Complete Guide to Setting Up
a Foreign Company in Shanghai

What You Need to Know

This comprehensive guide helps foreign investors navigate key decisions when establishing a presence in Shanghai. Click on any section below to explore detailed topics.

• Which Business Vehicle should I choose?
  • Representative Office
  • Consulting & Service WFOE/JV
  • Trading WFOE or FICE (Foreign-Invested Commercial Enterprise)
  • Food & Beverage WFOE/JV
  • Manufacturing WFOE/JV
• Capital requirement and its Rules for use.
  • Nature of capital, and its rules for use by authority
  • Capital requirement list for FIEs in different industries
• Where to start my business? Any rules for the place of the new company?
  • Office space requirements for setup new company
  • Virtual Office Issue
• Business Registration Process, Timeline & setup costs
  • Registration General Process
  • Time line for registration process
  • Setup Costs & Government Charge
• WFOE Tax Burdens
  • Value Added Tax
  • Corporate Income Tax
  • How to save tax after FIEs face the same National Treatment as domestic business
  • Export related VAT refund
• WFOE payroll costs, local employee recruitment, salary & insurance, foreign employee IIT issues
  • Local employee recruitment, payroll & insurance guideline
  • Calculation sample for local employee payroll costs
  • Foreign employee IIT Guideline
  • Foreign employee IIT tax planning & equalization