 | Administrative division code — the six digits that tell you the registering city or district |
| 9–17 | Organisation identifier |
| 18 | Check character |
Characters 3 to 8 are quietly useful: they encode where the company is registered. A supplier claiming to be a Shenzhen electronics manufacturer whose code starts with a Zhejiang division number is not necessarily lying, but it is a question worth asking.
Our own code is 91330302MAKLC8FT2R. The 330302 in the middle is Lucheng District, Wenzhou — which is exactly where we say we are.
How to use it
- Ask the supplier for the code in writing, before you ask for anything else. It is a normal request.
- Search it at gsxt.gov.cn.
- Check the returned company name matches the name on your quotation, your contract and the bank account you have been given.
Want this done rather than explained?
The 24-hour answer to “is this company real?” — US$95, Usually 1 working day.
Sources
All sources checked 23 August 2026. This page is general information, not legal, tax or customs advice. Requirements vary by product, market and circumstance — confirm your own position before acting.
