Everyone may have heard that setting up a WFOE, or other business type, in China is complicated and difficult.
But things are changing.
The government has recently started to implement an 'all-in-one' China five in one business license which aims to simplify the China company registration process for foreign businesses...
What is the China five in one business license?
Until recently, when foreigners open a new business in China, several different licenses and documents would be required to be obtained from different government departments.
These included the business license, tax certificate, and more.
It is logical that by combining important elements like these into one application and one document, the process of opening a new business would become easier to manager for the government, and more streamlines and convenient for the new company.
According to the State Council of the PRC in this article:
The new reform is aimed at integrating all the licenses for business registration, record filing and other related affairs into one business license, to fully make real the “all-in-one business license and unified code”. The reform is set to be completed before Oct 1, 2017.
A China five in one business license includes the following:
How does the new license affect you?
New companies
If you're opening a new company in China now, this is the license that you will be given.
It is important to note that the application is made online just once.
So new business owners must gather the required documentation needed to make an application to open their company, and provide them once, instead of having to send different documents to different offices, each of whom may respond more quickly or slowly than others.
This could save you approximately up to 3 weeks over the time it used to take to open a business!
Existing companies
Current companies either have old style licenses, or an earlier consolidated 3-in-1 license (the predecessor to the new five in one license).
Your current licenses should be valid until January 1st 2018, and so there is time to upgrade them to the 5 in 1. After this date your current separate certificates will be invalid, and if you haven't upgraded then your business will be technically illegal and unable trade, offer fapiao, etc.
If you hold a consolidated 3 in 1 license, these will be automatically upgraded to five in one without you needing to do anything.
Shenzhen leading the way
Hongda's home city of Shenzhen, Guangdong province is leading the way with implementing this new license, further strengthening its reputation as one of the best places to open up your company in China:
What's next for you?
You may well have questions about how to either make an application to open a business in China, or how to upgrade your current business license/s to the new China five in one business license.
Either way, Hongda can help you! Click below for a no-strings chat about your needs:
