First, the honest question: do you even need one? If you only buy from or sell to China from abroad, you often don’t. Read Do you actually need a Chinese company? before you commit — and we’ll confirm it at the consult.
What we do
Structure selection
Vehicle, shareholding, registered capital and the narrowest business scope that still covers everything you will invoice for. Getting the scope wrong is the most common and most annoying rework.
Document preparation
Articles, resolutions, appointment documents, address materials and the notarised and apostilled documents your foreign parent has to supply — assembled, translated and checked before anything is lodged.
Process management
Name approval, registration, chops, and the sequence of filings — run to a schedule, in Mandarin, with you told in English what is happening and what is holding.
Bank & authority liaison
Corporate bank account and tax registration appointments prepared and attended, including the real-name steps for the legal representative that catch people out.
Selecting the licensed firm
We shortlist accounting firms, compare what they actually include, brief the one you pick, and make the handover explicit. You contract with them directly.
Quality supervision
We check what is delivered against what was agreed — filings made, chops issued, licence details correct, registration data matching your documents.
What we do not do: bookkeeping, tax filing and audit. Agency bookkeeping (代理记账) requires a licence from the finance authorities, and the statutory audit must be performed by a licensed Chinese CPA firm. We hold neither licence and do not pretend otherwise. That work is done by a licensed accounting firm that contracts with you; our job is to help you pick a good one and hold the timetable together.
Two phases, two contracts
- Set up (4–8 weeks) — us. Structure and scope confirmed, name reserved, company registered, chops issued, bank and tax registration completed. You end with a licensed, bankable company.
- Run (ongoing) — the licensed accounting firm. Monthly and quarterly filings, bookkeeping, fapiao administration, payroll and the annual report and audit. Engaged and invoiced by them. We can stay on as your bilingual coordinator, which is a separate, smaller retainer.
Indicative pricing
| Item | Typical basis | Whose fee |
|---|---|---|
| Setup coordination | from US$850, depending on city, vehicle and scope | Ours |
| Bookkeeping & tax filing | Quoted separately by the licensed firm | Accounting firm |
| Annual audit & report | Annual fee, quoted by size | CPA firm |
| Registered address, government & bank fees | Billed at cost | Third party |
Market ranges verified July 2026. Our fee is fixed and agreed before work starts; third-party fees are passed through without markup.
Running it remotely? Owning and controlling a Chinese company from abroad has tax-residency consequences for both you and the company. See Tax-residency traps for remote founders — we flag these when structuring and work alongside your own accountant, who is the person who should be advising on them.
