Recently updated on April 15th, 2021 at 03:00 am
Adrian Allen(Managing Director at Anderen Ltd): One option to start could be to work with a company who already have an established office and “rent a desk”. This could offer you a fast entry with less formality, but also no long term commitment. You could benefit from the “host companies” HR so you could have someone working for you or simply share a staff members time.
This also can help assess the viability of your idea and confirm or otherwise your choice of regional centre.
This gives you time to work through the various bits (lots) of red tape needed to set up
If this is something of interest please reply privately to adrian@anderenltd.com and we can discuss the possibilities
Allan Song(General Manager, China IGT at Chromalloy): There are many good options you can consider. You can delegate some one you an trust, or work with company like Fesco or Ciic, they can provide service for foreign companies and can help you to process everthing correctly. Do not try to do everything by yourself. You can really get lost.
Peter Murphy | Financial Planner Wealth Manager | China: Tread carefully. Much depends on what purpose your office inChina is to serve.Adrian’s suggestion could be a way forward but it depends on how well defined your requirement is already. If you know what you want to achieve and can clearly articulate it, then no reason not to get on with it and set up the appropriate structure from the start.
Good luck.
Jacopo Garbarino(Manager at HT MIR): I just did it. it’s easy to find information’s about WFOE or RO in terms of capital requirements or staff recruitment on the net: an agent, like FESCO, would do all the paperwork for 20k RMB. What might be tricky is the time needed to go through the necessary steps: that takes 6-10 weeks (if it’s not a manufacturing unit).
Adrian Allen(Managing Director at Anderen Ltd): As Peter says much depends on why an office is needed and it would be a good idea to explore the differences inChina of the various vehicles for being represented.
One problem is that what we understand as a representative office in the UK is not quite the same in China where it will have certain restrictions in what functions it can provide. In this case it could be ideal or completely wrong.
Etienne Pelsy(En vadrouille at ses amis): Depend on what you do, you should consider the political impact on your location, if work with government officials, opening an office in a relatively small area can give you a close relationship with the local party authority. Furthermore they can provide you some interesting benefits.
Nevertheless, you should always consider a city with the high speed train.
Adam Mikkelsen(Director – Owners Corporation at CVA Property Consultants): Hi,
Do Virtual Offices exist in China? Might be a way cost effective way of becoming familiar with the environment before committing to physical office space and lease commitments.
Adam
Qun Wang(Counsel at Shu Jin Law Firm China): Hi Adam,
I heard virtual offices exist inShanghai. It’s a good way to cut the cost. Alternatively, you may always negotiate the lease terms to exit out with 2-month notice. Many major cities inChinahave government-sponsored incubator facility (usually called “industrial park”) which offers discounted office rental space.
In addition to rent, “registered capital” is also a major cost to consider. To set up a limited company in China, you will be required to invest certain amount of “registered capital” into the company account within 2 years. Depending on different cities and the scope of business, the registered capital can range from USD 100,000 – USD 200,000 easily.
Qun
Peter Murphy | Financial Planner Wealth Manager | China: @Adam I know of two companies that offer ‘virtual Office’ services inShanghai: iQubator and Oasis.
@Qun, it’s worth mentioning that the registered capital is used to pay for company operating overheads so is not an additional sum to be tied up. It is also the only opportunity to bring cash into the company from overseas tax free, so increasing the working capital above the minimum requirement and actual projected costs may be a good idea.
Karl E.( Owner at IF Group (including LC Global Ltd, Lion Crane Trading Ltd): Michael, what kind of office and what do you intend to do? There are very many licenses that may be needed. You should certainly discuss with a lawyer or other professional business agent about the ones you need for your intended business but beware – ensure you get a complete list of how far your professional agent will help you. Some professionals (particularly lawyers) consider it sufficient to just obtain a business and enterprise license to “set up” your business. In order to start normal operations you will find there are many more steps to consider. Any quotation you get should include everything including your registration with SAFE (Foreign Exchange), your bank account setup, your tax registration and maybe even your visa. An absolute must is Chinese Accounting staff or sub contract firm. You will find most of the office work is centred around tax compliance and similar even before operations start.
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