China Invoice Number Lookup

You have a Chinese invoice and a long number near the top. You want to check the document, so you paste that number into a search box. The result may be nothing at all, even when you copied it correctly. The first thing to establish is what the number identifies: an invoice, a company, or a supplier’s own order.

A China invoice number lookup needs the right document and its supporting fields. For a fully digital fapiao, start with the complete 20-digit invoice number. For many older VAT invoices, keep the invoice code and the 8-digit number separate. To investigate the issuing company, move to the seller’s legal name and taxpayer ID instead.

This guide concerns mainland Chinese tax invoices, usually called fapiao. It helps you choose the correct identifier before opening a verification form. Keep the original invoice alongside you; a copied number in an email is a useful reference, but it leaves out information needed to check the document.

The number beside the label

Read the label before counting the digits. On an unfamiliar document, several long strings can look equally important. A number’s position is a useful clue, but the printed field name is the better starting point.

Label on the document	What it identifies	Where to use it
发票号码 Invoice number	The invoice reference	An invoice verification form
发票代码 Invoice code	A separate code used with older invoice numbers	The code field, when the invoice type requires one
校验码 Check code	A verification field on certain invoices	The check-code field, when requested
销售方 · 纳税人识别号 Seller · Taxpayer ID	The issuing taxpayer	A company identity check

The Chinese labels are included so you can match them to your document without translating the whole page. Do not choose the buyer’s taxpayer ID simply because it is the first one you see. Identify the seller’s section before copying a company identifier.

A supplier may also send a commercial invoice with its own reference, such as INV-2026-042. That is an illustrative order-document reference, not a Chinese tax invoice number. Ask which document you received before treating an unsuccessful tax lookup as evidence that the supplier is fraudulent. The document type determines whether that lookup is appropriate.

One number or two fields

The difference between an older electronic invoice and a fully digital invoice is easy to miss: both may arrive as a PDF. Their identifying fields are different. The tax authority’s format comparison describes an 8-digit number for the older format and a 20-digit number for the fully digital format. The newer format also removes the separate check code.

With a fully digital invoice, copy the whole number into one field. Do not split the first part into an invoice-code box because an older guide shows two boxes. Do not keep only the last eight digits. Those changes create a different reference from the one printed on the document.

With an older code-and-number invoice, preserve both fields. The code is commonly 10 or 12 digits, while the invoice number is 8 digits. Keep the labels attached when you send the details to a colleague. A message containing two unlabeled strings creates avoidable ambiguity about which value belongs where.

AWS China’s English e-fapiao guide offers a useful issuer-side comparison: its fully digital format replaces the original code and number with one 20-digit number while retaining buyer and seller names and tax registration numbers. This is why a document can have a long invoice number and a separate long company ID without either field being redundant.

Paper alone does not settle the question either. A printed copy can represent an electronic document. Read the invoice type and labels on the copy; do not classify it solely by the fact that someone handed you a sheet of paper.

Reading the 20 digits

China’s nationwide digital-invoice announcement took effect on 1 December 2024. Its numbering rule divides the 20-digit number into four parts: the last two digits of the calendar year, a two-digit code for the provincial-level tax authority responsible for the issuer, one digit for the issuing channel and related information, and a final fifteen-digit sequence.

That structure helps explain the length. It does not reveal the company’s registered name, bank account or trading history. The prefix is not a substitute for looking up the seller. Nor does a plausible year or the correct number of digits establish that the invoice exists in the tax system.

Consider an email that contains a 20-digit number but no attachment. Counting the digits can tell you that it resembles the expected format. It cannot tell you the issue date, the invoiced amount, whether the seller is your contracted supplier, or whether a copied document has been altered. Request the invoice before trying to fill those gaps.

Collect the lookup fields

The national platform’s operating instructions distinguish the following common input sets. These cover ordinary business invoices; specialized transport and vehicle documents have their own requirements.

Invoice format	Details to have ready
Fully digital ordinary or special VAT invoice	20-digit invoice number, issue date and total including tax
Older special VAT invoice, including the older electronic special format	Invoice code, 8-digit number, issue date and amount excluding tax
Older ordinary VAT invoice, including the older electronic ordinary format	Invoice code, 8-digit number, issue date and the last six digits of the check code

Paper invoices issued through the electronic invoice service platform also need the instructions for their specific type. In particular, the official guide identifies the last six digits of the invoice number in the password area as the check-code input for that platform’s paper ordinary VAT invoices. This exception is a reason to read the document carefully, not a rule for inventing a check code on any invoice.

Use the amount with the label the form requests. 价税合计 is the total including tax; 金额 identifies an amount field. Keep the printed total, tax amount and line-item amounts distinct. Do not substitute your bank transfer amount, a converted foreign-currency amount or the amount in a purchase order.

For example, imagine a document showing an amount of RMB 1,000, tax of RMB 60 and a total of RMB 1,060. These are invented figures for reading practice, not a statement about the correct tax rate for your purchase. The arithmetic explains why copying the first money figure you notice can produce the wrong input. Follow the required amount label on your actual invoice.

If all you have is a number, send a focused request to the supplier. Asking for the complete document is usually clearer than requesting a new screenshot of each missing field.

Please send the original fapiao file, with the invoice type, complete invoice number, issue date and amount fields visible. Please keep the seller’s legal name and taxpayer ID visible too. If this is the older format, include the invoice code and check code where applicable.

For help finding the check-code field, use our invoice check-code guide. Keep the number printed on the invoice separate from any CAPTCHA displayed by the verification website.

Keep every digit intact

Most preparation errors are less dramatic than a fake document. A leading zero disappears, a screenshot cuts off the final characters, or a colleague copies a number from a filename instead of the invoice itself. Inspect the value you are about to submit against the original field.

1. Preserve leading zeros. An illustrative 8-digit number such as 00123456 must stay eight digits long. Dropping the first two zeros changes the identifier.
2. Keep identifiers as text. When moving values through a spreadsheet or purchasing system, inspect the saved value after import and export. A display that abbreviates a long number is not enough to confirm that all digits survived.
3. Copy one complete field. Remove line breaks introduced by copying, but do not delete digits to make the value fit a box. A box that seems too short may belong to another invoice format.
4. Check extracted fields against the file. If you use an upload tool, review the number, date and amount before submitting. An extracted value is an input to verification, not the verification result.

Keep the original filename if it helps your records, but do not rely on it as the authoritative number. Suppliers and email systems can rename attachments. Store the invoice reference, the source file and your purchase reference together so another person can reproduce the check.

The seller behind the invoice

Invoice verification and company lookup answer different questions. One checks the document’s information; the other helps establish which registered business you are dealing with. The useful link between them is the seller’s identity printed on the invoice.

Under the tax authority’s taxpayer identification rules, a legal entity or organization that has obtained a Unified Social Credit Code uses that 18-character code as its taxpayer ID. This explains why a mainland company’s invoice tax ID can also help identify its business registration record.

Copy the seller’s Chinese legal name and full ID together. If you have the supplier’s business license, compare those same two fields there. An English trading name or marketplace shop name may help you recognize the business, but it should not replace the registered identity in this comparison.

Suppose the invoice names one company while the purchase agreement names another. Save both documents and ask the supplier to explain who sold the goods, who issued the invoice and why those roles differ. Do not resolve the discrepancy by choosing whichever name looks more familiar. A legitimate relationship still needs to be clear enough for your purchasing records.

You can use ChinaValidate’s company search for the company inquiry and our Chinese company tax-number guide if the identifier is unclear. A matching company record does not itself authenticate an invoice; an invoice match does not establish that a bank account belongs to the seller.

Run the appropriate check

Once the fields are ready, open the national VAT invoice verification platform, or use ChinaValidate’s invoice verification tool for its supported invoice types. On ChinaValidate, you can start with an upload or enter the details manually. Review the detected type and fields before proceeding.

Read the returned document information alongside the file you received. Keep the result and the time of the check with that file. The official platform describes its service as checking invoice face information; that result is useful evidence about the invoice, not a comprehensive judgment on a supplier or a purchase.

If the form rejects the input, return to the original document and confirm the format, complete number and required companion fields before trying again. If a completed query returns no record or inconsistent information, preserve the response and ask the issuer to investigate. Do not silently change numbers or amounts until something matches. Our full fapiao verification guide covers the wider checking process.

The practical handoff is a small, traceable record: the original invoice, the exact identifiers used, the lookup result and the seller identity you compared. It lets a colleague understand what was checked without mistaking an invoice number for a company number or a format check for proof of authenticity.