Conclusion first: the path to doing business on Xiaohongshu (RED) is "Professional Account first, store second" — accounts are non-professional by default and cannot engage in any commercial activity; upgrading to an enterprise Professional Account requires uploading the business license and paying an annual RMB 600 review service fee; to open a brand store (brand store, exclusive store, or flagship store), you must submit the trademark registration certificate or a complete brand authorization chain. If brand words appear in the account name or avatar, corresponding trademark proof is also required — otherwise review fails.
1. Professional Account Verification: The RMB 600 Entry Ticket
- Entry and process: Creation Center → More Services → Open Professional Account → choose "I am an enterprise," fill in basic and entity information, upload the qualification letter and operator information, pay the fee, and wait for review;
- Fee and annual review: the enterprise Professional Account review service fee is RMB 600 per year; the application is valid for 30 days, and the fee is not refunded if not completed on time; after passing, the account is reviewed and renewed annually;
- Material requirements: a color scan of the latest (three-in-one) business license — black-and-white copies require a color company seal; the verification letter follows the official template, bears the fresh seal of the qualification owner and the operator's own signature — electronic, finance, and contract seals are not accepted; watermarks on the business license may only say "for Xiaohongshu onboarding/verification use only" and must not obscure the qualification content;
- Naming rules: the account name may be based on the full enterprise name, abbreviation, or product name, but a branch may not use the head office's abbreviation; duplicate nicknames are not allowed, verification is first-come-first-served, malicious squatting is not supported, and qualifications supporting the nickname content must be provided; nicknames may not exceed 20 characters; generic broad words such as "beauty" or "study" may not be used alone; impersonating the official platform (e.g., "××薯" or "Xiaohongshu official") is prohibited.
2. Trademarks in the Name and Avatar: Proof Required
Per Xiaohongshu's brand account qualification verification standards:
- Where the name contains brand, website, app, or similar information, corresponding proof documents must be provided: a brand corresponds to the trademark registration certificate, and where an authorization relationship exists, a brand authorization letter must also be provided; a website corresponds to an ICP filing screenshot, and an app to a Computer Software Copyright Registration Certificate;
- Where an R mark or TM mark is used in the avatar, corresponding supplementary qualifications must likewise be provided;
- Where a brand account needs to be bound to a collection store or exclusive store, the account name must match the store name.
In other words, to use a brand name as your account name and a brand logo as your avatar on Xiaohongshu, the trademark certificate (or authorization letter) is unavoidable supporting material.
3. Opening a Store: Store Type Determines Trademark Requirements
Xiaohongshu stores are divided into personal stores, individual-business stores, and enterprise stores. Trademark requirements by brand-related store type:
- Single-brand store (brand store): owned brand — the trademark registrant is the onboarding company, or the onboarding company holds an exclusive trademark use authorization for a natural person's registered trademark; agency brand — the onboarding company holds the brand party's first-tier exclusive authorization;
- Exclusive store: authorized sales of an agency brand, requiring a complete brand authorization originating from the trademark owner, with no more than 3 tiers (no more than 2 for the beauty category);
- Flagship store: an owned brand needs the trademark registration certificate (R mark) or acceptance notice (TM mark, accepted for a set period per platform requirements); an authorized brand needs an exclusive first-tier authorization letter issued by the brand party; only one flagship store per brand, but the same entity may simultaneously open different store types such as a flagship store, exclusive store, and ordinary enterprise store;
- Trademark information entry: domestic registered trademarks must be searchable on the China Trademark Office website and entered with actual validity periods; trademarks in special states such as assignment, non-use cancellation (撤三), or invalidation must be supplemented with corresponding documents per the manual; unregistered (TM) trademarks go through a dedicated channel to submit acceptance documents;
- Entity restrictions: enterprise store onboarding does not accept individual sellers and individual businesses; one business license may apply for at most 2 Professional Accounts and 2 stores;
- Deposit: store deposits are set by type and category, starting at RMB 2,000 for domestic enterprise stores, with flagship stores higher; no technical service fee for monthly revenue within RMB 10,000, charged proportionally on the excess.
4. Authorization Chain and Materials Standards
- The authorization chain starts from the trademark owner and connects tier by tier to the onboarding company without interruption;
- The authorization letter states the brand name (consistent with the registration certificate), the full names of authorizer and authorized party, the scope and validity period, and bears the company seal;
- Where the trademark owner is a natural person, attach a copy of their personally signed ID;
- Where the trademark has been assigned, provide the assignment approval certificate and use the current rights holder as the authorization source;
- All submitted documents must have complete corners and be clearly legible, with fresh seals on copies; the platform has zero tolerance for fake seals — detection results in permanent rejection and blacklisting.
5. Common Pitfalls and Countermeasures
- Paying the RMB 600 before reading the rules: names or industry admission mismatches lead to rejection, and review failures are generally not refunded. Confirm before paying that the industry can apply and the name can pass against the latest standards;
- Opening a store without a trademark for the brand name: brand stores, exclusive stores, and flagship stores all gate on trademark qualifications — without a registration certificate or authorization chain, you can only open a personal/ordinary store, and selling others' branded goods still requires authorization, otherwise infringement removal follows;
- Not tracking TM mark status: onboarding with an acceptance notice means that if the trademark is ultimately rejected, the store's brand qualification lapses — assess rejection risk in advance;
- Account name inconsistent with store name: binding a brand account to a store requires name consistency — unify the account name, store name, and trademark name at the planning stage;
- Authorization chain exceeding tiers: exclusive store chains over 3 tiers (2 for beauty) are rejected outright — count the tiers before obtaining authorizations.
6. Practical Recommendations
- Apply for trademark registration as soon as the brand name is set — prefer a word mark and cover the main classes; before starting, get a trademark registrability assessment to confirm it can be registered, so the RMB 600 verification fee and store preparation do not go to waste;
- Keep the account, store, and trademark under the same name, and organize the verification letter, authorization letters, and registration certificate into a materials package ready for annual review and supplementation anytime;
- Planning a multi-store layout: plan early — one license allows at most 2 Professional Accounts and 2 stores, and only one flagship store per brand; arrange additional entities early if needed;
- Mind the platform's red lines for traffic diversion: Xiaohongshu strictly prohibits directing users to WeChat or off-platform transactions — use the in-platform private message tool for customer acquisition, so diversion violations do not drag down the store.
7. Summary
Xiaohongshu makes "brand" the review thread running through accounts and stores: a trademark certificate for brand words in the account name, qualifications for a logo in the avatar, and a registration certificate or authorization chain for opening a brand store. For brand owners, a stably owned registered trademark is the common foundation for Professional Account verification, store naming, and authorization filing. The platform rules cited in this article are current as of 2026; platform review standards change frequently, so always defer to the platform's latest official rules before proceeding.