Service 01 — Company registration
Register a company in China, without the guesswork
WFOE, joint venture or representative office — we handle the full incorporation sequence in Beijing and explain every step in English, from name approval to an operating bank account.
- WFOE · JV · Representative office
- 4–6 weeks typical
- Remote setup available
Engagement at a glance
- Typical timeline
- 4–6 weeks
- Registered capital
- No universal minimum
- Ownership
- Up to 100% foreign
- Travel required
- Usually none
- Government fees
- Passed through at cost
Timelines assume a complete document set and a business scope outside the negative list.
The entity decision comes first. Everything else follows from it.
Registering a company in China is a sequence of dependent approvals, not a single filing. The entity type you choose fixes your tax profile, your ability to invoice, your foreign-exchange route and your exit options for the next decade.
We start by reading your business model against China’s negative list for foreign investment and the licensing catalogue for your industry. A software company selling to Chinese enterprises, an importer holding inventory in a bonded warehouse and a manufacturer with a Chinese partner need three different structures — and two of them will fail an audit if registered the same way.
Once the structure is settled, our Beijing team runs the filings itself. You receive one named adviser, a document checklist in English, weekly status notes, and a scanned copy of every certificate the day it is issued. Nothing is subcontracted to a name you have never heard of.
What the engagement covers
- Negative-list and licensing assessment
- Entity comparison with a written recommendation
- Chinese company name creation and pre-approval
- Articles of association drafted in Chinese and summarised in English
- Foreign investment information report
- Business licence and all five seals
- RMB basic account and foreign-currency capital account
- Tax registration, invoice quota and e-invoice set-up
- Social insurance and housing fund registration
- Customs registration where applicable
Watch out
Since July 2024, subscribed capital must be paid in within five years. A capital figure chosen to look impressive can become a funding obligation your board cannot meet — we model the schedule before the articles are signed.
Beijing, in numbers
- 4–6weeks
- Name approval to a working bank account
- 19working days
- Our fastest Beijing WFOE to date
- 500+
- Companies registered and maintained
- 2,500RMB and up
- Company registration fee
Complete file, no pre-approval required
Documents already apostilled, unlicensed scope
Including 50+ foreign-invested clients
Government charges at cost, with receipts
WFOE, joint venture or representative office
Most foreign investors register a WFOE. The exceptions are real, and they are almost always driven by licensing or by a partner who controls access.
| WFOE | Joint venture | Representative office | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ownership | 100% foreign | Shared with a PRC partner | Parent company, no equity |
| Legal personality | Independent PRC legal person | Independent PRC legal person | Not a legal person |
| Can invoice customers | Yes | Yes | No |
| Can hire locally | Yes | Yes | Via a staffing agency |
| Can repatriate profits | Yes, after tax | Yes, per equity ratio | No profit to repatriate |
| Registered capital | Required, subscribed | Required, subscribed | None |
| Typical timeline | 4–6 weeks | 8–12 weeks (partner due diligence) | 3–5 weeks |
| Best for | Trading, services, manufacturing, SaaS | Restricted sectors, licensed activities, local distribution | Market research, supplier liaison, quality control |
WFOE
Full control, full compliance burden. The default choice for trading, services and manufacturing.
Joint venture
Slower to establish and harder to exit, but often the only lawful route into a restricted sector.
Representative office
Cheap to maintain, cannot earn revenue. Suitable for liaison and research only.
Which entity fits your case
Start from what the business has to do, not from the label.
| What you need | WFOE | Joint venture | Representative office |
|---|---|---|---|
| Own the China entity outrightTrading, services, manufacturing, SaaS | ✓ | — | — |
| Sector sits on the negative listA PRC partner is required to hold equity | — | ✓ | — |
| Invoice Chinese customers | ✓ | ✓ | — |
| Employ staff in ChinaA rep office hires only through a dispatch agency | ✓ | ✓ | Via dispatch |
| Market research and quality control only | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Raise outside capital or plan to list | ✓ | Depends on terms | — |
This is a decision matrix, not legal advice. Where the business scope touches the negative list or needs a pre-approval, the sector rules decide the entity — not preference.
Six steps from name to operating account
Each step below is a filing we submit and track. You see the receipt, the certificate and the next deadline.
- 01Week 0
Structure and scope review
We test your activity against the negative list and licensing catalogue, then fix the entity type, registered capital, shareholder chain and business scope in a written structure memo.
- 02Day 1–2
Name pre-approval
Two to four candidate names in Chinese are filed with the market regulator. Names containing industry words need a matching scope, so this step and the previous one are linked.
- 03Day 2–5
Foreign investment filing
The foreign investment information report is submitted through the enterprise registration system, together with the notarised and apostilled shareholder documents.
- 04Day 5–10
Business licence
Articles of association, appointment documents and the registered-address lease are filed. The market regulator issues the five-in-one business licence, which carries the unified social credit code.
- 05Week 2–3
Seals and bank account
Five seals are carved and registered. We then open the RMB basic account and, if needed, a foreign-currency capital account, preparing the KYC file and source-of-funds narrative for the bank.
- 06Week 3–6
Tax, customs and payroll set-up
Tax registration, invoice cap and e-invoice device, social insurance and housing fund accounts, and customs registration where you import or export. The entity is then fully operational.
What you need to send us
Corporate shareholder
- Certificate of incorporation (notarised and apostilled)
- Articles of association or equivalent constitutional document
- Board resolution approving the China investment
- Certificate of good standing, issued within three months
- Ultimate beneficial owner chart and passport copies of UBOs
- Audited accounts for the most recent financial year
Individual shareholder or director
- Passport copy, colour, all pages with stamps
- Proof of residential address, issued within three months
- Curriculum vitae for director and legal representative roles
- Power of attorney for filings (we draft it, you notarise)
- Two to four proposed Chinese company names
China-side documents we prepare
- Registered address lease and property certificate
- Articles of association and shareholder resolution
- Business scope drafted in standardised wording
- Appointment and indemnity documents for officers
Four to six weeks, week by week
Where projects slip, it is almost always the bank, not the regulator. We open a parallel track with the bank from week two.
Weeks 1–2
Approvals
Structure memo, name approval, foreign investment filing and licence application. Founder input: signed documents and one 30-minute call.
Weeks 2–3
Seals and banking
Seal carving, RMB account, foreign-currency capital account. Founder input: video KYC and a source-of-funds statement.
Weeks 3–4
Tax and operations
Tax registration, invoice quota, social insurance and housing fund, e-commerce or customs registration as applicable.
Weeks 4–6
Capital injection
Overseas capital is remitted, converted and registered with SAFE through the bank; the first monthly bookkeeping cycle begins.
Fast track
Where the shareholder documents are already apostilled and the business scope is unlicensed, we have completed Beijing WFOEs in 19 working days. Ask us whether your file qualifies before you commit to a launch date.
Fixed professional fees, government charges at cost
Fees are set against Beijing market rates for each entity type, and every step is handled by our own team — no subcontracted filing agents. Official charges — seal carving, bank fees, notarisation — are passed through at cost with receipts, typically RMB 2,500–7,000.
Company registration
from RMB 2,500one-off
A standard limited liability company registered in Beijing: licence, seals and tax registration.
- Name check and reservation
- Business licence and five seals
- Tax registration and levy category
- Bank account opening appointment
- Digital tax bureau set-up
WFOE registration
RMB 16,800one-off
The standard engagement: licence to operating bank account, Beijing.
- Everything in Company registration
- Negative-list, licensing and capital-structure assessment
- Foreign investment information filing
- Notarised and apostilled document review
- RMB basic and foreign-currency capital accounts
- Social insurance and housing fund set-up
- Weekly status updates in English
Turnkey market entry
from RMB 32,800one-off
For teams that want the entity trading, staffed and filing on day one.
- Everything in WFOE registration
- Customs or e-commerce registration
- First trademark application in class 35 or 42
- Employment contract and payroll templates
- Two months of bookkeeping included
- 90-day post-registration support
Fees exclude government charges, notarisation and apostille costs in your home jurisdiction, registered-address rent (from RMB 6,000 per year in Tongzhou) and capital contribution. Quotations are confirmed in an engagement letter before work starts.
Company registration, answered directly
Still deciding?
Call +86 400 098 9866 and ask for the market-entry team. We will tell you honestly whether you need a WFOE at all.
+86 400 098 9866A WFOE is a 100% foreign-owned limited liability company: it can invoice, hire, import and repatriate profits. A joint venture shares ownership with a Chinese partner — useful where the negative list, a licence or a distribution network requires local equity. A representative office is a non-profit liaison office: it may not sign contracts or invoice, which makes it suitable only for market research or quality control.
There is no universal statutory minimum for most industries; the amount must be commercially credible for your business scope and is reviewed case by case. Under the Company Law effective July 2024, shareholders of a new company must pay in their subscribed capital within five years of establishment. Registered capital also determines the foreign-exchange quota for capital account transfers, so it should be set with your funding plan in mind, not minimised for appearance.
No. Shareholder documents can be notarised and apostilled in your home country and a power of attorney issued to our team. Two touchpoints usually still require the founder: video verification for the bank account, and, in some banks, a physical visit to sign the account-opening file. We tell you which banks in Beijing currently waive the visit before you choose one.
The legal representative may be any person with capacity, of any nationality, and does not need to reside in China — but the role carries personal exposure for compliance failures, so it should be a genuine decision-maker. A company also needs a supervisor (监事) who cannot be the legal representative or a senior manager. Both can be our nominee only where the law permits it and never without a written indemnity arrangement.
Four to six weeks end to end in Beijing. Name approval takes one to two working days, the business licence three to five working days after a complete filing, seals one day, and the bank account one to three weeks depending on the bank’s KYC queue. Tax registration and invoice-cap approval add three to five working days after the account is live.
Yes, and it is usually preferable. A corporate shareholder keeps ownership inside your group, simplifies later restructuring and avoids personal PRC tax exposure. The trade-off is heavier documentation: the parent’s certificate of incorporation, articles, board resolution and ultimate-beneficial-owner evidence must be notarised and apostilled, and the chain of ownership must be disclosed to the bank.
The business scope (经营范围) is written on your licence in standardised wording and defines what you may legally do. A scope that omits “ goods import and export” blocks customs registration; one that omits “technology development” can prevent a tax incentive. Adding items later requires a change filing, so we draft the scope against your three-year plan, not just this year’s contract.
Monthly or quarterly VAT and surtax filings, monthly individual income tax withholding once you hire, annual corporate income tax reconciliation, annual reporting to the market regulator, and a statutory audit if required by your industry or parent company. Foreign exchange and outbound payment reporting also begin as soon as money moves. Our bookkeeping retainer covers all of these filings.
Next step
Get a structure recommendation before you spend a renminbi
Send us your business model and shareholder chain. You will receive a written view on entity type, capital, licensing risk and timeline — free, and specific to your case.
