International Law

Establishing FICEs in China: Registration procedures explained

By Andy Scott

Feb. 5 - Since June 2004 China has permitted foreign direct investors to establish fully operational, 100 percent foreign owned retail and trading companies that can buy and sell in China, holding their own import-export licenses. In this article, we will look at the pre-registration stage of the application process.

Applications are made at a provincial or municipal level (e.g. Guangdong province, Shanghai municipality, Beijing municipality, etc), albeit with input from local offices of state-level authorities. In addition, the five Special Economic Zones in South China have independent approval authority over this issue.

Pre-registration
Name registration
The relevant authority is the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC). This bureau administers the registration of all kinds of enterprises (including FIEs), organizations or individuals that are engaged in business activities; examines and ratifies the registration of business names; and reviews, approves and issues business licenses. Verification of feasibility of the proposed name by SAIC will take a few working days.

Only the Chinese name will be legally binding ? the English name is not legally relevant for Chinese authorities. The word ?China? cannot be freely included in the Chinese name. The name can be translated by meaning and/or phonetically. (more…)

Full post as published by China Briefing Blog on February 04, 2008 (boomark / email).