What types of company can a foreign investor register in China?

Chinese law recognises several forms. A wholly foreign-owned enterprise (WFOE, 外商独资企业) is a Chinese limited liability company whose capital comes entirely from abroad. A Sino-foreign joint venture (中外合资经营企业) is owned by foreign and Chinese parties together. A foreign-invested partnership (外商投资合伙企业) is a partnership rather than a company. A representative office (代表处) is a liaison presence, not a legal person, and cannot invoice or trade. The Company Law also provides for a branch of a foreign company (外国公司分支机构), which is not a separate legal person and in practice is confined to a few regulated sectors. Each is registered with the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), and the business licence records the registered name, the business scope, the registered capital, the legal representative and the registered address. Our answers library compares the WFOE, representative office and no-entity routes and explains registered capital .

What is a foreign-invested enterprise (FIE)?

The term used in Chinese law for a company registered in China that is wholly or partly invested by foreign investors. It covers the WFOE, the Sino-foreign joint venture and the foreign-invested partnership. The Foreign Investment Law, in force since 1 January 2020, gives foreign-invested enterprises the same treatment as domestic companies except in the sectors named on the foreign investment negative list, and the Company Law of the People’s Republic of China, in force since 1 July 2024, governs how the company itself is run. Our answers library covers whether a foreigner can own a Chinese company outright .

Is my sector open to foreign investment?

Most are. China’s foreign investment negative list is at its shortest ever and manufacturing has had zero restrictions since 1 November 2024. Trading, consulting and most services sit off the list and are treated the same as domestic investors. Telecoms, publishing, broadcasting and a few resource sectors remain restricted or prohibited. We check the current list against your activities as part of the review.

How long does registration take, once the structure is settled?

Usually a matter of weeks rather than months, and the timetable depends on the authority, the city and how complete the documents are. Our answers library sets out the usual sequence and what tends to delay it , and the documents a WFOE registration calls for . The registration itself is a separate engagement.

China Market Entry & Entity Structure Advisory

What the review covers

What your plan requires

What you intend to do in China, such as invoicing, hiring, holding stock or taking premises, and what each of those implies for the structure you register.

Vehicle & city

Which structure fits, and where to register it: free-trade zone, development-zone incentives, or simply where your people are.

Business scope wording

The narrowest Chinese scope that still covers everything you will invoice for. Getting this wrong means amending the registration later.

Negative list & licensing

Whether your sector is open, restricted or prohibited to foreign investors, and what post-registration licences or filings it triggers.

Registered capital

A figure the authority will accept and you can actually pay in: the Company Law, in force since 1 July 2024, requires a limited liability company’s subscribed capital to be paid in within five years of establishment, and companies registered before then must bring their payment dates inside 30 June 2032 by 30 June 2027.

Restructuring

Already registered? Restructuring an existing company is a review of its own: what would have to change, what the change triggers, and whether it is worth doing.

How it runs

Brief. Tell us what you plan to do in China, in the form below.
Research. Sector rules, the negative list, a city comparison and the filings your case would trigger.
Commercial advice letter. The options, what each would involve, and our recommendation.

Tell us about your plans for China

Fill in what you know. Blanks are fine — they are what the first conversation is for.

Your name Email

What you plan to do in China

Your sector Where your company is registered

Do you already have a company in China? City or region in mind Anything else

How did you hear about us? Details, if you like

We use these details to quote and to answer this enquiry, and the page and visit details the form adds to see which pages bring enquiries. We do not sell personal information. Please do not attach passport or identity-document images at this stage. Where you give us someone else's details, please make sure they know.

What happens next

Enquire. Tell us the situation by email, the contact form, WhatsApp or WeCom.
Proposal and agreement. You receive a written proposal setting out the scope, the deliverable, the timing and the fixed fee, together with our services agreement.
Execute. We carry out the work and keep you updated.
Deliver. We deliver the agreed result, to a professional standard.

Three colleagues talking beside a floor-to-ceiling office window, with a city skyline behind them — If the answer is to register

Company setup is a separate engagement, and one quote covers all of it: registration, chops, the bank account and tax registration.
Company setup & compliance coordination

Common questions

What types of company can a foreign investor register in China?: Chinese law recognises several forms. A wholly foreign-owned enterprise (WFOE, 外商独资企业) is a Chinese limited liability company whose capital comes entirely from abroad. A Sino-foreign joint venture (中外合资经营企业) is owned by foreign and Chinese parties together. A foreign-invested partnership (外商投资合伙企业) is a partnership rather than a company. A representative office (代表处) is a liaison presence, not a legal person, and cannot invoice or trade. The Company Law also provides for a branch of a foreign company (外国公司分支机构), which is not a separate legal person and in practice is confined to a few regulated sectors. Each is registered with the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), and the business licence records the registered name, the business scope, the registered capital, the legal representative and the registered address. Our answers library compares the WFOE, representative office and no-entity routes and explains registered capital.
What is a foreign-invested enterprise (FIE)?: The term used in Chinese law for a company registered in China that is wholly or partly invested by foreign investors. It covers the WFOE, the Sino-foreign joint venture and the foreign-invested partnership. The Foreign Investment Law, in force since 1 January 2020, gives foreign-invested enterprises the same treatment as domestic companies except in the sectors named on the foreign investment negative list, and the Company Law of the People’s Republic of China, in force since 1 July 2024, governs how the company itself is run. Our answers library covers whether a foreigner can own a Chinese company outright.
Is my sector open to foreign investment?: Most are. China’s foreign investment negative list is at its shortest ever and manufacturing has had zero restrictions since 1 November 2024. Trading, consulting and most services sit off the list and are treated the same as domestic investors. Telecoms, publishing, broadcasting and a few resource sectors remain restricted or prohibited. We check the current list against your activities as part of the review.
How long does registration take, once the structure is settled?: Usually a matter of weeks rather than months, and the timetable depends on the authority, the city and how complete the documents are. Our answers library sets out the usual sequence and what tends to delay it, and the documents a WFOE registration calls for. The registration itself is a separate engagement.

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Short answers from our answers library to the questions that usually come before this service.

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Longer reads from our insights on the work this service covers.

Market Entry & Structure Advisory