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The truth is soft armor: a complete guide to background checks and property verification in Shenzhen and Guangzhou
2026-01-13
Introduction: The risk of information asymmetry in the fast-paced Greater Bay Area
As China's most active special economic zones, Shenzhen and Guangzhou are staging tens of thousands of investment, cooperation, and marriage stories every day. The fast-paced and high liquidity of these cities should bring more transparent information flow, but on the contrary, they have formed serious "blind spots of truth" in many fields - problems such as academic fraud, identity concealment, debt transfer, and equity holding emerge one after another.
According to data from the Supreme People's Court, the number of cases involving marriage fraud and contract fraud in Shenzhen and Guangzhou has increased year by year in recent years. In the business field, the phenomenon of "professional ladies" who conceal liabilities, falsely report assets, and transfer property is becoming more and more common. At the same time, although the list system of dishonest persons subject to enforcement provides a public inquiry window, its lag and incompleteness make it difficult for many highly hidden risks to be detected early.
Investigation, by no means to destroy trust—quite the opposite, it is forAt critical moments, build more confident and sustainable trust。Whether it's marriage, investment or debt recovery, the truth is like a set of soft armor, which can protect every individual and enterprise that is working hard in Shenzhen and Guangzhou at the moment of decision-making.
Premarital background check: Identify the authenticity of a "high-quality partner"
The practical dilemma of premarital investigations
In first-tier cities such as Shenzhen and Guangzhou, marriage risks are frequent. Singles often do not have access to the truth of each other's information at the stage of love - whether their education is true, whether their work status is true, whether there is a hidden ex-marriage, whether there are huge unpaid debts, these problems are often exposed after marriage. According to data from Guangdong courts, the proportion of cases of divorce applications due to the other party's concealment of major matters has increased year by year, and many of them have had doubts before marriage, but are forced to "trust" due to the lack of legal verification channels.
What is even more alarming is that some criminals use their marital status to transfer assets, avoid debts or commit fraud. GAOGEIn recent years, there are many cases involving bigamy, hidden debts, forgery and other complex situations. What these cases have in common is that many tragedies could have been avoided if a professional background check had been conducted before marriage.
The core dimension of a professional premarital investigation
Legally, the Civil Code stipulates the "right to know" of the parties and also stipulates the boundaries of privacy protection. A professional premarital background check is the one that finds a balance between these two rights. Here are the four core dimensions of the survey:
1. Verification of identity and marital status
Confirm the authenticity of the identity of the person under investigation, whether there is an undissolved ex-marriage, and whether there is bigamy through public channels. This step usually relies on public information databases such as real estate registration, vehicle registration, and court judgment documents for cross-verification. Especially in Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Qianhai Free Trade Zone and other places, relevant information can be efficiently queried through the "One Netcom" platform.
2. Verification of authenticity of social resumes
Investigate whether the other party's claims of academic qualifications and work experience are true. This includes verification of the authenticity of graduation certificates, understanding of the identity of the employer, and logical rationality of career development trajectories. In many cases of falsifying academic qualifications, many loopholes can be found through indirect contact with the original employer and alumni (rather than direct inquiry).
3. Financial health assessment
Search whether the other party has unpaid debts, whether it has been included in the list of dishonest persons subject to enforcement, and whether it has been involved in major commercial disputes or civil litigation. Such key information can be obtained through legal channels such as the China Enforcement Information Disclosure Network and local court bulletin boards. In many cases of concealing debts, creditors end up recovering through the division of joint property between husband and wife, which has a huge impact on the new family.
4. Assessment of living habits and underlying personality
Through non-contact means such as neighborhood visits, social circle observation, and behavior pattern analysis, we can understand whether the other party has deep-seated risks such as violent tendencies, gambling addiction, and bad habits. This dimension of investigation tests the ethics and skills of professional institutions - to obtain key information while ensuring complete covert and not harassing the person being investigated.
Balance between legal boundaries and the right to know
Legally, premarital background checks require strict compliance with the provisions of the Civil Code on privacy rights. According to the Supreme People's Court's Civil Procedure Evidence Rules, investigations must not be conducted by methods that infringe on privacy or illegally collect evidence. This means that a legitimate investigation must be based on the following channels:
- Public government information platforms (such as real estate registration, industrial and commercial information, court announcements)
- Judicial investigation order by authorized lawyer
- Information voluntarily disclosed or authorized by the person being investigated
- Non-contact legal observation and public information synthesis
The value of professional institutions lies in knowing how to conduct investigations in the most efficient and rigorous way within these legal channels. Many "investigations" conducted by the parties themselves, such as private photography, eavesdropping, and intrusion into private spaces, are not only legally invalid, but may also constitute infringement against the person under investigation.
Risk assessment before business cooperation: avoid the "shell" trap in the Shenzhen-Guangzhou business sea
Why Business Background Checks are Crucial
In the CBD of Shenzhen Nanshan Science and Technology Park and Zhujiang New Town, thousands of investment, partnership, and financing negotiations are carried out every day. On the surface, these are based on detailed business plans, financial statements, and market analysis. However, in fact, key information such as the underlying subject qualifications, real controllers, and historical disputes of many projects is often deliberately concealed or blurred.
According to the cases released by the Supreme People's Court, the number of cases involving false financing, equity disputes, and hidden related party transactions has been increasing in recent years. The common feature of these cases is that the investor does not obtain sufficient information during the due diligence stage, resulting in complex legal disputes or broken capital chains in the later stage.
The core checklist of business due diligence
In line with international investment practices and Chinese practices, a professional business background check should include the following key dimensions:
Subject qualification verification
Confirm whether the partner has a genuine business license and whether it has expired or been revoked. More importantly, it is necessary to penetrate the shareholding structure and identify the real controller. Although the industrial and commercial information of many "shell companies" is complete, the actual controller is inconsistent with the external publicity. In the Shenzhen and Guangzhou regions, through the "equity penetration query" function of the industrial and commercial department, it can be traced back to the ultimate natural person shareholders.
Litigation & Integrity Record Retrieval
Check whether the partner has past contract disputes, whether it has been included in the list of dishonest persons subject to enforcement, and whether there are outstanding court judgment debts. According to the "Several Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on the List of Judgment Defaulters", this information is publicly queried in the "National Court List of Judgment Judgment Defaulter Database". A company's litigation history often reflects its business integrity and risk management capabilities.
Industry reputation and supply chain research
Obtain first-hand business evaluations through offline visits to former employees, suppliers, customers and other related parties of partners. Although this "360-degree assessment" is time-consuming, when it comes to large investments and financing, hidden risks such as "management chaos, capital chain breakage, and credit default" can often be found. In commercial dense areas such as Futian and Tianhe, after years of accumulation, GAOGE has established a trusted information network with a large number of industrial chain stakeholders, which can quickly obtain real evaluations in the industry.
Financial status and asset authenticity
It is not only necessary to check the financial statements provided by the partner, but also to verify its true asset size and cash flow status through indirect channels. For example, check whether you own the real estate advertised through real estate registration, check whether you have the declared equipment investment through vehicle registration, and check whether the scale of import and export is consistent with the claim through customs data.
Standard Process for Due Diligence (Step-by-Step Guide)
- Information collection stage: Obtain basic information through government channels such as industrial and commercial departments, courts, and tax departments, and the cycle is usually 3-5 working days.
- Ownership penetration stage: Identifying the ultimate natural person shareholders and identifying implicit related parties is crucial to detecting "holding on behalf of others" or "implicit control".
- On-site visit stage: Deploy investigators to conduct on-site inspections, including on-site inspections of office premises, verification of employee scale, verification of production facilities, etc.
- Related party visit stage: Obtain reputation evaluations in the industry through indirect contact with suppliers, customers, former employees, etc.
- Report production stage: Conduct a comprehensive legal and financial analysis of the above information, form a structured due dilition report, and provide a quantitative risk rating for investment decisions.
Property clue investigation in debt recovery: dealing with "professional ladies"
The root cause of enforcement difficulties and the means of property concealment
In China's court system, "difficulty in enforcement" has always been a stubborn disease. The data shows that although many effective judgments are supported by the court, creditors can only partially or even not realize their claims in the end. The main reason is that the person subject to execution has adopted a variety of means of concealing and transferring property.
Common ways of concealing property include transferring real estate to relatives or "nominees", transferring funds through false transactions, transferring corporate equity to affiliated companies, and transferring assets through consumer behavior (such as traveling abroad and purchasing art). In many cases, the person subject to enforcement has no property available for enforcement on the surface, but in fact continues to consume high.
Legal property clue investigation method
According to Article 256 of the Civil Procedure Law, the court may implement a property reporting system for the person subject to enforcement. However, before or in the middle of the litigation, creditors can collect legal property clues through professional institutions to provide strong support for the court's enforcement.
Real estate and vehicle mapping: Hidden assets are discovered by inquiring about the real estate registration information and vehicle registration information of the person subject to execution and his relatives in Shenzhen, Guangzhou and the whole country. Especially in high-value areas such as Qianhai Free Trade Zone and Futian Central District, the person subject to execution often implicitly holds real estate in the name of his spouse and children.
Identification of affiliated enterprises and proxy equity: Through industrial and commercial information inquiry, it is found that the person subject to execution has established a "shell" enterprise or affiliated company through relatives or agents. These companies often appear as unprofitable on their financial statements, but are actually channels for the transfer of funds.
Capture the trajectory of large consumption: Inquire about the high consumption behavior records of the person subject to enforcement through legal channels (such as lawyer investigation orders). For example, consumption records at international airports, five-star hotels, luxury stores, etc. can be submitted to the court as evidence of "ability to pay" to encourage the enforcer to take measures to restrict consumption.
Track the flow of funds: Track the whereabouts of the funds of the person subject to execution through bank statements (lawyer investigation order required), large transfer records, etc. If regular transfers are found to be made to specific accounts, this may suggest an implicit transfer of assets or a disguised transfer of creditor's rights.
Advantages of professional institutions: transformation from clues to evidence in court
Many creditors often fall into two misunderstandings when conducting property searches on their own: one is that the use of illegal means (such as illegal inquiries about bank statements and secretly photographing consumption sites) leads to invalidation of evidence, and the other is that the collected information is scattered and lacks a legal logic chain, which is difficult to be accepted by the court.
The value of a professional private investigation agency is that it can systematically sort out and legalize all kinds of clues collected. For example:
- Cross-verify multi-dimensional data such as real estate registration, vehicle registration, and industrial and commercial information to form a "triangular proof" and improve court recognition.
- Obtain sensitive information through formal channels such as lawyer letters or applying for court investigation orders to ensure the legitimacy of evidence.
- Form an investigation report with a clear timeline and logical chain, providing strong support for judges' free testimony.
- Appear in court as an investigative witness and accept cross-examination to improve the credibility of evidence.
Legality boundary: How professional institutions ensure that investigation evidence has legal effect
Three-dimensional test of evidence legitimacy
According to the Civil Procedure Law and the Several Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Evidence in Civil Litigation, any evidence must meet the "three characteristics" requirements for it to be accepted by the court: authenticity, legality, and relevance. Among them, legality is the strictest criterion.
The legality test includes four levels:
- The subject of evidence is legal: Who collected the evidence? Do you have the corresponding qualifications and authorizations? According to regulations, evidence collected by private or non-statutory institutions is subject to rigorous legality review.
- The method of evidence collection is legal: How did you collect the evidence? Is it a violation of privacy rights and the legitimate rights and interests of others? For example, photos taken by illegally invading other people's residences and illegally obtained bank statements will be excluded as "illegal acquisition".
- The evidence collection procedure is legal: Is evidence collected in accordance with legal procedures? Do you have the necessary authorization documents (such as a solicitor's investigation order)? Has informed (to the extent permitted by law) been given?
- The form of evidence is legal: Does the evidence comply with the eight statutory forms (party statements, documentary evidence, physical evidence, audio-visual materials, electronic data, witness testimony, appraisal opinions, and inquest records)? Is the original complete and the copy authentic?
GAOGE: NDA and Non-Disclosure Agreement
GAOGE As a professional background check and forensic collection agency, we strictly implement the following procedures for each commissioned case:
Preliminary communication and legal evaluation
Before accepting the commission, communicate the survey objectives and expected results with the client in detail, and conduct a legal feasibility assessment. We reserve the right to refuse to accept investigation requests if we find that they involve illegal infringement or violation of privacy regulations. The rigor of this step directly determines the legal effect of later evidence.
The whole process of forensic collection is standardized
All investigation activities, including staffing, investigation routes, and information acquisition methods, are carried out in strict accordance with the provisions of the Civil Code and the Civil Procedure Law. Do not use any means that may constitute infringement. For example, when conducting personnel visits, we do not record or ask deceptive questions, but only obtain necessary clues through legal information.
Information management and privacy protection
All information collected, including the private data of the respondent, the trade secrets of the client, is protected by strict NDAs (Non-Disclosure Agreements). GAOGE has signed confidentiality agreements with all employees and partners, and violating confidentiality obligations will face legal consequences. This mechanism protects both the privacy of the person being investigated and the interests of the client.
Report production and evidence chain construction
The final investigation report not only lists the information collected, but more importantly, conducts legal analysis. We will clearly mark the source, collection method, and authenticity verification method of each piece of information to form a closed "evidence chain". Such a report can withstand the other party's questioning even when cross-examined in court.
Comparison: Risk differences between DIY surveys and professional institutions
Many parties try to conduct their own investigations in order to save costs. However, this practice is often subject to legal risks:
| Contrast dimensions | Personal DIY surveys | Professional institution survey |
|---|---|---|
| Legal compliance | It is easy to use illegal means because they do not understand the legal boundaries | Strictly abide by the Civil Code and the Civil Procedure Law, and every step has a legal basis |
| Validity of the evidence | Self-collected evidence is often excluded because it is "of unknown origin" or "improperly obtained" | Clear evidence collection procedures, complete evidence chain, and high court acceptance rate |
| Reverse infringement risk | They may be countersued for invasion of privacy, harassment, illegal tracking, etc., and face civil compensation or even criminal penalties | Use legal means to avoid the risk of reverse infringement |
| Information availability | Even if information is collected, it is difficult to carry out effective legal translation | Form structured reports that can be used directly for litigation, arbitration, or debt recovery |
| Time cost | Not being able to start, taking detours, and ultimately taking longer and longer | Professional team, efficient process, usually 3-7 working days to report out |
| Privacy protection | Personal investigations often expose the privacy of the person being investigated excessively and may violate confidentiality obligations | Strict NDA mechanism protects both the privacy of the person under investigation and the confidentiality of the client |
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1: How long does it take to conduct a background check in Shenzhen/Guangzhou?
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The time depends on the depth and complexity of the investigation. Basic identity information, marital status, and dishonesty record inquiries are usually completed within 1-3 working days. Comprehensive investigations involving property mapping, supply chain visits, and penetration of affiliated enterprises usually take 5-7 working days. In the event of an emergency (e.g. when it comes to the statute of limitations), we can provide expedited services, but the corresponding efficiency gains will increase costs.
Q2: Will background checks alarm the person being investigated?
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Professional investigations are conducted through a combination of contactless and legal public channels to ensure concealment and security. We do not directly ask questions to the respondents, their relatives, or employers, but conduct investigations through indirect means such as public information inquiries, neighborhood observations, and behavior pattern analysis. Therefore, in most cases, the respondents will not be aware of the conduct of the investigation. However, it should be noted that if a court investigation order is involved (such as property clue investigation), the relevant departments (such as banks and housing management departments) may leave inquiry records, in which case the respondent may learn the facts of the investigation at a later stage.
Q3: Can the investigation report be used as evidence in court?
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This depends on the content of the report and the way the evidence is obtained. In the investigation report we provide, the information obtained through public channels (such as industrial and commercial and real estate registration) can be directly submitted to the court as documentary evidence. For information obtained through visits and observations, it needs to be supported by relevant written records (such as visit records, photos, etc.). The most important thing is that the source and collection method of each piece of information are clearly marked in the report, and the judge can judge the legitimacy and authenticity of the evidence accordingly. In many cases, our investigation reports have not only been adopted by the court, but have also become an important basis for judges' judgments. At the same time, our investigators can cooperate with lawyers to appear as witnesses in court to further enhance the credibility of the evidence.
Q4: If the person being investigated discovers the investigation, will we bear legal responsibility?
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If the investigation strictly follows the law and uses legal evidence collection methods, even if the person under investigation is discovered, there will be no legal liability issue. Citizens and businesses have the right to know information about themselves through legal channels. However, if illegal means are used during the investigation process (such as privacy invasion, harassment, fraud), the client and the investigative agency may face civil compensation or even criminal penalties. This is why it is crucial to choose a professional, compliant investigative body – we have rigorously evaluated every means we take, ensuring that we operate within the legal framework.
Q5: How is the survey fee calculated? Is there a guarantee?
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The cost of the survey is determined based on factors such as the difficulty of the survey, time commitment, and resources required. basic identity verification surveys with relatively low fees; Comprehensive investigations involving property mapping and supply chain visits will increase accordingly. We provide detailed fee quotes to ensure transparency. At the same time, we provide quality assurance on the results of the investigation: if the information is incorrect due to our negligence, we promise a free supplementary investigation or fee waiver. In addition, all investigations are bound by written contracts, including confidentiality clauses, liability clauses, etc., to ensure the legitimate rights and interests of both parties.
⚖️ Legal Notice:All investigation activities described in this guide shall be conducted in strict accordance with the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China, the Civil Procedure Law and relevant judicial interpretations of the Supreme People's Court. Any violation of the law, infringement of the privacy rights of others, or causing harm to others will be subject to corresponding legal liability. The investigation agency and the client should establish a written contract to clarify the rights, obligations and legal responsibilities of both parties.
The truth is not a harm, but a kind of protection
In fast-growing cities like Shenzhen and Guangzhou, every decision—whether it's marriage, investment, or debt recovery—can impact a lifetime. The truth is the soft armor that protects every individual and enterprise at these critical moments.
The mission of GAOGE is not to stand on the moral high ground and make accusations, but to help everyone who is working hard in Shenzhen and Guangzhou make more rational and confident decisions through professional and compliant background checks and property verification. We believe that trust built on transparent information is stronger and more sustainable than blind trust.
Whether you're facing marital dilemmas, business collaboration doubts, or debt recovery difficulties, the truth is out there, waiting to be discovered. Let GAOGE provide you with professional support, protect your rights and interests, and protect your future.
The truth is soft armor, not for harm, but for protection.
Let the power of professionalism guide your decisions when it matters most.
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