CHINA (PRC)

SETTING UP A BUSINESS IN CHINA

INTRODUCTION TO DOING BUSINESS IN CHINA

CHINA BUSINESS SERVICES OVERVIEW
Our Firm offers cost-effective China Business Services and China market entry solutions and expertise to companies and entrepreneurs wishing to take advantage of the attractive quality-to-cost ratio of Chinese manufacturing operations or seeking to access China's growing market for imported goods and services.

The transformation of China's centrally planned economy into a market-oriented economy has created a business and market environment in China where business regulations are subject to change, business goal posts are constantly being moved and bureaucracy is overbearing. Thus, doing business in China and China market entry are often challenging experiences and coming to terms with Chinese legislation, regulation, taxation and, most importantly, the Chinese way of doing business can be both expensive and time-consuming.

Our Firm's strength lies in its understanding of and ability to deal with these China business and market entry challenges. Our extensive network of relationships in China, developed over fifteen years of doing business in China, ensures that our clients receive full support in their business activities, be they in China trade, services or investment.

Our connections in China are excellent. Our local presence in China, the Hong Kong SAR and our international outlook make us sensitive to cultural and business differences and enable us to bridge the cultural and business gaps that can so easily hinder business success in China and facilitate our ability to deliver both China business services and China market entry solutions.

HONG KONG AND CHINA BUSINESS SERVICES
We offer a portfolio of China business services and China market entry solutions covering every aspect of these processes. Our expertise encompasses a wide-portfolio of services and advice relating to China market entry, typically leading to the establishment of a:

A Hong Kong or a low or zero tax company, possibly "offshore".
A Representative Office in China
A Wholly Foreign-Owned Enterprise ("WFOE") in China
A Joint Venture in China

Additionally, we offer:
Professional corporate administration services
We have the capacity to deliver a turn-key back office function for an operation in Hong Kong or China. These business services encompasses communication services, accounting and handling a broad range of commercial work including documentary credit services and managing an import or export operation.

Whilst our China Business Services and China market entry solutions are broad, many of our clients utilize our services selectively, and this approach is welcomed.

Our clients are diverse. They include major US Corporations, international companies and both owner managed business and entrepreneurs. We have particular expertise in assisting Clients looking to set up business in China relating to hi-tech industries.

ABOUT CHINA
China is the world's fourth-largest country (after Russia, Canada, and US). It has a population of about 1.3 billion and an estimated population growth of 0.87%. Its GDP, based on purchasing power parity, equates to US$ 6 trillion, making it the second largest economy in the world.

In late 1978 the Chinese leadership began moving the economy from a sluggish Soviet-style centrally planned economy to a more market-oriented system. Whereas the system operates within a political framework of strict Communist control, the economic influence of non-state organizations and individual citizens has been steadily increasing. The authorities have switched to a system of household and village responsibility in agriculture in place of the old collectivization increased the authority of local officials and plant managers in industry, permitted a wide variety of small-scale enterprise in services and light manufacturing, and opened the economy to increased foreign trade and investment.

The result has been a quadrupling of GDP since 1978.

Agriculture and industry have posted major gains, especially in coastal areas near Hong Kong and opposite Taiwan, where foreign investment has helped spur output of both domestic and export goods.

Access to the WTO strengthens China's ability to maintain sturdy growth rates, and at the same time puts additional pressure on the hybrid system of strong political controls and growing market influences. Although Beijing has claimed 7%-8% annual growth in recent years, many observers believe the rate, while strong, is more like 5%. However, China faces a set of substantial domestic economic policy challenges - banks, social welfare and agriculture - that will require considerable further effort on the part of the Chinese authorities to ensure continued economic success over the medium term.

China is the largest recipient of foreign direct investment ("FDI") among developing countries and looks set to overtake the US as the largest recipient in the world. The top investors, in decreasing order of investment, are Hong Kong, USA, BVI, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Republic of Korea, UK, Germany, France, Holland, Cayman Islands, Macao, Australia, and Canada.

Many foreign firms have been attracted to China by the potentially huge domestic market, despite widespread poverty and unemployment. Other investors have specifically entered China in order to produce goods for export.

These firms view China as part of their global production strategies, and seek to take advantage of China's undoubted low labor costs. By 2001, foreign invested enterprises accounted for half of China's exports.

So, if you are an executive tasked with investigating your company's China market entry or are otherwise interested in our Hong Kong and China business services, you should contact us.