If anyone ever thought opening a company in modern day China would be easy, think again : pictured left is only half of the certificates required to get up and running! In total we are expecting some 21 certificates, plus three chops. These come from, but are not limited to, municipality tax (地税登记证), government tax (国税登记证), high tech company registration (高新批准证书), foreign currency registration (外汇登记证), registration approval (批准证书), foreign ownership approval, and several others etc… Note that the first step in company registration is obtaining a certificate to give you permission to register for a company.
But it doesn’t end there. Opening a bank account is compulsory, and of course they couldn’t make it easy there either: being a foreign registered company we need one account in foreign currency, and another in local currency (¥RMB). To open the account approximately seven forms were filled out (per account), and no ATM cards are available. Nor is online banking – one must appear in person at the bank for any transactions. Withdrawals require a “cheque book” (actually more like a book of withdrawal forms) which costs ¥30 for a book of 25, and are limited to only ¥50,000 per day.
So far the process has taken more than two months – and the saga continues.
NB: It takes two days to register a company in Hong Kong, after which you will receive only one certificate.