对于外国客户，让您的中国业务合作方在协议上“印”或“盖”章，总是一个好的做法，因为这能保证合同的合法性。

For foreign customers, it is always a good idea to have your Chinese business partner "seal" or "chop" the agreement, because it can guarantee the legality of the contract.

如何辨别什么是正式的中国公司印章，不同的印章分别代表哪些用途？下面我们详细解释：

How to distinguish what is an official Chinese company seal, and what uses are represented by different seals? We explain in detail as follow:

主要印章的用途 The purpose of seals

一般的企业主要有5枚印章，分别是公章、财务专用章、法定代表人私章、合同专用章、发票专用章。这些印章都需要根据地方政府的相关规定到公安局和开户银行备案或预留印鉴。

The general enterprise mainly has 5 seals, respectively is the official seal, the special financial seal, the private seal of legal representative, the special seal for contractual uses and the special invoice seal. These seals need to be recorded or reserved in Public Security Bureau and Bank of deposit according to relevant regulations of local government.

下面先简要说明几个章的用途和使用场景：

The following is a brief introduction to the purpose and use scenarios of several chapters:

1. 公章：公司效力最大的一枚章，是法人权利的象征，代表公司的意志，用于对外签订合同及其他法律文件。例如以公司名义发出的信函、公文、合同、介绍信、证明或其他公司材料。

Official Seal: the most effective seal of the company, which is a symbol of the legal person's rights and represents the company's will. It is used to sign contracts and other legal documents, such as letters, official documents, contracts, letters of introduction, certificates or other company materials sent in the name of the company.

2. 财务专用章：通常与银行打交道的时使用。例如银行的各种凭据、汇款单、支票的用印。另外，也会用于单位或集团内部的收付业务。

Financial Seal: it is usually used when dealing with banks. Such as the use of bank's various credentials, remittance bills and cheques. In addition, it can also be used for the collection and payment business within the company or group.

3. 法定代表人私章：这是以公司法定代表人姓名刻制的一枚印章，如果单独使用则代表法定代表人自己，如果与公章一同使用则代表公司行为。通常用在公司工商登记业务、企业基本户开户、支票背书的用印。

Private Seal of Legal Representative: This is a seal engraved in the name of the legal representative of the company. If it is used alone, it represents the legal representative himself. If it is used together with the official seal, it represents the behavior of the company. It is usually used in the company's industrial and commercial registration business, enterprise basic account opening, cheque endorsement.

4. 发票专用章：企业在购买和开发票时，需要加盖发票章。印章印模里含有其公司单位名称、发票专用章字样、税务登记号。根据《发票管理办法实施细则》的规定，通常需要在发票联和抵扣联加盖发票专用章。

Invoice Seal: the invoice seal shall be affixed when the enterprise purchases and issues the invoice. The seal stamp includes the name of the company, the words of special invoice seal and the tax registration number. According to the detailed rules for the Implementation of Invoice Management Measures, it is usually necessary to stamp the special invoice seal on the invoice form and the deduction form.

5. 合同专用章：单位对外签订合同时使用。可以在签约的范围内代表单位，在合同上加盖合同专用章，单位需承受由此导致的权利义务。

Contract Seal: it is used by a unit when signs a contract with a foreign party. It can represent the unit within the scope of signing the contract. The unit shall bear the rights and obligations caused by affixing the special contract seal on the contract.

公章可以刻制多个吗？ Can more than one official seal be engraved?

很多外国投资者在中国大陆设立了公司，拿到手上的除了营业执照，还有一堆印章，然后他们的第一反应是：公章多刻几个吧，公司放一个，家里放一个，车上放一个，然后秘书公司也放一个……What？那么随便？那么公章可以刻多个吗？

Many foreign investors have set up companies in China, and they get a lot of seals besides business license. Then their first reaction is to engrave more seals, one for the company, one for the family, one for the car, and one for the secretary……What? So casual? Can I engrave more than one official seal?

答案是不可以的。

The answer is No.

站在法律角度，根据《印章治安管理办法》第十三条：“需要刻制印章的单位，只能申请刻制一枚单位法定名称章。”而且首次申请刻制公章应该到公安部门办理备案手续，如果公章因损坏或丢失，需要重刻，也应该去公安部门办理相关备案，公安局的备案回执是公章真伪的有效证明。

From the legal point of view, according to Article 13 of the Measures for the Administration of Public Security of Seals, "only one legal name seal of the unit can be applied for engraving if it is necessary to engrave the seal.” Moreover, for the first time to apply for engraving the official seal, it is necessary to go to the public security department for filing formalities. If the official seal needs to be engraved again due to damage or loss, it is also necessary to go to the public security department for filing formalities. The filing receipt of the public security bureau is an effective proof of the authenticity of the official seal.

站在商业角度，公章对外代表公司，是外界识别公司的主要证据。如果有多个公章，就会涉及到欺诈行为，很可能会被追究法律责任。

From the perspective of business, the official seal represents the company externally, which is the main evidence for the external identification of the company. If there are more than one official seal, fraud will be involved and it is likely to be prosecuted.

公章的形状和大小可以随意挑吗？ Is the shape and size of the official seal optional?

在中国大陆，公章的规格要遵循地方政府的规定，不能由企业主自行选择形状和大小，以广州市为例，普通有限公司和外商投资企业的公章样式是有不同规定的：

In China, the specifications of the official seal shall comply with the regulations of the local government, and the shape and size of the official seal shall not be selected by the owner of the enterprise. Taking Guangzhou as an example, there are different regulations on the official seal styles of general limited companies and foreign-funded enterprises:

普通有限公司公章：一律为圆形，直径为4cm，圆边宽为0.1cm，中央刊五角星，上刊企业名称，自左而右环排，印文一般使用简化的宋体字。

General limited company official seal: all are round,with a diameter of 4cm and a width of 0.1cm. The central pattern is a star and the name of the enterprise is on it. It is arranged from left to right. The simplified Song typeface is generally used for the printing.

外资企业公章：一律为椭圆形，横径为4.5cm，竖径为3cm，中央不刊五角星，企业名称自左而右环行，根据用章单位要求，刻刻制中英文印章。

Foreign-own enterprise official seal: all are oval,with a horizontal diameter of 4.5cm and a vertical diameter of 3cm. There is no star in the center. The enterprise name is from left to right. According to the requirements of the seal using unit, the Chinese and English seals are engraved.

印章应该怎么使用和保管？ How should seals be used and kept?

1. 公司应出具《印章管理规定》，或把印章的使用和保存相关规定和责任写入《员工手册》，明确印章管理者的管理职责，规范印章使用的业务流程，以及定期检查印章使用情况等，使印章管理工作做到有规可依，有章可循。也可以要求印章保管或管理者签订“法律风险岗位承诺书”，明确保管者的法律风险防控意识及职责。

The company shall issue the regulations on seal management, or write the relevant regulations and responsibilities on the use and preservation of seals into the employee manual, clarify the management responsibilities of the seal manager, standardize the business process of seal use, and regularly check the use of seals, so as to make the seal management work be compliant and rule-based. The seal keeper or manager can also be required to sign a "letter of commitment on legal risk posts" to clarify the legal risk prevention and control awareness and responsibilities of the keeper.

2. 印章的使用要有审批制度和登记制度，或者通过办公室管理系统（OA系统或办公管理App）去规范公章的电子申请流程。印章使用者应填写统一的用印登记表，企业文书人员对用印文件要认真审查，审核与申请用印内容、用印次数是否一致，然后才能在相关文件上用印。

The use of seal shall be subject to approval system and registration system, or the electronic application process of seal shall be standardized through office management system (OA system or office management APP). The seal user shall fill in a unified seal registration form, and the enterprise document personnel shall carefully review the seal documents, check whether they are consistent with the contents and times of the application for seal, and then use the seal on the relevant documents.

3. 公司公章和合同专用章一般由行政部门保管，法定代表人私章、财务专用章和发票专用章一般由财务部保管，但需要注意的是，由于大部分公司在银行预留印鉴都为财务专用章和法定代表人私章，所以两个章应该分开负责人保管，一般情况下，私章由出纳保管，财务章由会计保管。对于印章的保管者，没有特定的法律法规要求，可依公司情况自行设定。初创公司如果只能委托一人保管，一般为法定代表人本人或创业者最信任的人。

The company's official seal and special contract seal are generally kept by the administrative department, while the legal representative's private seal, special financial seal and special invoice seal are generally kept by the finance department. However, it should be noted that most of the company's reserved seals in the bank are special seal for Finance and private seal for legal representative. Therefore, the two seals should be kept separately by the person in charge. Generally, the private seal should be kept by the cashier and the financial seal by the accountant. For the custodian of the seal, there is no specific legal and regulatory requirements, which can be set according to the situation of the company. If a start-up company can only be entrusted to one person, it is generally the person most trusted by the legal representative or the entrepreneur.

印章遗失或企业注销了应该做什么处理？What should be done if the seal is lost or the enterprise is cancelled?

印章遗失必须在当地或项目所在地报纸上刊登遗失声明。在进行补刻时，要带上登报声明、补刻印章申请书等材料到当地指定印章公司进行刻章。

If the seal is lost, a statement of loss must be published in the local or project sites’ newspaper. When making a supplement, it is necessary to take the materials such as the statement of the newspaper and the application for the supplement to the local designated seal company for the seal.

敲黑板：经办人万一丢失了公章，即使自己保留了所有的公章信息，例如样式和编码，也不能私自进行刻制，否则将面临行政拘留的处罚。

Highlight: in case the handler loses the official seal, even if he keeps all the official seal information, such as style and code, he can't carve without permission, otherwise he will face the penalty of administrative detention.

公司如果清算注销，在工商注销手续完成后，必须收缴包括公章、合同专用章、财务专用章、法定代表人私章等在内的全部印章及用印记录；企业印章管理部门会同法律部门将收缴的印章统一销毁，用印记录由印章管理部门按档案管理规定存档。

In case of liquidation and cancellation of the company, after the completion of industrial and commercial cancellation procedures, all seals and seal records including official seal, special contract seal, special financial seal, private seal of legal representative, etc. must be collected. he seal management department of the company, together with the legal department, shall uniformly destroy the collected seals, and the seal records shall be filed by the seal management department according to the file management regulations.

盖错印章会有什么后果？ What happens if you chop the wrong seal?

印章在使用时发生印章类型的用途错误，如错用行政章对外签订合同，错用发票章盖了对账单，错用财务章盖了劳动合同。一般情形下，盖错印章的文件将视为无效文件，但如果盖章的同时有经办人签字，而经办人又是公司指定的法律代表，则文件极有可能具备法律效力。

The seal is used in the wrong way for the wrong purpose, such as using the administrative seal to sign the contract, using the invoice seal to seal the statement, and using the financial seal to seal the employment contract. Generally, the document with wrong seal will be regarded as invalid document, but if the seal is signed by the handler and the handler is the legal representative designated by the company, the document is likely to have legal effect.

支票出票时也要特别注意，根据《支付结算办法》，如果出票人在支票上的盖章与银行预留印鉴不符的，银行应予以退票，并按票面金额处以5%但不低于1000元的罚款；持票人有权要求出票人赔偿支票金额2%的赔偿金。对屡次签发错误的企业，银行会停止其签发支票。

Special attention shall also be paid when issuing cheques. According to the Payment and Settlement Method, if the seal of the drawer on the cheques is inconsistent with the seal reserved by the bank, the bank shall refund the cheques and impose a fine of 5% but not less than 1000 yuan according to the face amount. The holder has the right to ask the drawer to compensate 2% of the check amount. The bank will stop issuing cheques to enterprises that repeatedly sign and issue wrong cheques.

习惯签名代表一切的外国投资人，很难理解印章在中国的重要性，但中华文明几千年来都有“玉玺文化”，还有“见玉玺如见皇上”的传统意识，所以在中国经商，必须要知道各种印章的用途，制定完善的《印章管理规定》，妥善地保管好印章，以免因为印章的误用而导致法律责任和经济赔偿。

It's hard to understand the importance of seal in China for foreign investors who are used to signing on behalf of everything. But for thousands of years, Chinese civilization has had the "seal culture" and the traditional consciousness of "see the jade seal as the emperor". Therefore, to do business in China, it is necessary to know the purpose of various seals, formulate perfect regulations on seal management, and properly keep the seals, so as to avoid legal liability and economic compensation due to misuse of seals.