Shanghai is now working on the development of the headquarters-based economy with global influence, and is now further gathering and cultivating more multi-functional and high-capacity domestic and foreign trade enterprise headquarters. As a result, four departments of the Shanghai Government are collectively issuing this Supporting Suggestions on the Establishment of Trade Headquarters in Shanghai.
The “trade headquarters” mentioned in the Supporting Suggestions refers to the headquarters set up in Shanghai by domestic or foreign enterprises with single or integrated trade functions as procurement, distribution, marketing, settlement and logistics, including both traditional trade enterprises and the platform trade enterprises based on the Internet and other information technology to engage in aggregation transactions or provide relevant services.
The trade headquarters should be registered in Shanghai with independent legal personality. Following conditions should be selectively satisfied:
(1) domestic wholesale and retail as the main business, the proportion of the revenue of this business to the total business revenue is more than 50%, and the business revenue (sales revenue) of the previous year exceeds RMB 10 billion;
(2) international trade in goods as the main business, the proportion of the revenue of this business to the total business revenue is more than 50%, and the business revenue (sales revenue) of the previous year exceeds RMB 6 billion;
(3) logistics and warehousing or international service trade as the main business, the proportion of the revenue of this business to the total business revenue is more than 50%, and the business revenue (sales revenue) of the previous year exceeds RMB 4 billion;
(4) platform trading as the main business, with more than 5000 registered members or resident merchants and more than 30% of them are enterprises from other cities. Among them, the annual transaction volume of consumer-oriented platform enterprises exceeds RMB 5 billion; the annual transaction volume of business-oriented platform enterprises (providing B2B transactions) exceeds RMB 15 billion.
Due funding and awards would be given by the government if the trade headquarters is properly recognized.
The immigration and entry formalities would be simplified. Qualified Chinese who needs to travel to APEC countries for business reason may apply for APEC business travel card to enjoy multilateral long-term visa and fast customs clearance privilege. Foreigner who needs to inboard temporarily for multiple times may apply for multiple-entry visa valid for not more than 1 year and stay for not more than 180 days. Foreigner employed by the trade headquarters that needs to stay in the city for a long period of time may apply for a residence permit for foreigner valid for 3 to 5 years. Foreign senior manager of the trade headquarters could be recommended to apply for permanent residence in China on a priority basis. The legal representative of the identified trade headquarters and the senior manager related to the functions of the headquarters could enjoy green channel services when conducting medical examinations for infectious disease prevention of inboard passengers.
If the trade headquarters introduces domestic outstanding talents, they could apply for the household registration of Shanghai under the satisfaction for other relevant conditions.
Qualified trade headquarters may receive personalized customs clearance facilities by the Customs focusing on trade facilitation for its import and export goods.
The Supporting Suggestions would be valid from September 1st, 2021 until August 31st, 2026.
If you want to read the complete article, you can refer to the below link (in Chinese only): http://www.shanghaiinvest.com/cn/viewfile.php?id=16496
If you have any question, please contact me.
Mr. Mike Chang (Partner)
TEL: 0086-21-68868321
Email: mikechang@shanghaiinvest.com