Skarmavbild 2017-02-08 kl. 17.11.07

The preparation stage is critical to get your China venture off to a good start. Here China experience is crucial and can save you time and substantially lower your risk.

 

Trademark Registration

If you plan to sell your products in China, start by registering your trademark. We recommend you to apply for a trademark as one of the first actions to take when you start looking into the Chinese market. To protect your product or company name in China you have to apply for a trademark with the Chinese authorities. It usually takes 12-18 month to get a trademark registered in China. When it comes to trademarks China is a first-to-file country which means that whoever is the first one to register a trademark is the one who owns the rights for that trademark on the Chinese market. During the application period, before your trademark is approved, others can use your trademark. Avoiding having others using your logo or product name is not the only reason for a trademark registration. You also risk being sued for selling your own product in China. 

 

Premises Search

A peculiar regulation in China is that the first document needed in a company registration process is a rental agreement. This makes it necessary to be sure about where you want to be located before you start the company registration process.

China is a big country and there is much to choose from. There are over 3000 industrial zones in China. The real estate industry is dominated by smaller agents with only local coverage. Not all office buildings are approved for foreign companies. There are sometimes local tax incentives. A structured approach to define first suitable areas and then suitable properties is needed.

Based on our experience we help you to search suitable areas and then suitable offices, factories or land lots. We often do a preliminary search in a feasibility study.

 

Business Registration

The business registration process in China takes about 3-6 months. We help you manage this process where multiple government agencies need to review a large amount of documents and certificates.

The key milestones are name approvalbusiness license approvaltax license approval and opening a local bank account.

A business license is normally ready after 3 months after which the new company formally can sign contracts. It takes about another 2-3 months before you can have cash in local currency to pay with.

During this time we can support you with our business support office.

 

Machinery Sourcing

If you are starting a factory our technical sourcing team can help you search for and procure local machinery. This could include cranes, utilities in the plant, machine tools, vehicles etc. You might also need to develop suppliers for material and services.

 

Facility upgrade/Construction

Most facilities needs some kind of facelift or renovation before they become suitable. New factory buildings and offices in China are provided completely without interior. We can assist to research local construction companies and help you manage their work.

 

Administrative systems set-up

This is maybe the most important area. Chinese regulations are different to other countries. To define your internal systems when it comes to human resource management, employment, internal approval and internal control. These are systems that needs to be in place before you bring in any local staff to limit the risk for trouble in the future.

Read more about Factory Set up here.