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Asia-PacificBuild a Compliant Business Presence in China.
Coordinate company establishment, licensing, tax onboarding, banking preparation, and operational readiness through a guided China market-entry workflow.
China at a glance
Compare →- Entity model
- Foreign-invested enterprise
- Setup speed
- Extended. Authority stages run in sequence, and document authentication adds time before filing begins.
- Cost drivers
- Registered address, licensed activity scope, document authentication and translation, and local representation.
- Tax notes
- Corporate income tax, VAT, and local levies are administered separately. Treatment varies by activity and city.
- Banking
- Follows registration rather than running alongside it. Requires local presence; timelines vary by bank and city.
Overview
Doing business in China.
China can be an important market for companies involved in sourcing, manufacturing, trading, technology, services, supply-chain operations, and direct local sales. Foreign investors commonly use a foreign-invested enterprise structure, sometimes described as a WFOE, but the correct route depends on the business activity, ownership, location, and applicable market-access rules.
Activity, licensing, banking, and local execution require careful sequencing
The consideration that decides most cases
Fit
Who China tends to suit.
Best for
- International trading and sourcing businesses
- Manufacturing and supply-chain operations
- Technology and professional service companies
- Brands entering the Chinese market
- Companies requiring local contracts, staff, invoicing, or operations
Potential advantages
- Access to a large commercial and manufacturing ecosystem
- Ability to create a local operating entity where permitted
- Local invoicing, contracting, hiring, and banking capability after required setup
- Multiple city and development-zone options
- Strong supplier, logistics, and e-commerce infrastructure
Before you commit
What argues against it.
Every market has conditions that only surface after registration. These are the ones worth pricing in first.
- Business scope and activity wording can affect licensing and operations
- Some sectors are restricted, regulated, or subject to special approvals
- Registered capital should reflect the operating plan and applicable rules
- A compliant registered address and local administrative coordination may be required
- Banking, tax, customs, employment, and work-authorisation steps are separate from incorporation
- Documents may require notarisation, legalisation, translation, or local verification
Typical setup journey
How a China case runs.
An indicative sequence. The order and the dependencies change with ownership, activity, and the documents already on file.
Define the proposed business activity, customers, ownership, city, and operating model.
Review whether the activity is open to foreign investment and identify licences or approvals.
Select the entity, business scope, registered address, and capital plan.
Prepare shareholder, director, legal representative, controller, and company documents.
Submit company registration and obtain corporate records.
Complete company seals, tax onboarding, banking preparation, and any customs or sector registration.
Coordinate employment, social insurance, and work-authorisation steps where relevant.
Activate ongoing tax, reporting, licence, and document compliance tracking.
Euronexis support
What we run for you here.
China market-entry and structure assessment
Foreign-invested entity setup coordination
Business-scope and licence pathway review
Registered-address and local service coordination
Tax and accounting onboarding referral
Banking and KYC document preparation
Customs, trade, employment, and work-permit partner coordination
Compliance calendar and document vault
Can a foreign person own a company in China?
Foreign ownership is possible in many activities, but not in every sector or under every structure. Ownership eligibility, restrictions, approvals, and partner requirements must be reviewed against the proposed activity and current market-access rules.
Is a WFOE the only option?
No. A wholly foreign-owned structure may be appropriate for many businesses, but joint ventures, representative offices, partnerships, or other arrangements may be relevant depending on the activity and commercial purpose.
Can I register the company without visiting China?
Some formation steps may be coordinated remotely, but banks, authorities, local service providers, or verification procedures may require in-person attendance or additional authentication. The route should be confirmed before engagement.
Is a Chinese bank account guaranteed after registration?
No. Bank onboarding is an independent compliance decision. Banks review ownership, business purpose, source of funds, expected transactions, documents, and sometimes physical presence.
Does company formation automatically provide a work permit or residence status?
No. Company registration and immigration are separate processes. A role, salary, qualification, experience, company readiness, and local eligibility rules may affect work-authorisation options.
How long does China company setup take?
The timeline depends on city, activity, licensing, document authentication, registered address, banking, and authority review. Euronexis provides a case-specific sequence rather than a guaranteed universal timeline.
What happens after incorporation?
Typical next steps may include company seals, tax registration, bank account onboarding, bookkeeping, invoicing setup, customs registration, employment administration, licensing, and recurring reporting.
Can Euronexis help with sourcing or local operations?
Euronexis can coordinate selected operational support and partner referrals. The exact scope should be defined separately from legal entity formation.
Country pages provide general decision-support information, not legal, tax, banking, or immigration advice. Requirements, fees, processing, eligibility, and authority practices may change. A case-specific scope should be confirmed before action or payment.
CHN
Ready to look at China properly?
Start the assessment and a specialist validates the route, the scope, and the document plan before anything is quoted.