Administrative procedures mandated by the State Administration for Market Regulation require every commercial entity to record the physical impression and serial number of its official stamps. Corporate seal registration serves as the formal link between a business license and the tools used to execute legal documents in the People’s Republic of China. This process involves the submission of a sample impression to the public security bureau and the entry of the seal’s unique 13-digit code into a central database.
By completing this registration, a company establishes the legal validity of its signatures and allows third parties to verify the authenticity of its stamps. The requirement applies to the official company chop, the financial seal and the contract seal. It stops applying to seals used for internal departmental matters or those used by representative offices of foreign NGOs that operate under different jurisdictional rules.
Approval from the local police department is a mandatory prerequisite for the manufacture of any official corporate stamp. The corporate seal registration begins immediately after the issuance of the business license, when the company representative visits a licensed carving shop. This shop must be connected to the police network to receive the authorized 13-digit code for the new entity.
Once the seal is carved, the shop produces several high-quality impressions on a standardized filing form. These impressions are then scanned and uploaded to the national database alongside the personal identification details of the company’s legal representative. The police then issue a filing receipt which the company must keep as proof of the seal’s legitimacy.
This closed-loop process prevents the creation of shadow seals that could be used to defraud the company or its partners.
Access to the registration records allows banks and government agencies to confirm that a seal presented on a document matches the one on file. During the corporate seal registration check, an official compares the physical impression on a contract or a check against the digital image stored in the public security bureau’s system. They look for specific micro-features and the exact placement of the 13-digit code to ensure the seal is not a duplicate.
This verification is a standard part of the account opening process at all mainland Chinese banks and is also required for large-scale real estate transactions. If a seal impression does not match the registered version, the document is rejected and the company may be investigated for unauthorized seal usage. This system provides a high level of security for the commercial marketplace by ensuring that only authorized tools can move capital or change legal ownership.
Changes to the corporate structure or the loss of a physical stamp necessitate an immediate update to the existing records. When a company changes its legal name, it must undergo a new corporate seal registration to reflect the updated name on its stamps. The old seals must be surrendered to the police for physical destruction to prevent their misuse.
In the case of a lost or stolen seal, the company must publish a notice in a designated newspaper to invalidate the old registration before a new seal can be carved. This process of cancellation and re-registration ensures that there is never more than one valid official chop for a single company at any given time. Maintaining accurate registration records is a continuous obligation for the legal representative of the corporation.
This diligent management of the corporate identity protects the interests of shareholders and creditors alike.
PSB seal recordation binds corporate authority through a 13-digit code, overriding signatures unless fraudulent creation meets explicit civil code standards.
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