China business glossary
Plain-English definitions of the Chinese legal and business terms foreign investors meet most often.
Company chops
Company chops (公章) are official seals that bind a Chinese company. The main company chop works much like an authorised signature, so whoever holds it can sign contracts on the company's behalf. Most companies also have finance, legal-representative, contract and invoice chops.
Fapiao
A fapiao (发票) is the official tax invoice in China. It is issued through the tax authority's system, and businesses need it to deduct expenses and claim input VAT. Since the national rollout of fully digital invoices, most fapiao are issued electronically.
统一社会信用代码Unified Social Credit Code (USCC)
The Unified Social Credit Code (统一社会信用代码) is the 18-character identifier on every Chinese business licence. It encodes the registering authority, entity type and region, and ends with a check character calculated under national standard GB 32100-2015.
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