Company Seals in Taiwan: The Big Chop, the Small Chop, and Why Both Matter
While Singapore and Hong Kong quietly retired their seal requirements, Taiwan kept the chop at the center of corporate life. If you incorporate or do business in Taiwan, you will use seals constantly — and which seal you use matters.
The two-chop system: 大小章
Taiwanese practice revolves around a pair of seals used together, commonly called the big chop and small chop (大小章):
- Company chop (公司大章) — usually square, carrying the full registered company name. It represents the company itself.
- Representative chop (負責人小章) — smaller, usually square, carrying the name of the responsible person (the registered representative). It represents the person authorized to act.
Contracts, bank forms, government filings and even routine paperwork typically require both chops side by side. One without the other is often rejected.
Registration and the seal certificate
The chop impressions are filed when the company registers, and the specimen on file is what banks and agencies compare against. Companies can also register seals with local authorities and obtain a seal certificate (印鑑證明) — a document certifying that a given impression matches the registered specimen, frequently required for real-estate transactions and major filings. Because the registered impression must match exactly, companies guard these chops carefully and replace them only through a formal re-registration.
Design conventions
- The company chop is typically square, in seal-script or standard characters, red ink, reading the full registered name — structurally similar to the square seal layout, but with Traditional Chinese text.
- The representative chop is a smaller square with the person's name, comparable to a personal name seal.
- Round company seals in the mainland style also appear, especially for internal or marketing use — see the Chinese company seal template for that structure.
You can reproduce either layout in the online seal generator for mock-ups, internal documents and design proofs, and place them on digital paperwork with the PDF stamping tool — including the cross-page perforated style (騎縫章) used on multi-page contracts, covered by the perforated seal template.
Electronic signatures in Taiwan
Taiwan's Electronic Signatures Act was substantially revised in 2024, strengthening the standing of electronic documents and signatures and clarifying that a signature requirement can generally be met electronically when both parties agree. Adoption is growing in commerce, but banks, land registries and many government processes still run on physical chops and the registered-specimen system. In short: e-signatures are legally viable, chops remain operationally unavoidable.
FAQ
Are both chops always required? For banking, government filings and formal contracts, expect to need both. Some routine commercial documents accept the company chop alone — follow the counterparty's requirements.
Can a foreign company sign instead of chopping? Foreign entities generally execute by signature, and Taiwanese counterparties accept this; the two-chop convention applies to locally registered companies.
Does a chop image on a PDF equal the real chop? No — the registered specimen system means physical impressions get compared against filed records. An image is fine for proofs and internal flows; see are image seals legally valid?.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Verify current requirements with the Ministry of Economic Affairs or a qualified professional.