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For a Chinese company to engage in the import and export of goods on their own, one critical document they need is the “China Foreign Trade Registration Certificate”.
This article provides some background information on this certificate and an overview of why it is so important to Chinese exporters.
This is what the certificate looks like if you have ever received a scan or photo of the original document before.
From top to bottom and left to right, the fields are as follows:
A China Foreign Trade Registration Certificate is issued to a company through the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China (MOFCOM) or an alternate authority appointed by MOFCOM.
The China Foreign Trade Registration Certificate is not required for all Chinese companies; only for those engaged in importing and exporting.
When doing business with a Chinese company, be sure to check they have a legitimate China Foreign Trade Registration Certificate as well as a China Customs Registration Certificate. If a foreign trade operator fails to hold this documentation, customs will not carry out the procedures for declaration, inspection and release of the imported or exported goods.
We have previously explained how to distinguish between different Chinese Trade and Customs documents.
Note that according to this directive, some foreign-invested companies engaging in foreign trade do not require this registration.
If a company provides you with a foreign trade registration certificate or even just their registration number, it may be possible to verify this with records in the official government database.
For a more convenient service China Checkup can quickly verify any China foreign trade registration certificate, check out our service today!
