Procedures for Establishment of Resident Representative Offices by Foreign Companies

Step 1: Applicant appoints an agent, which generally is a law firm specialised in providing services to foreign companies.

Step 2: Agent submits on applicant’s behalf all the required documents to provincial foreign trade and economic cooperation department for examination and approval. (Note: this step is only neccessary for some special industries.)

Step 3: Upon approval granted, applicant should proceed promptly to the provincial or municipal administration for industry and commerce for registration.

Step 4: Other formalities to be handled by the resident representative:
  Complete residence application procedures with local public security bureau by presenting registration certificate, representative certificate and approval certificate;
  Apply for opening bank account by presenting registration certificate and approval certificate to local foreign exchange administration;
  Apply to Customs for permission to import office equipment, daily necessities and transport vehicles for use by the representative office and its personnel;
  Complete tax payment registration procedure at local tax office;
  Appoint local foreign service company to recruit local staff.