Before you create a Chinese company in mainland China make sure you fully understand whether you need to do this.
Examples of why you might need a Chinese business:
- Production costs cheaper in China
- Chinese government grants available
- Local Chinese investment available
- Local Chinese overseas branded services – e.g. coffee shop chain
- You wish to sell directly to businesses and consumers from within China
- Chinese government licensing is only available if you have a Chinese company; e.g. ICP certification
You do not need a Chinese business if you are selling into China from business / e-Commerce site located outside mainland China. i.e. Hong Kong, USA, UK, etc.
We would only recommend you consider creating a Chinese business if you have looked at all the other options first – see Routes to the Chinese market.
For more information please see: Creating a Chinese company
| Subject | Action Recommended | Priority | Checked? |
| Is a Chinese business required | Do you need to create a Chinese business; | High | |
| Trading rights | What Chinese trading rights do you require and are these available to foreign companies | High | |
| Business plan | Create and review detail business plan for the Chinese business | High | |
| Capital requirement | Chinese business needs to declare capital from the outset | High | |
| International contracts | Supplier contracts from your foreign company to the Chinese company to enable international payments | Medium | |
| Accountant | Appoint a local Chinese accountant | Medium | |
| Chinese grants | Chinese JV can apply for Chinese government grants | Medium |
Version V1.4. - 20 June 2019
