Incorp China

Planning to operate a wholly foreign-owned enterprise business in China, whether it be a small business, a global company, or even a Fortune 500 company, can be fairly effortful. It is essential to take all the precautions needed to for your business to be successfully established. Once you acquire a business license, there are more steps to be taken further, such as, opening a bank account in China, to assist your business affairs. Although this step is necessary and can sound simple, opening an account in China can be challenging, especially recently, as the regulations became more stringent.

As of April 2020, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) have made it obligatory to follow high level of analysis during the Know Your Customer (KYC) process. Because of this, the PBOC have ordered that all banks not only to oversee business activities, including financial transactions, but also to induct a few other conditions such as investigating your other bank accounts in addition to dormant accounts, seek capital transitions, examine times of transactions as well as suspicious or abnormal activities, restrict pay outs and limit online banking transactions.

Compared to the fast-paced explicit processes which dominate Western business, starting a company in China can be a headache.  Combine extensive legal work with a social system opposite of your own and even the most experienced businessmen and women are in for a challenge. 

However, establishing a presence in China continues to be a profitable move for entities in every business sector. With endless resources at your disposal, how to begin gets confusing.  We’ve stripped away all the particulars and provided you with a basic idea.

Without any discussion, money and time are the most valued resource for business. For western companies, traveling to china can be an investment due to the utilization of this two resources. Think about the costs of traveling, lodge, transportation, and the time spent on meetings or any process like registration and permits application. This case is about how one of our clients has saved through our effective negotiations.

The problem

We always look to  provide the best support to our clients, but due its size, China can be an overwhelming country , so we understand when our clients are hindered to come directly to our office in Shenzhen. Just recently, one of our clients, a paper products manufacturer, was looking into moving part of his manufacturing process to the South West region of China. Since the team of three was on a strict time schedule they were not able to come to Shenzhen personally in order to meet with Incorp China’s team to discuss the bureaucracy behind such a move.

Why opening a bank account in China is more difficult today

It is no secret that the recent crackdown on money laundering has left foreigners struggling to open a bank account in China. As a result, it has become even more beneficial for foreigners, seeking to move or extend their business to China, to consult an agent on the ground. The reason why there are so many China consultancies on the market is because it’ is quite challenging as well as time and labor intensive to get a company approved. Only a few of these China consultants are as committed as Incorp China, connecting with the government bureaus and banks, forming friendships, and therefore getting our clients the service they deserve.

Last week, three Incorp China team members and the CEO, Robert Fisch, headed to the Shenzhen tax bureau to help one of our US clients on shuting down their entity in China. When shutting down a foreign company in China, the tax bureau has to issue a “notice of cancellation of tax registration”’ for the Foreign Trade & Economic Cooperation Bureau. This is a rather difficult and time intensive procedure: The company owner, or a representative thereof, has to physically visit the local tax bureau in order to fill out and hand in the requires paperwork. While some documents are in English, the majority of the procedure will necessarily be dealt with in Mandarin. This highly bureaucratic task involves dozens of different forms that are each tailored to the nature of your business as well as the reason for its closure.

While every business needs to keep a tight grip on their expenses, some investments do truly pay off. One of such investments is hiring a local company in China to represent your business here. Why? Because Chinese bureaucracy and law is of complicated and ever-changing nature. Even more importantly, here, nobody stands a chance doing paperwork over the phone. Doing business face-to-face remains the most effective and respectful after all.