Set up a 100% foreign-owned company in China with coordinated support across entity structuring, AMR filing, business licence application, registered address, bank account opening, tax registration, fapiao setup and first-year compliance. Read: WFOE vs JV vs Representative Office →
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Foreigners can open a company in China by registering a foreign-invested enterprise. For most foreign investors, the most practical structure is a WFOE, or Wholly Foreign-Owned Enterprise, because it allows 100% foreign ownership in permitted industries without a local Chinese partner.
A WFOE is a limited liability company fully owned by overseas shareholders. Once registered, it can sign contracts, issue fapiao, hire employees, open corporate bank accounts and operate under its own China business licence.
The setup process usually includes confirming your business activity, shareholder structure, target city, registered address, business scope and registered capital plan before filing with the local Administration for Market Regulation. For a standard consulting or service WFOE, core business licence registration can often be completed in around 15–20 working days after documents are ready.
Still deciding whether a wholly foreign-owned company is the right structure for your business? Compare your China market-entry options before choosing a registration route.
Unlike representative offices (limited to market research) or joint ventures (requiring profit-sharing with a Chinese partner), a Wholly Foreign-Owned Enterprise gives you complete operational freedom — and a defensible long-term presence in the Chinese market.
Full ownership of profits, intellectual property, and operational decisions. No mandatory Chinese partner. No profit-sharing arrangements.
Use your China company to sign contracts, receive RMB payments, issue official VAT invoices, work with Chinese customers and build a local commercial presence.
A registered WFOE can hire local employees and may also act as the sponsoring employer for eligible foreign founders, executives or staff applying for a China work permit and residence permit.
According to the main business activities your company will pursue, your WFOE will be classified into one of three categories. Each carries different licensing requirements, timelines, and registered-capital expectations.
Ideal for service providers — management consulting, market research, IT services, marketing, professional services. The lightest setup. No special permits or environmental review.
For companies engaged in purchase, sale, distribution, import or export of goods. Requires a customs registration on top of the business license to clear goods through PRC customs.
Approved to manufacture, process, and sell products. Requires industrial-zoned lease, environmental impact assessment, and industry permits. The 2024 national list removed the remaining manufacturing-sector foreign-investment access restrictions, but other market-access, licensing, environmental and land-use rules still apply.
Registering a WFOE is not only about receiving a business licence. To operate in China, your company also needs the right business scope, company chops, bank account, tax registration, fapiao setup and ongoing compliance process.
Once the licence is issued, tax registration and fapiao setup need to fit how the entity will actually invoice, pay and hold cash. Review the China tax operating model →
Asomerit coordinates these steps so your WFOE is ready for contracts, payments, invoicing, hiring and first-year operation.
Most WFOE applications need shareholder documents, a compliant authentication route, a proposed Chinese name and business scope, a registered-capital plan, locally acceptable address evidence, role appointments and post-licence setup decisions. Exact materials vary by investor type, city and regulated activity; use the WFOE setup checklist before filing.
| Requirement | What to prepare |
|---|---|
| Shareholder documents | Certificate of incorporation for a corporate shareholder or passport for an individual shareholder. Documents from an Apostille Convention jurisdiction normally use an apostille; non-Convention documents may require consular legalisation. Hong Kong and Macao documents follow the applicable attestation route. Confirm the local AMR format before ordering authentication. |
| Chinese company name | Four-part structure: City of registration + Trade name + Industry / activity + Company form. Submit three to five candidates in priority order to the local AMR for pre-approval. |
| Business scope | Standardised AMR wording aligned with the activities your WFOE will actually conduct. Overly broad scopes cause downstream issues with the tax bureau. |
| Registered capital | Subscribed amount plus a five-year contribution schedule. Under the 2024 PRC Company Law, the full amount must be paid in within five years of establishment. |
| Registered address | A lawful, documentable address accepted for the proposed activity. A genuine operating office is the safest route. Some local authorities or parks permit compliant centralised-registration, business-secretary or serviced-office arrangements, but suitability depends on city, district, business scope, licences, tax, bank, customs and work-permit requirements. |
| Company roles | Legal representative (one person), executive director or board, supervisor (cannot be the legal representative or an employee), general manager, and finance contact. |
| Post-registration setup | Five company chops carved (company, finance, legal rep, contract, invoice), RMB basic and foreign-currency capital accounts, tax registration, social insurance account, and a first-year compliance calendar. |
A WFOE first becomes a legal company through the AMR registration and business-licence process. Chops, bank onboarding, tax activation, fapiao setup, customs, employment, work permits and special licences are separate post-registration steps; the business licence alone does not make every company operational.
Material gathering and document review. We guide you on registered capital sizing, business scope, and Chinese name selection.
Submit documents to the Administration for Market Regulation. Business licence issued. Company seals engraved.
Open RMB basic and foreign-currency capital accounts via our pre-built relationships with major Chinese banks.
Complete tax registration with the local tax bureau within 30 days of incorporation. VAT taxpayer status set.
Your WFOE is ready to issue invoices, hire staff, and conduct business. Asomerit transitions to ongoing compliance support.
Want to understand the full process before getting started?
Read the complete WFOE registration guide →Decisions made before submission cost far more to undo than to get right at the start. These three deserve careful thought — and our advice — before the AMR application goes in.
China has abolished the nationwide minimum, but for limited-liability companies established on or after 1 July 2024, Article 47 generally requires subscribed capital to be contributed within five years unless another rule applies. Pre-existing companies follow separate transition rules, so the incorporation date and articles must be checked before setting a schedule.
Model your WFOE capital plan →A real physical office is the safest long-term option. Some locations permit other compliant address arrangements, but eligibility depends on the city, district, business scope, licensing, tax, bank, customs and work-permit plan.
Review WFOE address requirements →Some industries require licences in addition to the business licence: import/export, food operation, HR services. Asomerit handles licence applications alongside WFOE formation.
See WFOE cost breakdown →Registered capital records the amount that shareholders have subscribed to contribute to the company. “Subscribed” describes the commitment recorded for the shareholders; “paid-in” capital is the portion that has actually been contributed. Treating the two as interchangeable can hide a future funding obligation when the company is being set up.
For a limited-liability company, the 2023-revised PRC Company Law provides that shareholders must fully pay their subscribed contributions within five years from the company’s establishment, in accordance with its articles of association. The contribution schedule is therefore part of the setup decision, not merely a registration field. It should reflect a funding commitment the shareholders can support over the stated period while the company builds its operating model.
Existing companies have a separate transition rule. Where a limited-liability company was registered before 30 June 2024 and its remaining contribution period would exceed five years from 1 July 2027, the period must be adjusted by 30 June 2027 so that it falls within five years, with the revised schedule recorded in the articles of association. The June 2027 date is an adjustment deadline for affected companies, not a universal deadline for every company to have paid all registered capital.
The scheduled date is not an absolute shield against earlier payment. If the company cannot pay debts that have fallen due, the company or a creditor may require a shareholder to make a subscribed contribution before its original due date. This is why the capital schedule should be assessed together with expected funding needs, shareholder capacity and creditor exposure. The rules do not produce one suitable registered-capital amount for every business, industry or location.
Core legal establishment may often take about 15–20 working days after complete documents and acceptable address materials are ready, but becoming operational takes longer. Treat the ranges below as planning ranges rather than guarantees: city review, investor documents, scope, address, bank KYC and licences can materially change them.
| Stage | Planning range | Common delay factors |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-registration preparation | 1–4+ weeks | Investor structure, apostille or legalisation, business scope, registered capital and address evidence. |
| Company legal establishment | About 15–20 working days after an accepted file | Local AMR review, name issues, regulated activities and district-specific checks. |
| Chops, tax and fapiao setup | About 1–2 weeks | Local appointments, taxpayer configuration and invoice requirements. |
| Corporate bank onboarding | About 1–4+ weeks | Bank KYC, beneficial-owner review, legal-representative availability and operating model. |
| Optional customs, licences or work-permit route | About 2–8+ weeks | Premises, inspection, customs registration, sector permits and immigration eligibility. |
Setup requirements differ by city and district. Explore our regional guides for local address evidence, filing practice, industry clusters and conditional incentive programmes; eligibility, tax treatment and customs procedures must be verified for the specific project.
Three packages calibrated to where you are in your China entry: just getting set up, building first-year compliance, or bringing your team in with full visa support.
For founders who need company registration and coordinated post-licence setup.
For companies that want registration to continue into the first compliance year.
For an eligible founder or employee who needs first-year compliance plus work-permit and residence-permit support.
Registered capital, rent or office costs, government and third-party charges, translations or authentication, special licences and unusual business-scope work are not assumed to be included. Registered-address assessment is included; address service, where suitable and available, is quoted separately.
Packages above cover the essentials. Customise your specific city, employees, visa, and compliance to get the full first-year range — calibrated to 12 Chinese cities and current 2026 rates.
A bilingual reference covering shareholder documents, China-side setup information, the 8-step registration process, and typical working-day timelines. Updated for the 2024 Company Law and 2023 Apostille Convention.
Recent 5-star Trustpilot reviews from WFOE setup, representative office, work visa, and China compliance clients.
Whether you're scoping costs, scoring eligibility, or planning the year's compliance calendar — we built these so you can make better decisions before you commit.
3-year setup and operating costs by city.
Estimate your WFOE setup cost →Score against the A/B/C work-permit points framework.
Score your work permit →Bilingual 42-item registration checklist.
Download the checklist →Statutory holidays + filing deadlines.
Download the calendar →A real physical office with lawful-use evidence is the safest and most durable option. Some cities, districts and development zones permit compliant centralised-registration, business-secretary or serviced-office arrangements, but these are local exceptions—not a nationwide promise—and must fit the company’s activity and downstream requirements.
Trading and import/export companies, licensed businesses, premises subject to inspection, work-permit sponsors and cases involving customs or strict bank KYC should normally plan around genuine operating premises unless the relevant authorities and service providers confirm another route.
Read the registered address guide →Tell us your business activity, shareholder structure, preferred city, address status and visa needs.
Asomerit checks the proposed structure, address route, licensing, registration and first-year compliance requirements.
You receive a recommended setup plan, included work, material variables and a quotation for the appropriate package.
Last reviewed: 22 September 2026. Local filing practice still needs confirmation for the chosen city, district, activity and investor-document route.
You have questions, and Asomerit has answers. If we don't cover all your confusions, just let us know.
Core legal establishment for a standard WFOE often takes about 15 to 20 working days after a complete file and acceptable address materials are accepted. Bank onboarding, tax activation, employment registrations and any special licences are separate stages and can add 2 to 6 weeks or more depending on the city, bank, business scope and investor documents.
WFOE registration costs in China fall into seven cost categories:
Asomerit packages start from USD 2,200+ for Starter Registration, USD 3,400+ for First-year Compliance and USD 4,500+ for Compliance + Visa. Estimate your WFOE setup cost for a tailored range.
A WFOE application requires the following documents:
Foreign ownership eligibility depends on the national Foreign Investment Negative List and all applicable sector, licensing and general market-access rules. The 2024 list removed the remaining national manufacturing-sector foreign-investment access restrictions, but this does not remove environmental, land-use, product, security-review or other licensing requirements. To check the comprehensive market access requirements, you can review the Foreign Investment Negative List issued by the National Development and Reform Commission of the PRC.
For a limited-liability company established on or after 1 July 2024, Article 47 of the 2023-revised PRC Company Law generally requires subscribed capital to be paid within five years from establishment, unless another rule applies. Companies established before that date follow separate transition rules and may need to adjust an excessive remaining contribution period by 30 June 2027; that date is not a universal full-payment deadline. The contribution plan should be reviewed against the company’s incorporation date and articles.
You need to open a dedicated Foreign Exchange Capital Account at a bank after the successful establishment of the WFOE to receive the registered capital. Remit the registered capital from your overseas personal account into this Foreign Exchange Capital Account and complete the conversion to RMB. The funds can then be transferred into the WFOE's basic deposit account for normal business expenditures.
Yes. Once the WFOE has its business licence and tax registration, it can hire Chinese and foreign employees directly. Hiring requires the WFOE to set up social insurance and housing fund accounts, register for individual income tax (IIT) withholding, and execute compliant PRC employment contracts. For foreign hires, the WFOE also acts as the sponsoring employer under the foreign work permit system for Work Permit Notice and Z Visa applications. Read: WFOE vs EOR — which structure fits your hiring plan? →
Yes. From the date the business licence is issued, the WFOE must complete:
Bookkeeping must follow PRC GAAP and be completed in RMB. Set up bookkeeping and tax filing with our accounting team.
A genuine operating office is the safest long-term choice. Some cities, districts or parks allow compliant centralised-registration, business-secretary or serviced-office arrangements, but availability and suitability depend on the city, district, business scope, licences, tax, bank, customs, onsite-verification and work-permit requirements. Asomerit can assess third-party options but does not promise that an address service is available for every WFOE.
A WFOE may sponsor an eligible foreign employee, including a qualifying legal representative or senior manager, for a Foreigner's Work Permit and the related Z-visa/residence-permit process. Eligibility is assessed under current national and local work-permit rules; incorporation alone does not guarantee approval. Read our complete guide to sponsoring a China work visa through a WFOE →
A WFOE cannot simply stop filing — it has to go through a formal company deregistration process covering tax clearance, liquidation filing, AMR cancellation, bank account closure and licence deregistration. The full cycle typically takes 6 to 12 months depending on the city, tax history and any open customs, social-insurance or licence records. Planning a clean exit at the right time avoids legal representative restrictions, blacklisting and lingering tax exposure for the foreign parent.
Don't let administrative complexity slow you down. Leverage Asomerit Consulting's expertise for a fully-guided, compliant, and hassle-free expansion into China.
