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CHINA (PRC)
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FIE's approved Registered capital
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FIE's maximum approvable total investment
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FIE's resulting maximum debt limit
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$200,000 |
$285,714 |
$85,714 |
$2,100,000 |
$4,200,000 |
$2,100,000 |
$5,000,000 |
$12,500,000 |
$7,500,000 |
$12,000,000 |
$36,000,000 |
$24,000,000 |
The above limits' applications to foreign guaranties, short-term debts, and medium to long term debts were all changed or clarified from 2003 through 2005.
Implementation was initially uneven, but enforcement is continuing to strengthen. Foreign guaranties securing domestic debts do not count against an FIE's foreign debt limit until the domestic debt is actually paid off under the foreign guarantee (although several early-2005 government documents set out a different approach, they were subsequently cancelled). An FIE's current "balance" of short term (one year or less) foreign debts is counted against the foreign debt limit. Also counted is the "cumulative" amount of medium to long term foreign debts. The effect of this "cumulative" approach is to permanently reduce the FIE's foreign debt limit by the amount of any medium to long term foreign debt principal repayments. To avoid this reduction, the simplest approach is to set a term of one year or less for all foreign debts. Upon expiry of this term, repayment can normally be omitted in favor of renewal or other disposition.
FIE SHAREHOLDER RELATIONS & EXIT
Investors' relations among themselves and exit from an FIE are subject to various constraints, costs and risks. Transfer of FIE equity requires government approval – raising questions about the enforceability of buyout agreements among investors.
Allocation of FIE voting power, dividend distribution and capital return must normally correspond to the value of each investor's capital contribution. Liquidation of an FIE is subject to relatively nontransparent procedures, which do not ensure that foreign investors will recoup a proportionate share of the full value of the FIE’s business.
HONG KONG PRESENCE IN SUPPORT OF PRC OPERATIONS
The longstanding attraction of a Hong Kong presence, even before the recent preferential tax arrangement was announced, is that such a presence can assist to address the above PRC structuring constraints, costs and risks. The forms available for a Hong Kong presence are introduced below.
HONG KONG BRANCH OR REPRESENTATIVE OFFICE
Within 30 days of establishing a place of business in Hong Kong, a foreign company, like a Hong Kong company or an individual, must register its presence with the Hong Kong tax authorities. A presence may be considered a branch office, with liability for tax on Hong Kong-source profits. If Hong Kong-based personnel will handle only communications, purchasing, and/or limited administration and management of non-Hong Kong activities, then the company's Hong Kong presence will be considered a RO, which has no Hong Kong tax liability. Neither a branch nor a RO are separate entities from its parent, and neither of them will limit the liability of its parent. To limit the parent’s liability, it is necessary to establish a Hong Kong company.
HONG KONG’S NARROW TAX NET
AUDITS AND FILINGS
A company conducting business in Hong Kong, whether through a RO or a branch or as a Hong Kong company, is liable for tax at a flat rate set in recent years at 17.5%, which applies only to profits from the carrying on of a business in Hong Kong, and in general does not apply to interest, dividends, or capital gains. A Hong Kong company, like a PRC FIE, must appoint a locally-qualified accounting firm to audit its annual accounts. Unlike a PRC FIE, a Hong Kong company must appoint a secretary with responsibility for maintaining the company’s records and making government filings.
HONG KONG EMPLOYMENT
Employment issues are simpler in Hong Kong than in the PRC. Employers are not normally responsible to withhold employees' taxes. Employment contracts can be negotiated freely, although certain rights relating to maternity, disability and severance cannot be waived, and the enforceability of noncompetition covenants is subject to scrutiny under common law principles. Hong Kong’s mandatory provident fund pension system, which requires employers to establish accounts and make contributions, is less complex than the PRC social welfare system. Salaries are higher in Hong Kong, reflecting its higher cost of living and its separation from the vast PRC labor market, although that difference is narrowing.
FLEXIBILITY OF HONG KONG COMPANIES
A Hong Kong company (or other offshore-incorporated company resident in Hong Kong) permits great flexibility in structuring relations among investors, employees and lenders, including issuing different classes of shares, bonds, warrants (options) and other rights to convert one type of equity or debt to another. As is the case with a PRC FIE, a Hong Kong company may not freely reduce its share capital, but recent changes have made this substantially easier for a private Hong Kong company. This issue is less important in Hong Kong because a Hong Kong company’s share capital may initially be set as low as desired and its funding may be arranged almost entirely in the form of shareholder loans and/or other debt.
Exit from a Hong Kong company is largely unregulated and negotiable between shareholders. Transfer of shares in a private Hong Kong company, as in a PRC FIE, is subject to the consent, and typically also to pre-emption rights, of other shareholders.
But no government approval is required, and all shareholders can enter into enforceable agreements to implement transfers upon satisfaction of pre-agreed conditions. Public offering, listing, and trading of shares are subject to much fewer conditions than in the PRC.
CEPA PRIVILEGES FOR HK COMPANIES
Under the China-Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Agreement (“CEPA”), which was originally signed in 2003, expanded in 2004, and broadened again in 2005 and 2006, "Hong Kong service suppliers" (defined more strictly than the tax arrangement defines "Hong Kong residents") continue to enjoy a variety of PRC market access privileges. Preferences include import duty, reduced geographical, financial and ownership restrictions, lower entry thresholds for smaller players, more opportunities for Hong Kong service professionals, and a right for individual Hong Kong permanent residents to set up individually owned retail stores in Guangdong Province.
CONCLUSION
PRC business regulations are changing, mainly in the direction of deregulation, but they continue to be complex and to limit the flexibility of companies’ financial structuring and tax planning. Hong Kong continues to provide potential solutions, and its attractiveness has been further increased by recent cross-border tax preferences. Foreign companies should expect more changes in both jurisdictions, creating occasional new risks along with new opportunities.
KEY COMPARISONS
CHINA TAX TREATIES AND
HONG KONG TAX ARRANGEMENT
Notes
1. The withholding tax rate is 10% but, for royalties paid for the rental of industrial, commercial, or scientific equipment, the rate is applied to only 70% of the royalties paid. Thus an effective rate will be 7% for such royalties.
2. The withholding tax rate is 10% but, for royalties paid for the use of, or the right to use, industrial, commercial, or scientific equipment, the rate is applied to only 60% of the royalties paid. Thus an effective rate will be 6% for such royalties.
3. 10% if less than 25% of the dividend-paying China Company is owned by the recipient.
4. Except for the sale of shares in a China company that holds assets substantially consisting of real estate.
5. Except for the sale of shares in a China company that holds assets substantially consisting of real estate. Also, China and Mauritius signed income tax treaty protocol on September 5, 2006 to also exclude from this zero rate the sale of shares in a China company owned 25 percent or more by the seller.
6. A protocol similar to that between China and Mauritius may eventually restrict the scope of this zero rate.
7. Except that a zero rate would apply if (a) less than 25% of the China company in which shares are sold is owned by the seller, and (b) the China company does not hold assets substantially consisting of real estate.
HONG KONG OBTAINS PREFERENTIAL STATUS WITH CHINA
IN NEW FREE TRADE AGREEMENT
Ever since the United Kingdom returned sovereignty over Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China (PRC) on July 1, 1997, Hong Kong has been seeking to redefine itself. Over the previous 30 years, it had benefited first from a strong manufacturing base (long since migrated over the border to China); then from its excellence as a center for finance, shipping and freight (for which it is still well known); and more recently as a center for management and knowledge-based services.
However, the territory has a reputation as a costly place to do business, and it faces significant regional competition (primarily from neighboring Shenzhen, across the border with China, and Shanghai but also from Singapore, Taiwan, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.)
The recent economic problems caused by SARS, which hit Hong Kong when it was showing only weak signs of recovery from a long period of economic malaise, would seem to have dealt a body-blow to the region's prospects.
However, Hong Kong received a shot in the arm with the signing on June 29, 2003, of its Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement ("CEPA") with the PRC. This is the first free trade agreement to be signed by either the PRC or Hong Kong under World Trade Organization (WTO) procedures.
WHAT ADVANTAGES DOES CEPA BRING TO HONG KONG’S SERVICE SECTOR? CEPA
Provides for liberalization of Hong Kong's access to PRC markets across 17 sectors, starting January 1, 2004
Grants advantages to Hong Kong enterprises that differ between the 17 sectors but that respond to very real barriers to entry complained about by lobbyists for the sectors. The advantages consist of a combination of the following:
Faster access to the PRC market than allowed by the PRC's main WTO Agreements
Additional services opened up, beyond the PRC's WTO commitments
Exemption from foreign investment restrictions
Reduced entry requirements
Greater parity of treatment for Hong Kong professionals alongside their PRC counterparts
No anti-dumping measures to be used by either side against the other
Clearly, many domestic Hong Kong enterprises stand to benefit from CEPA. Although companies in Hong Kong already are adept at pursuing trading opportunities in and with the PRC, the earlier dates for greater market access will help them capitalize further on their first mover advantage. For industries where CEPA liberalization will be greater than PRC's WTO commitments ever will be, Hong Kong's market players will be better-placed than anyone outside the PRC to sell their products and expertise into the PRC.
However, Hong Kong's biggest benefit from CEPA may have little to do with its effect on pre-existing Hong Kong enterprises, as explained below.
ADVANTAGES FOR THOSE SELLING GOODS INTO CHINA
Zero import tariffs will apply from January 1, 2004, to 273 categories of products "Made in Hong Kong" and exported into the PRC. This will replace existing tariffs that can be as high as 35 percent.
Light industries that were not economically viable in past years if established in Hong Kong may find that their business case re-written by CEPA, allowing them to resume operations in Hong Kong. In addition, once established in Hong Kong, they will benefit from better protection of intellectual property rights and the branding advantage associated with "Made in Hong Kong."
ADVANTAGES TO COMPANIES OUTSIDE HONG KONG
Hong Kong historically has played the role of êntrepot, providing trade routes into the once-closed China market. That role in recent years has been at best diluted and at worst significantly marginalized by the PRC's emergence as a more open trading nation and by the services offered by PRC's cost effective "windows" to the world along its eastern seaboard. Until CEPA, it seemed that Hong Kong was destined to play on a level playing field and that Hong Kong necessarily would participate in a much smaller proportion of China trade, with the only consolation being the greater overall amount of China trade being conducted.
CEPA, though, reinserts Hong Kong into the China trade equation for a high proportion of overseas investors. This is because CEPA adopts a particularly liberal definition of "Hong Kong Company." This is no accident or mistake. Henry Tang, Hong Kong's Financial Secretary, has stressed that questions of ownership, shareholder structure, ethnicity or nationality are of no relevance to qualification as a "Hong Kong company." So, overseas investors can avoid compliance with WTO timetables and entry barriers if they can qualify as a "Hong Kong company." At the same time, they may pay Hong Kong profits tax at the straightforward rate of 17.5 percent rather than the much higher, and more complex, rates charged in the PRC.
Subject to eventual wording of CEPA terms, there is excitement that goods finished in Hong Kong may attract "Made in Hong Kong" status, which will allow taxation at the low Hong Kong rates rather than PRC rates, and, with CEPA, avoid PRC tariffs upon export into the PRC. This could make Hong Kong a staging post for re-imports of semi-completed products originating in the PRC. These possibilities have ensured that Chinese, especially from the neighboring Pearl River Delta, are as enthusiastic about CEPA as are Hong Kong business people.
OVERSEAS BUSINESSES THAT COULD BENEFIT FROM
STRUCTURING CHINA TRADE OR INVESTMENT
THROUGH A HONG KONG COMPANY
Construction and Related Engineering Services
Hong Kong-invested construction and related engineering services will have the following competitive advantages when doing business in the PRC compared with other overseas companies:
Under the new PRC Foreign Investor Construction Enterprises scheme (Ministry of Construction Decrees 113 and 114), foreign-invested construction enterprises must obtain a Construction Skills Qualification Certificate ("SQC"). SQC’s are granted based on the contractor's track record of projects undertaken in the PRC. CEPA will make it easier for Hong Kong construction companies to obtain SQC’s compared with other foreign companies because PRC authorities now will take into account Hong Kong company projects in Hong Kong when considering SQC’s. For overseas companies, only PRC experience will be considered. (However, requirements in Decrees 113 and 114 regarding the minimum number of managerial and technical staff that a construction enterprise must have in the PRC have not been relaxed for Hong Kong companies.)
Under Decree 113, there are restrictions on the types of projects that a wholly foreign owned construction enterprise can undertake. For example, it can bid only on projects for which 50 percent or more of the project funding is from foreign sources. These restrictions are lifted for wholly Hong Kong-invested construction companies. Hong Kong construction companies will be able to undertake all Chinese-foreign joint construction projects.
CEPA permits Hong Kong-invested enterprises that have obtained construction quality certification to bid for construction projects in all parts of the PRC. However, it is not entirely clear whether this will be of significant practical value. Current indications are that when actually undertaking construction projects, Hong Kong-invested enterprises still will be subject to the same qualification and licensing requirements as other overseas companies.
CEPA also has re-confirmed that:
Hong Kong consultancy firms are permitted to set up wholly-owned enterprises in the PRC. The Ministry of Construction has indicated that this generally is limited to consultancy firms primarily involved in design work.
Hong Kong-invested construction enterprises may partner with PRC construction enterprises to jointly bid for PRC construction projects that are technically difficult for PRC construction enterprises to undertake on their own.
Hong Kong companies are permitted to wholly acquire construction enterprises in the PRC.
Real Estate
Through wholly-owned operations, Hong Kong companies are permitted to engage in activities relating to self-owned or leased properties for high-standard real estate projects. Through wholly-owned operations, Hong Kong companies are permitted to provide real estate services on a fee or contract basis in the PRC.
Retail
Hong Kong retailers are permitted to establish wholly-owned retail commercial enterprises in the PRC. The entry requirements are reduced as follows:
|
WTO Level |
CEPA Level |
Minimum average annual sales value (previous 3 years) |
US$2 billion |
US$100 million |
Minimum assets in Year 1 |
US$200 million |
US$10 million |
Minimum registered capital |
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|
General |
RMB50 million |
RMB10 million |
Central and Western Region of PRC |
RMB30 million |
RMB6 million |
It would seem to be possible for an overseas retail company to open outlets in Chinese cities under the name of its Hong Kong subsidiary. Hong Kong enterprises are permitted to engage in franchising on a wholly-owned basis in the PRC.
Distribution
Hong Kong enterprises are permitted to supply distribution services in the PRC on a wholly-owned basis and to set up wholly-owned external trading companies one year ahead of China's WTO timetable. Entry requirements for Hong Kong enterprises wishing to set up a wholesale commercial enterprise are reduced as follows:
|
WTO Level |
CEPA Level |
Minimum average annual sales value (previous 3 years) |
US$2.5 billion |
US$30 million |
Minimum assets in Year 1 |
US$300 million |
US$10 million |
Minimum registered capital |
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General |
RMB80 million |
RMB50 million |
Central and Western Region of PRC |
RMB60 million |
RMB30 million |
Logistics
Hong Kong companies are permitted to set up wholly-owned enterprises the PRC to provide logistics services and related consultancy services for ordinary road freight and to engage in management and operation of logistics services through electronic means.
Other Favored Sectors
CEPA provides benefits to the following other business and service sectors:
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What Should Be Done Now?
Foreign companies investing in, manufacturing in, exporting from or selling services into the PRC should re-evaluate their current arrangements and strategy now.
Hong Kong and the PRC are working hard to deliver fully worded CEPA rules in time for the liberalization on January 1, 2004. While much will depend on the words used (their clarity and whether there is any dilution of either side's commitments), this is not a time to wait and see.
Given that much of the advantage offered by CEPA is by way of abridgement of the WTO timetable, the Hong Kong government is encouraging Hong Kong enterprises to galvanize themselves into action to maximize the benefits offered. This applies equally to overseas investors that find advantage under CEPA.
To the extent that CEPA provides considerable reduction in capital and turnover requirements, CEPA may have the effect (for both Hong Kong and overseas investors) of providing a route into the PRC that would not otherwise exist.
Overseas enterprises without an existing presence in Hong Kong may believe requirements for a track record of substantive operations in Hong Kong for three years negates the abridgement of the WTO timetable offered by CEPA. Such organizations might benefit from acquiring a suitable Hong Kong enterprise that meets the criteria of a "Hong Kong company." There are likely to be synergies between "Hong Kong companies" and overseas investors with the capital and expertise to make a success of a CEPA enterprise.

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