Basic information regarding the setting up of a Representative Office (RO) in Shanghai:

•  RO is not qualified as legal person
• Parent Company should already operate at least 2 years
• There is one RO establishment in each city
• Representatives: According to the requirements representatives are limited to 4 people: One Chief Representative and 3 ordinary  Representatives ( Chinese employees are not limited). RO can not directly hire Chinese employees. It should be done through  local  HR Company

Types of RO:

• Representative Office of Enterprise
• Representative Office of Chamber of Commerce
• Representative Office of Governmental Organization
   

It is not permitted to establish RO for the following industries:

Banking, insurance, marine, air transport, shipping agents.

Chinese name of the representative office

`Hong Kong` + `full name of the parent company` + Shanghai + Representative Office.

Registered address

The registered address of a representative office must be in an office building approved by Shanghai authority. (please let us check in advance)

Business Scope

Representative office is only allowed to conduct the non-profit business activities for its parent company.

Taxes

Representative offices are subject to a consolidated tax based on their total expenses. The tax rate is around 11%. If parent company is non-profit organization (government organization) it can enjoy exemption of taxes.

Time estimate for the setting up of a representative office in Shanghai

Issue of the registration certificate: 10 working days from the date of submission of all the application documents to the Shanghai Administration for Industry and Commerce (“SAIC”)

Post-registration formalities (including Rep. Office Code, foreign exchange, bank, tax): 30 -35 working days

Note: The above time estimate does not include the time necessary for the preparation and signature of the application documents.