Can we work with you entirely from Europe or North America?

Most engagements never need you in China at all. This page sets out what runs remotely, how the time difference works, which steps need a physical original, and when someone has to be in the room.

What runs remotely?

• The enquiry and the scoping. By email, the contact form, WhatsApp or WeCom (what WeCom is). We reply usually within one business day, and a paid 45-minute consult can be booked online if you would rather talk it through.
• The proposal and the agreement. A written proposal setting out the scope, the deliverable, the timing and the fixed fee, together with our services agreement. Work starts once it is signed.
• Advice and contract review. A commercial advice letter and a contract review are written work, delivered in writing.
• Interpreting and negotiation support. Both run in person or by video, for meetings you have arranged with a Chinese counterpart.
• Company registration, mostly. National law allows the whole filing online. What it does not waive is real-name verification, and an ordinary foreign passport cannot enrol in it: registering without visiting sets out the exception.

How do the time zones work?

Our hours are Monday to Friday, 09:00–18:00 China time (UTC+8). China does not change its clocks, so the overlap moves when yours do. In Central European Time our working day runs 02:00–11:00 in winter and 03:00–12:00 in summer, so a European morning falls inside it. In US Eastern Time it runs 20:00–05:00 in winter and 21:00–06:00 in summer, starting the evening before: a North American evening reaches our morning, and our Monday begins on your Sunday evening.

Which steps need a physical original?

Documents a Chinese registry, bank or court must accept from abroad. They are usually notarised and apostilled in the country that issued them, and the original then travels to China by courier. China has been party to the Apostille Convention since 7 November 2023, so for documents from most other contracting states the apostille replaces consular legalisation.^⁠[1] The order of steps, and the exceptions, are in the apostille guide.

When does someone need to be in the room?

When the work is a meeting or a trade fair in China and it needs someone physically there. We attend meetings you have arranged, and exhibitions you are showing at or visiting, in person; travel is charged at cost, as the pricing page sets out. Whether you travel yourself is your decision: exhibition representation covers the event you cannot attend.

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