START A COMPANY / ASIA-PACIFIC
How to register a company in China
Foreigners usually set up a wholly foreign-owned enterprise (WFOE), a limited liability company registered with the local market regulator. No minimum capital is set, but under the amended Company Law (1 July 2024) subscribed capital must be paid within five years. Allow 1–3 months including bank and tax set-up.
- REGISTRY
- State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR, 国家市场监督管理总局) and local Administrations for Market Regulation
- ONLINE
- Partly online
- FROM
- CN¥0 (≈ £1)
- STRUCTURES HERE
- 3
Setting up from abroad
Yes outside the Negative List (2024 edition: 29 items): 100% foreign-owned limited companies (WFOEs) are allowed. You need a real leased address, notarised and apostilled parent/ID documents and a legal representative; bank-account opening usually needs someone in China, so most founders use a local agent.
LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY
WFOE: Wholly foreign-owned enterprise (limited liability company under the Company Law)
Foreign companies and founders running their own operations in China (consulting, tech, trading, services) in sectors outside the Negative List.
- Liability
- Limited to what you put in
- You need
- 1 foreign shareholder, 1 director (or a board) and a legal representative who is a director or manager; supervisor or audit committee rules vary by size
- Minimum capital
- None by law for most sectors; capital must be paid within 5 years of registration
- Time
- About 4–8 weeks to licence, chops and bank account; 2–3 months to be fully operating
Steps
Check your activity against the Negative List for foreign investment (2024 edition) and any pre-approval licences (for example education, telecoms, finance).
Choose a city or zone, reserve the company name with the local market regulator and secure a leased, genuine registered address.
Prepare the Articles of Association, appoint the legal representative and directors, and notarise and apostille the foreign shareholder's documents (China accepts apostilles from 7 Nov 2023).
Submit the registration through the local one-stop online platform with the foreign-investment information; the business licence usually follows within about 3–10 working days.
Have the company chops made (company, finance, invoice and legal-representative seals) and registered as required.
Open the basic RMB bank account (the legal representative usually attends in person), then complete tax registration, social-insurance and housing-fund registration.
Complete foreign-exchange registration through your bank, apply for customs registration if you import or export, and set up invoicing (fapiao).
Documents
- Parent company's certificate of incorporation, constitution and board resolution, notarised, apostilled and translated into Chinese
- Passports and CVs or ID of the legal representative, directors and supervisor
- Lease contract and property ownership certificate for the registered address
- Articles of Association signed by the shareholders
- Registration application forms and business-scope description
- Power of attorney for the agent, if one is used
Official fees
No SAMR fee for the business licence (unverified). Costs are chops (about RMB 500–1,500), notarisation, apostille and translation, bank fees and any agent fees.
Budget
| How | About | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Do it yourself | CN¥0≈ £1 | DIY: no registration fee; chops, document legalisation and translation are extra (about RMB 2,000) |
| With an accountant or agent | CN¥20,000≈ £2,200 | With a local agency handling name, licence, chops, bank and tax set-up (about RMB 12,000–30,000) |
| Full service | CN¥60,000≈ £6,600 | Law/accounting-firm package with address, bank, tax and first-year bookkeeping (about) |
Every year
- File the annual report through the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System by 30 June
- File VAT and corporate income tax returns on time (CIT 25%; 15% for qualifying high-tech); complete the annual CIT reconciliation by 31 May
- Obtain the annual audit that foreign-invested companies normally need and file the foreign-investment reports
- Pay social insurance and the housing fund monthly and renew staff work and residence permits
- Pay in the registered capital on the schedule in the Articles (no later than 5 years)
Check before you rely on it. Not confirmed with an official source: costs, timelines, annual audit practice, chop fees and the absence of a SAMR registration fee are market estimates or general knowledge; legal points (5-year capital rule, 2024 Negative List, apostille from 7 Nov 2023) come from China Briefing and government pages.
BRANCH OF A FOREIGN COMPANY
RO: Representative Office of a foreign enterprise
Market research, liaison and promotion before committing capital; it cannot sign contracts or invoice customers.
- Liability
- Unlimited: you are personally liable
- You need
- 1 existing foreign company and 1 chief representative
- Minimum capital
- None
- Time
- About 1–2 months
Steps
Prepare the parent's notarised and apostilled documents (certificate of incorporation, bank reference letter, legal-representative ID and appointment letter) with Chinese translations.
Lease an office and obtain the registered-address documents.
Apply to the local market regulator for registration of the representative office, including the chief representative's details.
Receive the registration certificate, then register the chops, tax, bank account and social insurance.
Apply for work permits and residence permits for any foreign staff.
Documents
- Parent company's certificate of incorporation and bank reference letter, notarised and apostilled
- Appointment letter and ID of the chief representative
- Office lease and address proof
- Registration application forms
Official fees
No SAMR registration fee reported; costs are chops, notarisation, translation, office lease and bank fees.
Budget
| How | About | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Do it yourself | CN¥0≈ £1 | DIY: no registration fee reported; legalisation and chops are extra (about RMB 2,000) |
| With an accountant or agent | CN¥15,000≈ £1,700 | With an agency handling registration, chops and bank (about RMB 10,000–20,000) |
| Full service | CN¥40,000≈ £4,400 | Agency package with address, tax set-up and first-year accounting (about) |
Every year
- File the annual report by 30 June
- Pay tax on a deemed-profit basis (the office cannot earn revenue) and file tax returns
- Pay social insurance for staff and renew permits
Check before you rely on it. Not confirmed with an official source: representative-office rules and costs are general knowledge or estimates.
SOLE TRADER
Individual business: Individual business (getihu, 个体工商户)
Chinese citizens running a small shop or service; not open to foreign nationals, who should use a WFOE.
- Liability
- Unlimited: you are personally liable
- You need
- 1 Chinese citizen aged 18+ (or a family)
- Minimum capital
- None
- Time
- 1–7 days
Steps
Confirm eligibility; foreign nationals generally cannot register this form.
Choose the business premises (some cities allow a home address) and the business scope.
Apply at the local market-regulator window or online platform with ID, premises proof and the business-scope description.
Receive the business licence, often within a few working days.
Register for tax with the local tax bureau, open a bank account and register for social insurance as needed.
Documents
- ID card of the owner
- Premises lease or home-address proof
- Business-scope description and application form
Official fees
No licence fee reported; local permits and agent fees vary.
Budget
| How | About | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Do it yourself | CN¥0≈ £1 | DIY: no licence fee reported (unverified) |
| With an accountant or agent | CN¥800≈ £89 | With a local agent handling the application (about RMB 500–1,500) |
| Full service | CN¥3,000≈ £330 | Agent handles licence, tax registration and first-year filings (about) |
Every year
- File the annual report by 30 June
- File VAT and individual income-tax returns (small-scale taxpayers have simplified rules)
- Renew any industry permits
Check before you rely on it. Not confirmed with an official source: eligibility, fees and timelines are general knowledge. Shown for completeness; not available to foreign founders.
After you register
- Tax registration with the State Taxation Administration, choice of VAT general or small-scale status, and fapiao (e-invoice) issuing
- Corporate bank accounts: basic RMB account plus capital and foreign-exchange accounts; the legal representative usually attends in person
- Social-insurance and housing-fund registration for staff; work permits and residence permits for foreign employees
- Foreign-investment information report and the annual report; report beneficial-owner information to the People's Bank of China system (rules effective 1 Nov 2024, unverified)
- Sector licences (for example ICP licence for websites, food business licence) and trade mark filings with CNIPA (first-to-file)
- Customs registration if importing or exporting, and foreign-exchange rules for profit repatriation
Sources
Checked against:
- samr.gov.cn/
- china-briefing.com/news/is-wfoe-still-the-right-corporate-structure-for-china-in-2026/
- en.tj.gov.cn/services/ForeignServiceChecklist/ForeignInvestmentEnterpriseRegistration/Foreign_Investment_Enterprise_Registration/Register_a_Business/202401/t20240118_6512455.html
- english.shanghai.gov.cn/en-FAQs-DoBusiness/20240806/fc363bfa339c4460b47030b4063e8fa7.html
- woodburnglobal.com/post/china-updated-its-company-registration-form-on-1-may-2026-here-s-what-s-new
Pound amounts use HMRC's exchange rates for 2026-10 and are a rough guide only.
Other countries in Asia-Pacific
This guide is general information to help you plan, not legal, tax or immigration advice. Fees, forms and rules change: check the official registry before you file, and take professional advice for anything complex. Agent and lawyer costs are typical market prices, not quotes.