In Germany GmbH (“Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung”, limited liability company), and AG ("Aktiengesellschaft", business association with shares), are the most similar to the corporations in the US.
In the UK they have a bunch of different ones.
China uses WFOE (or WOFE), to refer to a Wholly Foreign Owned Enterprise (WFOE). This is the most popular form of business entity for foreign investors wanting to set up a company in China; it is a limited liability company. The article doesn’t mention what Chinese owned companies in China use as abbreviation.
In fact, on the whole list as far as I can see it seems that only three countries use the abbreviation “Inc”: USA, Canada, and the Philippines.
The article as a whole only mentions a few countries though, so I had a look elsewhere as well.
> In China, the limited liability company (LLC; in Chinese, 有限责任公司 or 有限公司) structure is generally for smaller and less restricted companies. Chinese LLCs may not have more than 50 shareholders
> company limited by shares (股份有限公司 or 股份公司) structure is generally used by larger companies, including publicly traded companies (which must be companies limited by shares)
> One-Person Limited Liability Company (一人有限责任公司)
This type of corporation has similar rights and responsibilities to a standard LLC, but may only be established by a natural person.
And quite a few different ones in addition to those, but none using “Inc” as abbreviation.
Back to the topic of countries where Inc is used.
1. United States: The most prominent user of "Inc." for incorporated entities.
2. Canada: "Inc." is commonly used alongside "Ltd." (Limited).
3. Philippines: Companies frequently use "Inc." to indicate incorporation.
4. Australia: Although "Pty Ltd" (Proprietary Limited) is more common, "Inc." can also be used for non-profit organizations.
5. New Zealand: Similar to Australia, "Inc." is used for non-profit entities.
6. Japan: The term "Kabushiki Kaisha" (K.K.) is the standard, but "Inc." is sometimes seen in international contexts.
7. South Korea: The term "주식회사" (Jusikhoesa) is typical, but "Inc." is occasionally used for international recognition.
8. Taiwan: Companies might use "Inc." in English contexts, though the local term is "有限公司" (Youxian Gongsi).
These countries utilize "Inc." to denote an incorporated company, often within international business contexts.
Anyway. If they really are an incorporated company I think it would be helpful to mention what country they are incorporated in, and provide some kind of registration number that you can use for looking up details about the company. And conversely, if they are not an actual incorporated business then don’t pretend to be.
