China SAIC

The State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) is a government body responsible for the supervision of business administration in China. As part of these responsibilities, the SAIC manages an index with corporate records from China’s primary corporate registry maintained by the State Administration for Market Regulation (国家市场监督管理总局).

SAIC corporate records are available in Sayari Graph.

When is the record true for?

Chinese corporate records represent a snapshot of the company’s status at the time the record is accessed. China’s corporate registry is updated by companies on an ad hoc basis, as their statuses change. A company is required to file an annual report before June 30 each year. In addition, there are several events that companies are required to report to SAMR within 30 days after they occur (unless otherwise specified below):

  • Change in company name
  • Change in company legal representative
  • Change in company’s scope of business
  • Change in legal entity type
  • Change in shareholders or in the percentage of the company held by shareholders 
  • Change in company officers (deadline not specified)
  • Change in address of company headquarters (prior to relocating to the new address)
  • Change in registered capital
  • Change in company’s constitution (deadline not specified)

 

Based on these deadlines, analysts can assume that the Chinese corporate records in this database are correct as of 30 days prior to the date indicated in the “Date of Content” field. For example:

  • Date of content is March 31, 2019
  • Zhang San is listed as the company’s 50 percent shareholder and executive director
  • Therefore, we know that Zhang San was the 50 percent shareholder of the company as of March 1, 2019.

 

Of course, it is possible that companies fail to meet the disclosure deadline required by the Administrative Regulations on Company Registration.

What is included in the record?

Records can contain the following information (although some records may not contain all of this information, due to differences in what companies choose to disclose to SAMR):

Field Definition
Name (企业名称) This is the company’s legal name. While this doesn’t appear as a labeled field, it is the primary name listed at the top of the record.
Entity ID This field is not used.
Email (企业电子邮箱) An email address associated with the company
Telephone (企业联系电话) A telephone number associated with the company
Authorization Date (核准日期) The most recent date that the registration authority approved the company’s registration
Business Scope (经营范围) A list of commercial activities the company reports being involved in
Date of Incorporation (成立日期) The date the company was incorporated
Legal Representative (法定代表人) An individual who represents the company for any legal purposes. In larger companies, this person is often also the company’s chairman (董事长), while in smaller companies the legal representative frequently also holds the role of executive director (执行董事). In sole proprietorships (个体工商户), the legal representative is the company’s proprietor/sole shareholder.
Operating Period (营业期限自 and 营业期限至) The period of time that the company’s operating license is valid for.
Operating Status (登记状态) An indication of whether the company is active or closed at the time of the record. Most frequently, active status is denoted by the Chinese term 存续 (“existing”), but companies occasionally list other terms in this field to indicate an active status, such as “incorporated” (成立). There are also several different terms used to indicate that a company is closed or in the process of closing, such as “dissolved” (解散), “in liquidation” (清算), or “revoked” (吊销, referring to the status of its operating license).
Registered Capital (注册资本) The amount of capital the company has registered with SAMR. This is usually reported in Chinese renminbi, but foreign-invested companies may report it in some other currency, such as Japanese yen or U.S. dollars.
Organization Type (类型) This field includes information about both the kind of legal entity the company is as well as the status of its shareholders. Typically, the legal entity type is reported first, while shareholder status follows in parentheses.
Registration Authority (登记机关) The local office where the company incorporated and registered. Typically, this is a county- or district-level office of SAMR.
Registration Date (登记日期) The date the company filed incorporation documents with the registration authority.
Registration Number (工商注册号) Until several years ago, this was the primary ID number for Chinese companies. It has since been replaced by the Uniform Social Credit Number, but some companies still list this on corporate filings.
Uniform Social Credit No. (统⼀社会信⽤代码) The primary unique ID number used by Chinese companies.
Last Source Change This field is not used.
Address (住所) The company’s address. For more details on understanding this address, see this blog post on how Chinese addresses can be used to advance investigations.
Website (⽹站或⽹店信息) A website associated with the company.
Branches (对外投资信息) Branch offices of the company. Under Chinese law, while these must be registered with the local authorities in the city where they operate, they are not considered legal entities distinct from the parent company.
Associated Individuals (主要人员信息) Officers of the company. Typically, these include the director(s), supervisors, and managers.
Shareholders (股东及出资信息) Shareholders of the company. On some records, the amount of registered or paid-in capital of each shareholder will also be listed. When it is, the percent ownership of the company held by each shareholder can be determined by adding up the registered capital of each shareholder, then dividing the registered capital of the individual shareholder by the total registered capital.

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