Representative Office (RO)

A RO is the easiest and most economic way of setting up a legal presence in China. It is an office of a foreign enterprise set up for the purpose of liaising with Chinese businesses and customers on behalf of its parent company. A RO is not considered to be a separate legal entity and it can not carry out direct revenue earning business activities, i.e. it cannot enter into purchase/sales contracts and cannot receive payment for products or services, issue invoices or repatriate monies overseas. A RO is restricted to conduct only “indirect operational activities”, such as:

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