Authored by: Zhong Yi, Attorney at Law - Shanghai Runhe Law Firm
Editor by: Liu Fei

1、what parts should a company name consist of?

With the exception of those prescribed by relevant laws, regulations and rules, a company name shall consist of, in the following order, “location”, “trade name (firm name)”, “industry” and “organization form”. The trade name in a company name shall include 2 Chinese Characters at least.
(1)Upon the approval of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC), the enterprise that meets one of the following conditions may use a company name without “location”: With the establishment approved by the State Council; with the registration in SAIC; with the registered capital (or registered fund) not less than 50 million RMB; with other conditions prescribed by SAIC.
(2) One enterprise that meets one of the following conditions may use a company name without “industry”: with the business scope covering 5 or more kinds of industry described in the national economy; with the registered capital (registered fund)of more than RMB100 million or the parent company in an enterprise group; with a different name to the company approved or registered in the same Registration Authority.

2、What is the classified-approval of company name?

The company name is approved by the classified AIC in our country.

A. The State Administration for Industry and Commerce (hereinafter referred to as the SAIC) takes charge of nationwide administration of enterprise name registration, and is responsible for approval of the following enterprise names:

(1) those prefixed by such words as "Zhongguo" or"Zhonghua" (both mean China) or "Guojia" (State) or "Guoji" (international);

(2) those using such words as "Zhongguo" or "Zhonghua" (both mean China) or "Guojia" (State) or "Guoji" (international);

(3) those without the name of administrative division.

B. Local administrative organs for industry and commerce are responsible for the approval of the following enterprise names other than those stipulated in the preceding paragraph:

(1) those prefixed by administrative division at the same level;

(2) those conforming to those including the same administrative division as described in Article 12 of the present Measures.
( Article 12, A legal person enterprise who meets the following conditions may place the administrative division in its name after the identifier and before the organizational forms.
(a) where the identifier of the holding enterprise is used;
(b) where the name of such holding enterprise doesn’t contain the administrative division. )

The administrative organs for industry and commerce authorized by the SAIC to approve names of foreign-funded enterprises shall be responsible for approving the names of foreign-funded enterprises according to the present Measures.

3、What prohibitions are prescribed for the company name.

（1）A company name shall not use the following expressions and words: impair national or social public interests; might be a fraud or cause some misunderstandings to the public; the names of foreign country(region) or international organizations; the names of the party, the administration authority, communist party authority, army authority, mass organizations or social groups; the code of the army; Pinyin or digits; others prescribed in laws and administrative regulations.
（2）A company name may not contain another company’s company name, unless the SAIC prescribed as otherwise.
（3）Except the enterprises the establishment of which is decided by the State Council, an enterprise’s name shall not be prefixed by such words as "Zhongguo" or "Zhonghua" (both mean China) or "Guajia" (State) or "Guoji" (international).
Where such words as "Zhongguo" or "Zhonghua" (both mean China) or "Guajia" (State) or "Guoji" (international) are used in the middle of the enterprise names, such words shall be attributive words describing the industrial sector concerned.
（4）The “location” above county shall not be used as a “trade” name, except for with other meanings.
（5）One enterprise can just own one company name. Such a company shall not use a same or familiar name to another enterprise registered in the same Registration Authority.

4、What documents shall be submitted for the application to Pre-Approval of Company Name.

(1)《The Application Form for Pre-Approval of Company Name》.
This form shall be signed by all investors.
(2)《A Certificate for the Designated Representative or the Joint-Authorized Agent》
This certificate shall be signed by all investors and clarify the contents and the term of the authorization and the rights of the representative or the agent. In addition, the copy of the ID card of the representative or the agent shall be submit at one time, which shall be signed by the ID card’s owner.
(3) If the application is for a special company name, the Registration Authority has the right to ask the investor to provide relevant explanations and documents.
(4)The investor which enterprises or economic organizations shall submit Business Certification or other certification proving it is legal.