# What is the USCC of a Chinese company and how to use it | Confirm Supplier

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Guide by Confirm Supplier (CNAL Consulting, Spain). The USCC (Unified Social Credit Code), in Chinese 统一社会信用代码, is the functional equivalent of a tax ID for a Chinese company: a unique 18 character code that identifies it before the business registry, the tax administration and customs.

## Where it comes from

Until 2015 a Chinese company accumulated several separate numbers: business licence number, organisation code and tax registration number. The reform known as three certificates in one (三证合一) unified them into the USCC, rolled out from October 2015 and today the standard identifier of any entity registered in mainland China.

## Anatomy of the 18 characters

- Position 1: registering authority. 9 corresponds to the business registry, the most common for suppliers.
- Position 2: entity type within that authority.
- Positions 3 to 8: code of the administrative division where it is registered (province, city, district).
- Positions 9 to 17: the entity's own organisation code.
- Position 18: check digit calculated from the previous 17.

The system does not use the letters I, O, Z, S or V. A code containing any of them has been transcribed wrongly or invented.

## Where to find it

On the business licence (营业执照) next to the legal name, on official invoices and contracts, and on the company's public record on GSXT. Its absence on an invoice is a signal in itself.

## What you can do with it

1. Identify without ambiguity: searching by USCC on GSXT takes you to a single company, without the problems of translated names.
2. Cross check documents: the USCC on the licence, the contract, the invoice and the destination bank account must belong to the same entity. This is where most impersonation frauds fall apart. See https://confirmsupplier.com/en/resources/paying-a-chinese-supplier/
3. Locate the supplier geographically: digits 3 to 8 reveal where the company is registered.

## The three most frequent inconsistencies

- The USCC belongs to an entity different from the one signing the contract or collecting the advance.
- An undisclosed intermediary: the USCC on the invoice corresponds to a trading company rather than the factory in the sales pitch. Not illegal, but it changes the chain of liability.
- A malformed code: a length other than 18, forbidden letters or a check digit that does not add up.

In Confirm Supplier reports the USCC is the starting point: code, legal name, representative and collection account are verified as belonging to the same entity, and from there registration status, capital, litigation and corporate links are analysed.

## Quick questions

- Do all Chinese companies have a USCC? All entities registered in mainland China. If an active supplier cannot provide it, it cannot provide its legal identity.
- Does it work for Hong Kong or Taiwan? No; they have their own registries and identifiers.
- Is the USCC the Chinese company's VAT number? It is the closest equivalent, but it is not an EU VAT number and cannot be validated in VIES. See https://confirmsupplier.com/en/resources/chinese-company-tax-id/
- Is verifying the USCC enough to pay with peace of mind? It is the first filter, not the last. It does not tell you about litigation, real capital or who is behind the company.

A €500,000 order. A €250 report. China Simple Confirmation Report: €250 + VAT. China Due Diligence Report: €900 + VAT.

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