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。
Forforeigncustomers,itisalwaysagoodideatohaveyourChinesebusinesspartner"seal"or"chop"theagreement,becauseitcanguaranteethelegalityofthecontract.
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：
HowtodistinguishwhatisanofficialChinesecompanyseal,andwhatusesarerepresentedbydifferentsealsWeexplainindetailasfollow:
Thegeneralenterprisemainlyhas5seals,respectivelyistheofficialseal,thespecialfinancialseal,theprivatesealoflegalrepresentative,thespecialsealforcontractualusesandthespecialinvoiceseal.ThesesealsneedtoberecordedorreservedinPublicSecurityBureauandBankofdepositaccordingtorelevantregulationsoflocalgovernment.
下面先简要说明几个章的用途和使用场景：
Thefollowingisabriefintroductiontothepurposeandusescenariosofseveralchapters:
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。
OfficialSeal:themosteffectivesealofthecompany,whichisasymbolofthelegalperson'srightsandrepresentsthecompany'swill.Itisusedtosigncontractsandotherlegaldocuments,suchasletters,officialdocuments,contracts,lettersofintroduction,certificatesorothercompanymaterialssentinthenameofthecompany.
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。
FinancialSeal:itisusuallyusedwhendealingwithbanks.Suchastheuseofbank'svariouscredentials,remittancebillsandcheques.Inaddition,itcanalsobeusedforthecollectionandpaymentbusinesswithinthecompanyorgroup.
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。
PrivateSealofLegalRepresentative:Thisisasealengravedinthenameofthelegalrepresentativeofthecompany.Ifitisusedalone,itrepresentsthelegalrepresentativehimself.Ifitisusedtogetherwiththeofficialseal,itrepresentsthebehaviorofthecompany.Itisusuallyusedinthecompany'sindustrialandcommercialregistrationbusiness,enterprisebasicaccountopening,chequeendorsement.
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。
InvoiceSeal:theinvoicesealshallbeaffixedwhentheenterprisepurchasesandissuestheinvoice.Thesealstampincludesthenameofthecompany,thewordsofspecialinvoicesealandthetaxregistrationnumber.AccordingtothedetailedrulesfortheImplementationofInvoiceManagementMeasures,itisusuallynecessarytostampthespecialinvoicesealontheinvoiceformandthedeductionform.
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。
ContractSeal:itisusedbyaunitwhensignsacontractwithaforeignparty.Itcanrepresenttheunitwithinthescopeofsigningthecontract.Theunitshallbeartherightsandobligationscausedbyaffixingthespecialcontractsealonthecontract.
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？
ManyforeigninvestorshavesetupcompaniesinChina,andtheygetalotofsealsbesidesbusinesslicense.Thentheirfirstreactionistoengravemoreseals,oneforthecompany,oneforthefamily,oneforthecar,andoneforthesecretary……WhatSocasualCanIengravemorethanoneofficialseal
答案是不可以的。
TheanswerisNo.
Fromthelegalpointofview,accordingtoArticle13oftheMeasuresfortheAdministrationofPublicSecurityofSeals,"onlyonelegalnamesealoftheunitcanbeappliedforengravingifitisnecessarytoengravetheseal.”Moreover,forthefirsttimetoapplyforengravingtheofficialseal,itisnecessarytogotothepublicsecuritydepartmentforfilingformalities.Iftheofficialsealneedstobeengravedagainduetodamageorloss,itisalsonecessarytogotothepublicsecuritydepartmentforfilingformalities.Thefilingreceiptofthepublicsecuritybureauisaneffectiveproofoftheauthenticityoftheofficialseal.
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。
Fromtheperspectiveofbusiness,theofficialsealrepresentsthecompanyexternally,whichisthemainevidencefortheexternalidentificationofthecompany.Iftherearemorethanoneofficialseal,fraudwillbeinvolvedanditislikelytobeprosecuted.
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：
InChina,thespecificationsoftheofficialsealshallcomplywiththeregulationsofthelocalgovernment,andtheshapeandsizeoftheofficialsealshallnotbeselectedbytheowneroftheenterprise.TakingGuangzhouasanexample,therearedifferentregulationsontheofficialsealstylesofgenerallimitedcompaniesandforeign-fundedenterprises:
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。
Generallimitedcompanyofficialseal:allareround,withadiameterof4cmandawidthof0.1cm.Thecentralpatternisastarandthenameoftheenterpriseisonit.Itisarrangedfromlefttoright.ThesimplifiedSongtypefaceisgenerallyusedfortheprinting.
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-ownenterpriseofficialseal:allareoval,withahorizontaldiameterof4.5cmandaverticaldiameterof3cm.Thereisnostarinthecenter.Theenterprisenameisfromlefttoright.Accordingtotherequirementsofthesealusingunit,theChineseandEnglishsealsareengraved.
Thecompanyshallissuetheregulationsonsealmanagement,orwritetherelevantregulationsandresponsibilitiesontheuseandpreservationofsealsintotheemployeemanual,clarifythemanagementresponsibilitiesofthesealmanager,standardizethebusinessprocessofsealuse,andregularlychecktheuseofseals,soastomakethesealmanagementworkbecompliantandrule-based.Thesealkeeperormanagercanalsoberequiredtosigna"letterofcommitmentonlegalriskposts"toclarifythelegalriskpreventionandcontrolawarenessandresponsibilitiesofthekeeper.
Theuseofsealshallbesubjecttoapprovalsystemandregistrationsystem,ortheelectronicapplicationprocessofsealshallbestandardizedthroughofficemanagementsystem(OAsystemorofficemanagementAPP).Thesealusershallfillinaunifiedsealregistrationform,andtheenterprisedocumentpersonnelshallcarefullyreviewthesealdocuments,checkwhethertheyareconsistentwiththecontentsandtimesoftheapplicationforseal,andthenusethesealontherelevantdocuments.
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。
Thecompany'sofficialsealandspecialcontractsealaregenerallykeptbytheadministrativedepartment,whilethelegalrepresentative'sprivateseal,specialfinancialsealandspecialinvoicesealaregenerallykeptbythefinancedepartment.However,itshouldbenotedthatmostofthecompany'sreservedsealsinthebankarespecialsealforFinanceandprivatesealforlegalrepresentative.Therefore,thetwosealsshouldbekeptseparatelybythepersonincharge.Generally,theprivatesealshouldbekeptbythecashierandthefinancialsealbytheaccountant.Forthecustodianoftheseal,thereisnospecificlegalandregulatoryrequirements,whichcanbesetaccordingtothesituationofthecompany.Ifastart-upcompanycanonlybeentrustedtooneperson,itisgenerallythepersonmosttrustedbythelegalrepresentativeortheentrepreneur.
Ifthesealislost,astatementoflossmustbepublishedinthelocalorprojectsites’newspaper.Whenmakingasupplement,itisnecessarytotakethematerialssuchasthestatementofthenewspaperandtheapplicationforthesupplementtothelocaldesignatedsealcompanyfortheseal.
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:incasethehandlerlosestheofficialseal,evenifhekeepsalltheofficialsealinformation,suchasstyleandcode,hecan'tcarvewithoutpermission,otherwisehewillfacethepenaltyofadministrativedetention.
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。
Incaseofliquidationandcancellationofthecompany,afterthecompletionofindustrialandcommercialcancellationprocedures,allsealsandsealrecordsincludingofficialseal,specialcontractseal,specialfinancialseal,privatesealoflegalrepresentative,etc.mustbecollected.hesealmanagementdepartmentofthecompany,togetherwiththelegaldepartment,shalluniformlydestroythecollectedseals,andthesealrecordsshallbefiledbythesealmanagementdepartmentaccordingtothefilemanagementregulations.
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。
Thesealisusedinthewrongwayforthewrongpurpose,suchasusingtheadministrativesealtosignthecontract,usingtheinvoicesealtosealthestatement,andusingthefinancialsealtosealtheemploymentcontract.Generally,thedocumentwithwrongsealwillberegardedasinvaliddocument,butifthesealissignedbythehandlerandthehandleristhelegalrepresentativedesignatedbythecompany,thedocumentislikelytohavelegaleffect.
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。
Specialattentionshallalsobepaidwhenissuingcheques.AccordingtothePaymentandSettlementMethod,ifthesealofthedraweronthechequesisinconsistentwiththesealreservedbythebank,thebankshallrefundthechequesandimposeafineof5%butnotlessthan1000yuanaccordingtothefaceamount.Theholderhastherighttoaskthedrawertocompensate2%ofthecheckamount.Thebankwillstopissuingchequestoenterprisesthatrepeatedlysignandissuewrongcheques.
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'shardtounderstandtheimportanceofsealinChinaforforeigninvestorswhoareusedtosigningonbehalfofeverything.Butforthousandsofyears,Chinesecivilizationhashadthe"sealculture"andthetraditionalconsciousnessof"seethejadesealastheemperor".Therefore,todobusinessinChina,itisnecessarytoknowthepurposeofvariousseals,formulateperfectregulationsonsealmanagement,andproperlykeeptheseals,soastoavoidlegalliabilityandeconomiccompensationduetomisuseofseals.
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