The representative office is the least dynamic of the entities for establishing a foreign presence in China. The RO can facilitate market entry and coordinate sourcing activities and marketing, but is a toothless version of the possible foreign entities that has little control over the movement and sale of goods and services. They are the extended arm of overseas parent companies and can only interact with Chinese businesses indirectly. However, less tangibly, they can offer a sense of the domestic market and help determine whether China’s 1.3 billion people and its complex business and legal structure are profitably navigable for your company.
Do you need to control the process of invoicing locally for services or products? If not, and you simply need a local presence capable only of the following permissible activities, then perhaps the RO is the most useful and inexpensive entity for your purposes.
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For more information about China representative offices, please contact Dezan Shira & Associates' FDI China experts
