Shanghai Taxation Service
Hotline: 86-755-82143348 Email: anitayao@citilinkia.com
Representative Office (RO) is established by foreign companies to engage in business liaisons, quality control, product promotion, market research, exchange of technology and other permitted activities in China. ROs are not allowed to directly engage in operational activities.
Representative Office (RO) can't issue official invoices, nor receiving payments from it's clients. State Administration of Industry and Commerce (SAIC) usually specifies in scope of business, as it shown in the Registration Certificate of ROs, that ROs can not engage in direct operational activities. Therefore, it's not a form of foreign direct investment (FDI) in China. However, some ROs are engaged in operations in a lawful or tacitly permitted way and constitute one of the direct foreign Investment forms in China, for instance: ROs of foreign law firms, ROs of foreign airlines etc.
I. Legal Status of Representative Office in Shanghai
The Representative Office is a non-legal entity operating representing it's parent company overseas. A representative office is not allowed to engage itself in business activities, issue invoices on its own, remitting outward, signing sales or purchase contracts, or receiving income from services performed but may act as a liaison and promotion office for its parent company.
II. Application of Representative Office in Shanghai
1、Name approval;
2、Obtain approval from Shanghai Administration for Industry and Commerce;
3、Arrange for chop;
4、Apply for business license;
5、Apply for Foreign Exchange certificate;
6、Apply for Organization Code License;
7、Apply for Taxation Registration License ;
8、Open Bank Account;
If the foreign company is engaged in certain restricted industries, such as finance and insurance, logistics and air transportation, it must apply for the approval or for a certificate from the relevant government departments.
Special approval is needed for the following industries: finance, insurance, marine transport, marine agent, air freight and government organization, Non-Governmental Organizations, or non-profit making organizations. No special approval is needed for the following industries: trading, manufacturing, logistics, consulting, advertising agency, investment, leasing and tobacco.
III. Material should be prepared of Representative Office in Shanghai
3、Notary proof of business subsisted for two years or above of the offshore parent company;
4、Notary proof of creditworthiness issued by bankers of the offshore parent company;
5、Notary proof of memorandum or organization agreement of the offshore parent company;
6、Notary proof of authorized signatory of the offshore parent company and notary copy of his/her passport;
7、Notary proof of appointment letters of the chief representative of the offshore parent company;
Curricula vitae of the chief representative;
8、Notary copy of the passport of the chief representative (A copy of Z-visa of the chief representative is required for certain regions of the PRC);
9、Four 2-inch colour photographs of the chief representative;
10、Lease agreement or certificate of title in relation to the premises.
IV. Require Name form of Representative Office in Shanghai
The name of the Representative office should be in the form of "Name of the Enterprise + Name of the City + Representative Office".
V. Registration Address of Representative Office in Shanghai
At the beginning of setting up the Representative Office, it is advised to decide the place and building where office is going to be located first, as the address of the proposed office will have to be mentioned in the application for approval.
Note: the business address must be located in commercial buildings approved by the government.
VI. Contact Us
If you have further queries, don’t hesitate to contact ATAHK anytime, anywhere by simply visiting ATAHK’s website www.3737580.net, or calling Hong Kong hotline at 852-27826888 or China hotline at 86-021-68877368 021-31397142 021-58822399, or emailing to hkcfm-shanghai@163.com.