Service · Hong Kong entity check
Hong Kong company verification for a China supplier
The quotation came from a factory in Jiangsu or Guangdong; the agreement and the bank details name a company in Kowloon. Sinospect reads that company at the Hong Kong Companies Registry and the business register, names its directors and shareholders from the filings, establishes whether it is tied to the factory, matches the account you are asked to pay, and states plainly what the public record protects. Read from Hong Kong, in four business days, with the limits of the register written into the report.
- 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, and no bank confirms an account to a third party, so the account check is a name-and-jurisdiction match, not a bank enquiry.
| Item | Public record | Where it stops |
|---|---|---|
| Incorporation and standing | Certificate of incorporation, company number, live or dissolved status, date of last annual return, business registration validity | A live record proves the company exists and files; it says nothing about assets or activity |
| 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 | Settled private disputes leave no trace |
| Bank account | Account name matched character for character with the registered name; bank and jurisdiction matched with the company's seat | No bank confirms an account holder to a third party; the match is documentary |
Sinospect states each limit in the report itself, so a reader knows what the record settled and what it could not.
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 writes the answer into the conditions of the order rather than leaving it as an observation.
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 reads that company where it is registered and connects it, or fails to connect it, 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
Account name matched character for character with the registered name, bank and jurisdiction matched with the company's seat, invoicing party matched with the signatory of the agreement.
Control point
Litigation, charges and notices
Charges register, Judiciary cause lists, Gazette notices and winding-up petitions, each entry weighted and explained.
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. A question still unanswered after two documented attempts is reported as a limitation, the reviewer decides, and nothing is chased indefinitely.
- 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 · FinanceBeneficiary confirmation
The account name, bank and jurisdiction that match the contracting entity, and the stop rule for any later change.
Deliverable
For · Project ownerVerdict with conditions
Cleared, cleared with conditions, or not cleared, with the clauses to write into the order, for example bringing the factory into 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
Common control is established from both registers or its absence is stated, and the conditions bring the factory into the order before payment.
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
Name, bank and jurisdiction are matched with the registered entity, incorporation date and filings history are read, and a mismatch is a stop condition.
Risk
A dissolved, struck-off or never-registered company still issues invoices under a real-looking certificate.
Control response
Standing is read live at the register on the search date and the supplier's certificate is compared with the record, so a lapsed or altered document is a finding, not a footnote.
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 · 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?
On its own, no. Contracting and collecting through a Hong Kong company is a conventional export structure for Mainland manufacturers, for currency and settlement reasons. It becomes a finding 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 can confirm that the name you were given is, or is not, a director or shareholder on the filings, and in what role. 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. Identity beyond that is confirmed by a call to the company's registry-listed number and by 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, the account match, and a verdict with conditions.
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.
Everything you share is used only to prepare your report and is not passed to the supplier, who is not told a check is running. The fee stands on its own: any visit, inspection or supply that follows is scoped separately, and on this check Sinospect has no supply interest and receives nothing from the supplier.
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.