Chinese company names and ID numbers reveal rich data about the entities and individuals they describe. Specifically, a Mainland China registered corporate name serves as a unique identifier while offering insights into location, corporate type, affiliations, and operations.
Uniqueness of Company Names
Like identification numbers, registered company names in Mainland China are unique identifiers; no two companies can share the exact same name. Once a company closes, its name remains locked for three years.
Company Name Elements
According to the Regulations on the Registration and Management of Enterprise Names, administered by China’s State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC), Chinese company names generally comprise four elements:
Registered location
The first two characters usually indicate the administrative region of registration. The first two characters in “丹东鸿祥实业发展有限公司,” which is the name of a Chinese company designated by OFAC in 2016 for supporting North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction program, indicate it was registered in “丹东” or “Dandong”.
Occasionally, a third character specifies the region’s administrative level – provincial (省), municipal (市), county (县), or even town (镇). However, this is not always the case. The above example has no administrative marker; if it did, the subsequent characters would be “丹东市”, since Dandong is a city. Note: Terms like “China” or “National” or “International” at the start of a name are reserved for State Council-approved companies approved or national companies.
Alphanumeric Code
The next element in a Chinese company’s name is the “alphanumeric code” (企业字号), perhaps better described as the brand name, or the element of the name selected by the company rather than determined by its location and operations.
Regulations require this element to contain at least two characters. It cannot contain numbers, political parties, military organs, nor can it harm state interests or mislead the public. In our example, the brand name is “鸿祥” or “Hongxiang.”
Industry
The third element describes the company’s industry or primary characteristics. This classification must align China’s Industrial Classification for National Economic Activities. This may include trade, apparel, technology, service, chemicals, etc. In our case, the characters “实业发展” indicate “Industrial Development.”
Company type
The final element indicates the corporate type, such as a limited liability company (有限责任公司 or 有限公司), a company limited by shares (股份有限公司 or 股份公司), a partnership (合伙), or a corporation (总公司). Our example uses “有限公司”, commonly translated as “Co Ltd.”
Order of Company Name Elements
A standard Chinese company name follows this structure: [registered location] [trade name] [industry] [company type]. Combining these elements for our example:
- Location: 丹东/ / Dandong
- Trade name: 鸿祥 / Hongxiang
- Industry: 实业发展 / Industrial Development
- Company type: 有限公司 / Co Ltd
- Chinese name (English): Dandong Hongxiang Industrial Development Co Ltd
Exceptions exist. For instance, the registered location may appear in parentheses within the name:
- [selected name] [industry] (registered location in parenthesis) [company type]
- [selected name] (registered location in parenthesis) [industry] [company type]
Thus, variations could include:
- Hongxiang (Dandong) Industrial Development Co Ltd
- Hongxiang Industrial (Dandong) Development Co Ltd
Companies register in various formats. In rare cases, a company could register its name without the location marker entirely; that, like all company names, would be subject to SAIC approval.
Domestic and Foreign Branch Offices
Domestic branch companies (分公司) – branches of Chinese entities – and foreign branch offices (代表处), commonly called “representative offices,” have distinct naming requirements.
Domestic Branch Offices
According to the Regulations on the Registration and Management of Enterprise Names, domestic branch names must include all standard elements plus the branch location and the “branch office” marker.
The structure is: [parent company registered location] [parent company name] [parent company industry] [parent company type] [branch office location] [branch office marker].
Example: “大连天宝国际物流有限公司中山区分公司”
- Parent Company Registered Location: 大连 / Dalian
- Parent Company Name: 天宝 /Sun Moon Star
- Parent Company Industry: 国际物流 / International Logistics
- Parent Company Type: 有限公司 / Co Ltd
- Branch office location: 中山区 / Zhongshan District
- Branch office marker: 分公司 / Branch Office
- Full Chinese Name (English): Dalian Sun Moon Star International Logistics Co Ltd Zhongshan District Branch Office
Dalian Sun Moon Star International Logistics Co., Ltd was designated by OFAC for facilitating illicit shipments to North Korea, including exports of alcohol and tobacco. Accordingly, its branch office is registered as Dalian Sun Moon Star International Logistics Co., Ltd Zhongshan District Branch.
Foreign Branch Offices
According to the Registration Regulations for Representative Offices of Foreign Enterprises (外国企业常驻代表机构登记管理条例), representative office names must include the headquarters’ country, parent company details (Chinese name, industry, type), registered location in China, and local company type.
The order is: [foreign country headquarters] [parent company name] [parent company industry] [parent company type] [registered location in China] [company type in China].
Example: “朝鲜金星贸易会社丹东代表处”
- Foreign Headquarters: 朝鲜 / North Korea
- Parent Company Selected Name: 金星 / Kumbyol
- Parent Company Industry: 贸易 / Trade
- Parent Company type: 会社 / Company
- Registered location in China: 丹东 / Dandong
- Company Type in China: 代表处 / Representative Office
- Full Chinese Name (English): Korea Kumbyol Trading Company Dandong Representative Office
This entity is a branch office of Korea Kumbyol Trading Company, a North Korean entity that was sanctioned by the U.S. Department of the Treasury on November 21, 2017 for links to the North Korea government.
The public records data that powered this research is available through Sayari Search. If you’re curious how this data could drive insights for your team, or for details on the specific individuals and companies discussed above, please reach out here.
