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Sign up with Google Sign up with FacebookQ: Is there a way to check on the legitimacy of a Chinese company online?
Please don't answer with offers to personally go and check for me for a fee. I want to know if there is a trade council, government agency, or chamber of commerce that can validate if a Chinese company is real, how long they've been in business, how many employees they have, and if possible what their reputation is? I don't care what language the web site is in, but it has to be an official site and not a fake like everything else in this country.
11 years 23 weeks ago in Business & Jobs - China
As far as I am aware, there is no online site that will do this. You could ask for a copy of their business license which says what year it was established and the type of company the license is for.
And even if you do actually find out about the company, there is nothing to say that the person you are dealing with is even part of the company. I have heard many stories about people signing contracts for a company and then when the company defaults on the contract they say, "That contract is fake. The stamp is a forgery and the person who signed it never worked for us."
One way to protect yourself is to make sure the name on the account you are sending money to (if you buy stuff from them) matches the name on the license. If they don't match, it is probably a scam of some sort.
Geezer:
I don't want anything from the company who can easily fabricate and forge. I want an official third party source that is reliable and has no vested interest.
Xpat.John:
That will be almost impossible to find. Every time I needed to find out about a company, I had to go there in person to do it myself. Third party 'sourcing agents' are famous for taking payoffs from the company they are trying to hook you up with. Even government officers will do the same thing when giving you recommendations.
However, depending on the size of the company, you may try asking the local (American, British, Whatever) Chamber of Commerce to see if they know anything about the company. That would probably be the least biased opinion you will find.
I would see what kind of rating they have at Alibaba.com
it's really hard to say even if I am chinese as I also met the same issue as yr foreigners.
Most of the time, if I made business, I hope someone we knew each other then he/she can introduce to me....
Anyway, good luck for you.
if you need help, pls contact me. I try to help, but not very sure....
This is a great question and we really should find way to check out companies on line. Is anyone friends with a Chinese lawyer. If anyone would know it would probably be them - especially the ones that rehister companies for a living
This is a great question and we really should find way to check out companies on line. Is anyone friends with a Chinese lawyer. If anyone would know it would probably be them - especially the ones that rehister companies for a living
Actually you can not check to see if a company is legitimate, but you can check to see if they are on a black list at CleverChinaCheaters.com. There are two lists there - one by name and one by web site - about 15,000 in all. But my guess is that these name probably change every week. There is a government agency called SAIC or BAIC (I can't remember which) near Liangmaqiao and if you go there and wait in line for an hour, you can see if a company is registered and to who.
Knowing from my experiences of working as International Paralegal and setting up companies for people, the government actually like to help with people to do safe business on a Honest basis, as far as I know most cities in China have their website of the Commercial department where you can check the legitimacy of a Chinese company,
for example if it's a Shenzhen company, you can check on http://app01.szaic.gov.cn/aiceqmis.webui/GeneralSearch.aspx
which is the website of the Department of Shenzhen Market Supervisory Authority which is in charge of the Company Registration.
For different city the in charge department is different but similar method.
You will get info such as Name, Registration Capital, Business scope which helps you to know if they are really factory, ect, I used it a lot when i dealt with trading business before.
Should you have any questions about that, you can come to me for further discussion
Go to:
whois.domaintools.com
enter the company website, without the www
You will get info such as how long the website has existed...
Hope this helps.
good luck
cc
There are a couple of checks you can do yourself.
Firstly, if it is a bona-fide company, it will have an official business licence and company stamps. There is a main copy and what is called a "fu ben". Ask them to scan the "fu ben" (preferably scanned colour version by email). It will give an indication of the company name, registered address, business scope (what the company legally can and can't supply), registration capital and four squares. Every year, the company should undergo financial inspection by the local government and a small round stamp put in each square sequentially. You need to check how many annual inspections the company has passed.
Secondly, if you are importing from this company, ask for a trade reference pertaining to another company overseas that they are selling to (not Chinese companies as all trade references are likely to be fake). If the company cannot or will not supply an overseas reference, that alone should raise a few red flags.
Anyone had experience with Enke education International Culture Exchange Center from Beijing?