Service · Hong Kong entity check
Hong Kong company verification for a China supplier
When a Hong Kong company issues the agreement or payment instructions for a Mainland factory, Sinospect examines its registry filings, directors, shareholders and link to the manufacturer. The report compares the supplied payment instructions with company records and sets out findings and unresolved questions. The report is prepared from Hong Kong within four business days after payment and the last required document.
- Buyer-side control point
- Before contracting with or paying a Hong Kong company
- Turnaround
- Four business days after payment and the last document
- Fee
- USD 290 on its own · USD 200 added to a Mainland pre-payment check
- Report language
- English or French · Cantonese and Chinese records read in the original
Quick answers
What can be verified about a Hong Kong company, and what cannot?
The Companies Registry's e-Services Portal and the Inland Revenue business register show a company's incorporation, standing, registered office, directors, secretary, annual returns and charges, and the annual return of a private company lists its members and their holdings. Since 24 October 2022 directors' residential addresses and full identity numbers are protected; the register shows a correspondence address and a partial number, and director-name searches continue to work. The significant controllers register is not public. The payment-instruction review compares the supplied account name, bank and jurisdiction with the company records and reports the documentary findings.
| Item | Sources and checks | Scope of the finding |
|---|---|---|
| Incorporation and standing | Certificate of incorporation, company number, live or dissolved status, date of last annual return, business registration validity | The record establishes registered status and filings; assets and operating activity require separate evidence |
| Directors and secretary | Names, appointment dates, correspondence addresses, partial identity numbers; searches by director name | Residential addresses and full identity numbers are protected since October 2022 |
| Shareholders | Members and shareholdings on the latest annual return of a private company; corporate shareholders named | Significant controllers register kept at the company, not public; ownership above a corporate shareholder may sit outside Hong Kong |
| Litigation, charges, insolvency | Charges register, Judiciary cause lists, Gazette notices, winding-up petitions | The search covers public proceedings and notices; private settlement documents require separate evidence |
| Payment instructions | Supplied account name compared character for character with the registered name; bank and jurisdiction compared with the company records | Findings describe the supplied documents and their consistency with company records |
The report separates sourced findings, unresolved questions and the additional evidence needed for the buyer’s decision.
Why do Mainland suppliers contract through a Hong Kong company, and when does it matter?
The Hong Kong company contracts and collects; the Mainland company manufactures. That split is common and often legitimate, but it decides where your remedies sit: a claim under the agreement runs against the Hong Kong entity, while the factory, its assets and its licences belong to the Mainland entity. The check therefore establishes whether the two are under common control, from shareholders and directors on both registers, and records the findings and proposed order conditions for the buyer’s review.
How does Sinospect tie the Hong Kong company to the Mainland factory?
Three ways, in order of strength. The Hong Kong company appears as a shareholder of the Mainland company on the GSXT record, or the same natural persons hold shares or directorships on both registers; the invoicing chain is consistent, with the proforma issued by the party that signs the agreement; and the factory's legal representative confirms in writing, on the company's letterhead and chop, that the Hong Kong company collects on its behalf. Where none of the three holds, the verdict says so.
01 · Scope
Where Sinospect intervenes
The check runs whenever a Hong Kong company stands between you and the factory: on the quotation, in the agreement, on the invoice or in the bank details. It examines the company’s registered record and reports the evidence of its connection to the Mainland manufacturer whose goods you are buying.
Engaged when
- The quotation or the draft agreement is issued by a Hong Kong company for equipment made in Mainland China.
- The bank details you were given are for an account in Hong Kong, in a name that differs from the factory's.
- The agreement names the Hong Kong company as the manufacturer while the factory sits in another entity.
- A bank, a partner or a compliance team asks who the Hong Kong company is before approving the transfer.
02 · Controls and evidence
Control points checked
Control point
The registry record, read at the Companies Registry
Incorporation date, company number, status, registered office, date of the last annual return and business registration validity read at the e-Services Portal and the Inland Revenue register, then compared with the certificate the supplier showed you.
Control point
Directors and shareholders from the filings
Directors and secretary from the register; members and holdings from the latest annual return; corporate shareholders followed one level up where the record allows, with the significant-controllers gap named.
Control point
The link to the Mainland factory
Common shareholders or directors across the Hong Kong and GSXT records, the Hong Kong company's appearance as shareholder of the factory, the invoicing chain, and written confirmation from the factory's legal representative.
Control point
The account you are asked to pay
The supplied account name is compared with the registered name, the bank and jurisdiction with company records, and the invoicing party with the signatory of the agreement. Differences and open questions are recorded.
Control point
Litigation, charges and notices
Charges register, published judgments, Judiciary cause lists, Gazette notices and the Official Receiver winding-up search, each entry weighted and explained, and each search reported with its date and limits.
Evidence reviewed
Evidence read for the check
Every material finding carries its source, its date and its limitation, in one of four grades: verified at the register, corroborated, asserted by the supplier only, or unanswered. The report identifies open questions and the evidence needed to resolve them; the reviewer assesses the verdict against the available evidence.
- Hong Kong registers
- Companies Registry e-Services Portal record and document images, Inland Revenue business registration enquiry, Gazette, Judiciary cause lists.
- Mainland register
- GSXT record of the factory: shareholders, legal representative, status, so the two records can be cross-matched.
- Your documents
- Quotation, proforma or agreement naming the Hong Kong company; the certificate the supplier showed you; the bank details; the contact's name and role.
03 · Deliverables
Deliverables issued
Deliverable
For · Buyer and complianceHong Kong entity record
The registry facts with the document images behind them: incorporation, standing, directors, shareholders, charges, and the differences from what the supplier presented.
Deliverable
For · Whoever signs the agreementStructure finding
Whether the Hong Kong company and the factory are under common control, on what evidence, and what that means for your remedies under the agreement.
Deliverable
For · FinanceDocumentary review of payment instructions
Comparison of the supplied account name, bank and jurisdiction with the contracting entity’s records, including differences and points requiring clarification before the buyer’s payment decision.
Deliverable
For · Project ownerVerdict with conditions
A recommendation to proceed, proceed subject to conditions, or hold, with proposed order conditions for the buyer’s review, such as the factory joining the agreement as co-signatory.
04 · Risks controlled
Risks controlled
Risk
The agreement and the deposit sit with a Hong Kong company that neither owns nor controls the factory.
Control response
The report records the common-control evidence available from both registers and proposes conditions for the buyer to review before payment, including the factory’s role in the agreement.
Risk
The account is in Hong Kong but in a different name from the contracting company, or the company on the invoice was incorporated for this deal.
Control response
Supplied payment instructions are compared with company records; incorporation date and filings history are checked. Differences are recorded for clarification before the buyer’s payment decision.
Risk
A dissolved, struck-off or never-registered company still issues invoices under a real-looking certificate.
Control response
Registered status is checked on the search date and compared with the supplier’s certificate. Any expired or altered document is recorded as a finding.
05 · Background resources
Related
- Service · Pre-payment due diligence on a Chinese supplierThe full check on both entities, the account, the negotiator and factory capability, closed with a verdict.
- Service · Supplier qualification in ChinaThe parent service: qualifying a shortlist before award, with an on-site audit where the file warrants it.
- Resource · The supplier changed its bank detailsThe hold-and-verify procedure when a new account, often in Hong Kong, arrives mid-order.
- Resource · Before you pay a Chinese supplierHow the Hong Kong company, the factory, the contract and the beneficiary connect, and the decision at the end.
- Resource · Manufacturer or trading company?How to read a business licence and a company structure to tell who actually makes the goods.
06 · Questions
Frequently asked questions
Is it a red flag when a Chinese supplier asks to be paid through a Hong Kong company?
The check compares the Hong Kong contracting company with the Mainland manufacturer and the supplied payment instructions. The report records findings when the Hong Kong company has no visible link to the factory on either register, when the account is not in that company's exact registered name, when the company was incorporated shortly before the deal, or when the request to switch to a Hong Kong account arrives after the contract was agreed.
Can you tell me who owns the Hong Kong company?
The annual return filed at the Companies Registry lists the members of a private company and their shareholdings, and the register names the directors and the company secretary. Sinospect reads those filings and follows corporate shareholders one level up where the record allows. The significant controllers register is kept at the company's registered office and is not public, so ultimate ownership is stated only as far as the filings show it, with the gap named.
Can you confirm that the director on the register is the person I am dealing with?
Sinospect compares the contact’s name and stated role with the directors and shareholders named in the filings. Since October 2022 the public register shows a director's correspondence address and a partial identity number, not the residential address or the full number, so a matching name is recorded as a match on the register. Where you authorise contact, the report also records the findings of a call-back on an independently sourced company number, and any written instruction from the Mainland factory’s legal representative.
Can you check a Hong Kong company on its own, without a Mainland factory behind it?
Yes. The Hong Kong check runs on its own at USD 290, or as a USD 200 addition to a pre-payment check on the Mainland supplier. In both cases the report states the registry record, standing, directors and shareholders, litigation and charges, a documentary review of payment instructions, and a recommendation with conditions for the buyer’s decision.
07 · Getting started
What to send to verify a Hong Kong company
One name is enough to open the registry record. The more of the following you send, the more the report can tie the company to the factory and to the account.
The Hong Kong company
Its name in English or Chinese and, if you have it, the company or business registration number from the certificate you were shown.
The document that names it
Quotation, proforma, invoice or draft agreement, so the invoicing party and the signatory can be compared with the record.
The bank details
Account name, number, bank and SWIFT code exactly as supplied, with the message they arrived in.
The factory it stands for
The Mainland manufacturer's name or Unified Social Credit Code, so the two registers can be cross-matched.
Your contact
The name and role of the person you deal with, to locate them in the filings of either company.
Your documents are handled confidentially for this assignment. Contact with the company is made only where you authorise it, and is limited to a call on an independently sourced number; the buyer’s identity and purpose stay confidential. On this buyer-direct assignment, Sinospect works for the buyer and is paid by the buyer only. Any subsequent visit, inspection or supply is scoped separately.
Asked to contract with, or pay, a Hong Kong company?
Send the company name, the document that names it and the bank details. Sinospect confirms the fee and what the register can settle, and the report follows four business days after payment and the last of your documents.