Check a Chinese Company's Bankruptcy Records

To check a mainland Chinese company's bankruptcy records, start with the Supreme People's Court's National Enterprise Bankruptcy and Reorganization Case Information Network. Search the company's full Chinese legal name, then open the relevant case or announcement. A matching name is only the beginning: establish whether the company is the debtor, what the court has decided, and whether a later ruling changes that position.

Where can you search Chinese bankruptcy records?

1. Identify the company on your contract. Use its complete Chinese registered name, not just an English trading name or the group's brand. Where the name has changed, find the former name through the company's change history and search that too. Keep the Unified Social Credit Code available to compare with any identifier disclosed in the result; do not assume every search box accepts it.
2. Search cases and announcements. The portal separates debtor information, public cases, public announcements and court documents. Its categories include bankruptcy application review, bankruptcy proceedings and compulsory liquidation. Start with the company name rather than a guessed outcome, then inspect the category and date filters. If a general web search finds an announcement, open its original court or official-portal page instead of relying on the search snippet.
3. Read the decision and subsequent notices together. Check the named company, court, case reference, decision date and procedural outcome. Then look for later material under the same company and related case. A recent publication date can refer to an older decision; an old acceptance notice does not tell you whether a plan was subsequently approved.

The Supreme People's Court's information-disclosure rules establish this publication framework for courts and appointed administrators. They also distinguish public information from protected information and authorized creditor functions. A public company search is therefore not the same as access to the complete case file, financial records or a creditor's account.

No result is not a solvency certificate. The names and sources searched did not produce a matching public record on that occasion. That is not proof that all debts are paid or that the company can finance your order. If the portal or document cannot be reached, the check is incomplete, not negative. Try the court's official announcement channel or request the original ruling and verify its origin; do not bypass access controls.

Which company and decision does the result describe?

Is your supplier the debtor or the applicant?

申请人 / Applicant

The party making the application. The Chinese text of the Enterprise Bankruptcy Law distinguishes applications by debtors and creditors. Your supplier could appear here because it is trying to recover money from a customer. Read who the application concerns before reporting that the supplier is bankrupt. Being an applicant does not establish that the supplier itself is financially strong either; it identifies its role in this record.

被申请人 / Respondent

The party against whom the application is made. Read its full name and the requested procedure, then find the court's decision. Being named as respondent is not the outcome of the application. If the company disputes the record, ask which part it disputes: identity, the application itself, acceptance, or a later event. Those explanations need different supporting documents. A response that the matter was "resolved" is too imprecise until the relevant decision can be identified.

债务人 / Debtor

The entity whose debts are being addressed. Match its Chinese name and any disclosed registration identifier to the company on the contract. A parent and a subsidiary are not interchangeable search subjects. If your contract names an export company while the record concerns a factory subsidiary, investigate the production dependency without relabelling the exporter as the debtor. Conversely, an unaffected factory does not resolve a proceeding against the company that owes you delivery. Similar English trading names can conceal these differences.

管理人 / Administrator

The person or organization appointed to perform statutory duties in the proceeding. It is not simply another translation of sales manager, general manager or legal representative. Find the appointment in the court material, and confirm contact details independently before sending contracts or accepting changed instructions. A supplier introducing someone as "our administrator" is a lead to verify, not the appointment itself. The later transaction review should establish whether that person, the company under an approved arrangement, or another authorized party handles the proposed action.

Court and case reference

Use these to connect the announcement with its underlying decision and related documents. Do not merge records solely because company names look alike. If an announcement quotes a ruling, check the issuing court, company and case reference inside that ruling. Where a procedural change produces a related reference, read the connection stated in the document. A bankruptcy result is not interchangeable with an enforcement case against the same company; our litigation and enforcement guide covers that separate search.

Decision date and publication date

A document published recently can describe an older decision. First identify when the court acted, then look for later rulings or announcements affecting that outcome. This is particularly important if an old screenshot has been forwarded through a supplier's sales team. Keep the original page or document available while checking subsequent material. Do not assume the first search result is the latest event or that a lack of recent posts confirms successful completion of a plan.

What has the court actually decided?

破产申请审查 / Review of a bankruptcy application

An application is being considered. Look for the court's subsequent decision on acceptance. The official English translation of the Enterprise Bankruptcy Law distinguishes refusal of an application and, in specified circumstances, rejection after acceptance but before a bankruptcy declaration. An application-review listing is not a declaration that the supplier is bankrupt. If it is all you can locate, the unanswered question is what the court later decided.

受理破产申请 / Acceptance of a bankruptcy application

This is a substantive procedural development, not merely a complaint being filed. Locate the ruling, the administrator appointment and the case notices. Acceptance is still distinct from a declaration of bankruptcy. Read which proceeding has been accepted rather than relying on a short translated label such as "bankruptcy case." For a buyer, the immediate questions concern authority, the treatment of an existing contract and any claim arrangements. A salesperson continuing to answer emails does not resolve those questions.

重整 / Reorganization

Reorganization is a distinct procedure, not a convenient synonym for ordinary commercial restructuring. Establish whether the record concerns a request, a court decision to reorganize, approval of a plan or later implementation. These stages matter when the supplier says an investor has "rescued the business." Ask for the actual court decision and the relevant current arrangements. Plan approval does not establish that every obligation has already been performed, that your specific order is funded, or that an earlier delivery schedule remains feasible.

宣告破产 / Declaration of bankruptcy

Identify the court's declaration and the named debtor. Do not substitute an unpaid judgment, an enforcement case or a creditor's accusation for that decision. The official portal also contains compulsory-liquidation matters, which must not automatically be described as bankruptcy declarations. Once the actual declaration concerns your counterparty, the question is how the proceeding affects the contract and your rights. A photograph of production or an unchanged business licence cannot cancel the legal significance of the ruling.

终止重整程序 / Termination of reorganization proceedings

This phrase needs the surrounding ruling. It can accompany approval of a reorganization plan. It must not automatically be read as closure of the company, failure of reorganization or completion of all repayments. Termination of bankruptcy liquidation is a different event. Read the procedure, legal basis and outcome together, and look for implementation material when relevant. Translating either phrase simply as "bankruptcy ended" removes a distinction that can change the buyer's understanding of the result.

One published case, different outcomes at different dates

1. 2019: liquidation proceeding accepted. A creditor's application concerning a Shanghai port company was accepted by the court. This was the initial procedural position, not the end of the case.
2. 2022: reorganization plan approved. After the case moved to reorganization, the court approved the plan and terminated the reorganization procedure. Reading only the initial result would miss that change.

Why can the business register still show the company as active?

The 2025 official enterprise deregistration guide distinguishes dissolution, liquidation and cancellation of registration. The enterprise terminates after deregistration. It also explains that a company in liquidation remains in existence while its activities are restricted to the liquidation purpose. Existence and unrestricted authority to take new business are therefore different questions. Bankruptcy reorganization has its own arrangements; neither a registry label nor operating machinery tells you who can authorize your order.

A registration entry showing 存续, commonly rendered as active or existing, consequently cannot settle the bankruptcy question. This does not mean every registry uses the same label during every procedure. Check the particular record, date and court decision. The registration-status explanation covers active, revoked and cancelled entries. A ChinaValidate company report can help establish the registered identity; it is not a certificate that no bankruptcy proceeding exists.

What should you confirm if you have an order or deposit at risk?

Can the company accept a new purchase order?

Ask who can commit the company, whether the relevant operations are continuing, and how the proposed contract will be approved and performed. The Enterprise Bankruptcy Law assigns duties to the administrator and provides for court-approved self-management in reorganization. Neither unrestricted authority for the former management nor a universal ban on trading should be assumed. Ask the appointed administrator or other verified authorized contact about your actual product, production site, delivery period and proposed payment, not whether the company is vaguely "back to normal." Approval of a plan or recruitment of an investor cannot alone establish that this order can be fulfilled.

Will an order placed before acceptance still be performed?

Article 18 of the law addresses contracts made before acceptance where neither side has completed performance, giving the administrator a choice concerning termination or continued performance. Whether your purchase falls within it depends on the contract and performance facts. The useful question for counsel and the verified case contact is how this contract is being treated and what formal communication has been issued about it. "We already paid a deposit" does not by itself establish that the old delivery promise continues unchanged. Nor does discovering a proceeding automatically entitle you to withhold a payment that is contractually due.

What if we have paid but the goods have not arrived?

Bring the signed contract, payment records, delivery history and relevant correspondence to qualified Chinese counsel promptly. Ask whether a claim needs to be filed, how it should be described and which notice or deadline applies. Use the acceptance notice and later case documents to confirm claim arrangements; do not substitute a salesperson's promised refund date. If goods or buyer-owned tooling may be at the premises, provide the ownership and delivery documents as well so their treatment can be assessed. Do not assume every deposit has the same legal position, that full recovery is available, or that property can simply be collected without regard to the proceeding.

Before taking on a new order, verify authority and performance arrangements. For an existing order, also protect rights and respect obligations already in place. A company name in search, an isolated translated phrase or a reassuring registration label cannot settle either decision.