Companies that are either exporting or importing from China should always make sure the Chinese buyer or seller has the necessary registrations for international trade. Why is this important? If you are an importer then you want to make sure that Chinese company who is is consignee on the shipping papers actually has permission to export before you wire a down payment. If you are exporting to a Chinese company you want to make sure the Chinese buyer has the necessary permits to receive and clear the goods in China before you ship off your goods against a 30% down payment. (if you request 100% payment before shipping then no need to worry)
Chinese companies that are involved in export/import activities must acquire two important certificates. The first certificate is the China Customs Registration Certificate (中华人民共和国海关报关单位注册登记证书) issued by China Customs and the second certificate is Foreign Trade Operator Record (对外贸易经营者备案登记表) issued by Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM). Beside these two certificates, a Chinese import/export company also need to acquire an import/export permit that depends on the goods that must be declared. However, a Chinese company need to have the China Customs and Foreign Trade Operator certificates before they can apply for an import/export license.
Earlier this year I worked on a case where a client wanted to check Youlian Industry and Trading Company, a supplier of ethonal fireplaces on Alibaba. (www.yl-life.com or https://yjyl.en.alibaba.com). The agreement said that the client would purchase products from Youlian Industry and Trading Company but the consignor would be the trading company EOS Home Décor Co., Ltd. The client decided to conduct a background investigation of both companies before taking a final decision. Verifying registration with China Customs and MOFCOM was one of the cornerstones. Here is how I did it.
First step was to look at the business registration information which is necessary to have in order to apply for Customs Registration Certificate and Foreign Trade Operator Record. See more information about how to check a business license here
- Business license: 91440106304640568F (Unified Social Credit Number)
- Company Name: (CN) 广州伊欧斯精品家居有限公司 aka EOS Home Décor Co., Ltd
- Legal Form: Limited Liability Company (Sole proprietorship)
- Legal Representative: Guan Rui Ye (关锐烨)
- Registered Capital: CNY 500,000
- Establishment: 8th of October 2014
- Operation Term: N/A
- Validity: From 8th of October 2014
- Registrar: Administration of Industry and Commerce Guangzhou, Tianhe District
- Last Inspection: 17th of May 2016
- Status: Active
- Registered Address: Yueken Road, No 94, 2nd Floor, Tianhe District Guangzhou
- Business scope:
Wholesale of home decoration items, lamps, interior decoration items, ceramics, glassware, daily utensils, groceries, resin and resin products, household appliances, metal hardware, kitchen equipment and kitchenware, hardware products, furniture. Import and Export (Except for franchised control products). Retail sales of lamps, ceramics, glassware, glassware, kitchenware, groceries, resin and resin products, hardware and furniture.
2nd step was to confirm if the company is registered with China Customs. Companies that are registered with China Customs can be found on the platform Credit Publicity Platform of Import and Export Business of Customs of the People's Republic of China. http://credit.customs.gov.cn
Any user can search on a company by entering the company name (in Chinese), the organization code or the unified social credit number (on the business license). The platform also host a database for 3 categories of companies:
- List of companies with a good reputation
- List of discredited companies
- List of companies with abnormal behavior
The search on the platform successful identified EOS Home Décor Co., Ltd. Here is the information that was retrieved:
- Business license: 91440106304640568F (Unified Social Credit Number)
- China Customs Code: 4401963DYE
- Registration date: 22nd of September 2015
- Organization Code: 304640568
- Company name: 广州伊欧斯精品家居有限公司
- Registrar: Guangzhou Customs
- Address: Yueken Road, No 94, 2nd Floor, Tianhe District Guangzhou
- Administration District: Guangzhou Tianhe District
- Type of Economic Zone: Normal
- Business: Consignor and consignee of export and import goods
- Special Trade Zone: No
- Industry classification: Wholesale
- Expiry: 31st of July 2068
- Cross Border Ecommerce: N/A
- Status: Normal
- Annual Report: Done
- Abnormal credit records: None
Information from China Customs did not trigger any questions. The information corresponds to business registration information and there are no negative remarks about the company.
Next step was to confirm that the company is registered as foreign trade operator with MOFCOM on the website http://iecms.mofcom.gov.cn
There are 3 search options which are:
- Foreign Trade Operator Record Code (13 digits)
- Chinese company name
- Unified Social Credit Code (from business license)
The search shows that EOS Home Décor Co., Ltd is registered as a Foreign Trade Operator and here is the registration data from the database:
- Import Export Enterprise Code: 4401304640568
- Unified Social Credit Number: 91440106304640568F Number)
- Chinese Name: 广州伊欧斯精品家居有限公司
- English Name: Guangzhou Eos Home Decor CO.,Ltd
- Registration Place: Guangzhou
- Legal form: Privately Owned Limited Liability
- Legal Representative: Guan Rui Ye (关锐烨)
- Registered Capital: CNY 500,000
- Last filing date: 2017-03-03
- First filing date: 2015-09-21
- EOS has a valid registration with China Customs and MOFCOM
- Registration information is consistent with registry information from NECIPS.
- Registration since 2015 and No abnormal records.
Of course, a Chinese company can choose to import or export through an appointed import/export agent with the necessary qualifications and permits. This is often an option for smaller companies that don't have resources to handle all the paper works related to export/import. In that case it is highly recommendable to figure out more about the trading company and make sure that consignee/consignor information is consistent with information on the invoice and the necessary shipping papers/documentation for custom clearance.
