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Honest Guides to Entering Mainland China
10 topic hubs covering every major workstream, plus 22 supporting deep-dive articles. No agency-speak.
Topic hubs
Guide
ICP 备案 Filing: What Foreign Brands Actually Need
Filing types, sponsor model, real-name and domain rules, top rejection reasons, renewal pitfalls — everything that goes wrong with ICP filings.
Guide
Registering a .cn Domain as a Foreign Entity
.cn vs .com.cn vs 中国, CNNIC real-name verification, foreign-entity documents, registrar choice, and defensive registration.
Guide
WeChat OA Verification Playbook for Overseas Brands
服务号 vs 订阅号, the overseas-entity verification path, RMB 600 annual fee, payment-API access, menu architecture.
Guide
Xiaohongshu Brand Account Setup, Step by Step
专业号 vs 个人号, trademark requirement, cross-border e-commerce linkage, KOL/KOC collaboration tools, banned categories.
Guide
WFOE vs Representative Office vs Hong Kong Limited
Scope of permitted activity, minimum capital reality, tax exposure side-by-side, deregistration cost, conversion paths between structures.
Guide
Hong Kong as Your Mainland-China Gateway
HK Ltd holding mainland WFOE, CEPA benefits, banking dual-track, tax treaty position, common pitfalls.
Guide
Nominee Director Arrangements — Risks and Safeguards
Legal-rep liability under PRC law, chop custody protocols, escrow contracts, replacement procedure, D&O insurance options.
Guide
Virtual Office Addresses Across Major Cities
Beijing CBD, Shanghai FTZ vs Pudong, Shenzhen Qianhai, Hangzhou Future Sci-Tech City, AIC site-inspection rules.
Guide
China Trademark Squatting — Defensive Playbook
First-to-file principle, Class 1-45 coverage strategy, Chinese transliteration filing, opposition windows, non-use cancellation recovery.
Guide
Opening an RMB Business Account That Actually Clears
Basic vs general account, legal-rep in-person rules, KYC red flags, cross-border FX (SAFE) registration, ICBC vs BoC vs CMB.
Supporting articles
Guide
ICP 备案 Filing: What Foreign Brands Actually Need
Filing types, sponsor model, real-name and domain rules, top rejection reasons, renewal pitfalls — everything that goes wrong with ICP filings.
Guide
Registering a .cn Domain as a Foreign Entity
.cn vs .com.cn vs 中国, CNNIC real-name verification, foreign-entity documents, registrar choice, and defensive registration.
Guide
WeChat OA Verification Playbook for Overseas Brands
服务号 vs 订阅号, the overseas-entity verification path, RMB 600 annual fee, payment-API access, menu architecture.
Guide
Xiaohongshu Brand Account Setup, Step by Step
专业号 vs 个人号, trademark requirement, cross-border e-commerce linkage, KOL/KOC collaboration tools, banned categories.
Guide
WFOE vs Representative Office vs Hong Kong Limited
Scope of permitted activity, minimum capital reality, tax exposure side-by-side, deregistration cost, conversion paths between structures.
Guide
Hong Kong as Your Mainland-China Gateway
HK Ltd holding mainland WFOE, CEPA benefits, banking dual-track, tax treaty position, common pitfalls.
Guide
Nominee Director Arrangements — Risks and Safeguards
Legal-rep liability under PRC law, chop custody protocols, escrow contracts, replacement procedure, D&O insurance options.
Guide
Virtual Office Addresses Across Major Cities
Beijing CBD, Shanghai FTZ vs Pudong, Shenzhen Qianhai, Hangzhou Future Sci-Tech City, AIC site-inspection rules.
Guide
China Trademark Squatting — Defensive Playbook
First-to-file principle, Class 1-45 coverage strategy, Chinese transliteration filing, opposition windows, non-use cancellation recovery.
Guide
Opening an RMB Business Account That Actually Clears
Basic vs general account, legal-rep in-person rules, KYC red flags, cross-border FX (SAFE) registration, ICBC vs BoC vs CMB.
Guide
How to Choose an ICP Sponsor for Your Domain
Picking an ICP sponsor — entity-tied filings, sponsor fee ranges, support quality, what happens when a sponsor disappears.
Guide
ICP 备案 vs ICP 许可证 Explained
The two ICP types — filing for informational sites, license for commercial sites. Application differences and what each unlocks.
Guide
Why ICP Applications Get Rejected — Top 10 Causes
The 10 most common reasons foreign-brand ICP applications fail review — entity-domain mismatch, business scope, content category, more.
Guide
Realistic WFOE Registered Capital for 2026
What AIC actually expects on WFOE registered capital in 2026 — by industry, city, and operational scope. With real numbers.
Guide
Representative Office 20% Expense-Markup Tax Explained
The deemed-profit tax that makes Rep Offices expensive — how it's calculated, why it surprises foreign founders, when an RO still makes sense.
Guide
Setting Up an HK Ltd to Hold a Mainland WFOE
Why and how foreign founders use an HK Ltd to hold a mainland WFOE — substance requirements, treaty benefits, banking dual-track.
Guide
First-to-File Principle — What Foreign Brands Miss
How China's first-to-file rule flips the burden of trademark proof onto foreign brands, and the 4-step defense before any China launch.
Guide
Filing Chinese-Character Transliterations of Your Brand
Why your English mark needs a paired Chinese-character filing — phonetic vs semantic transliteration, picking the right characters.
Guide
Foreign-Entity Documents for CNNIC Real-Name Verification
Exact document list to pass CNNIC's real-name verification on first try for a .cn domain owned by a foreign entity.
Guide
WeChat Service Account vs Subscription Account
Service Account (服务号) vs Subscription Account (订阅号) — feature differences, posting limits, payment-API access, which to pick.
Guide
Xiaohongshu Cross-Border vs Domestic Store
Cross-border e-commerce vs domestic storefront on Xiaohongshu — entity requirement, margin impact, settlement currency, fulfillment.
Guide
Legal Rep Criminal Liability Under PRC Company Law
What a 法定代表人 is criminally liable for under PRC Company Law, and the 5 most common exposures that catch foreign founders by surprise.
Guide
Beijing Virtual Office — District-Level AIC Quirks
Chaoyang vs Haidian vs CBD vs Shunyi — what changes for foreign-owned WFOEs at the district level in Beijing.
Guide
Shanghai FTZ Virtual Office Advantages and Limits
What Shanghai Free Trade Zone virtual offices actually unlock — fast scope approval, cross-border pilot programs, and where the FTZ stops helping.
Guide
RMB Basic Account vs General Account — Which First
Why the 基本户 must come first, what the general account 一般户 unlocks, and the 6-step opening sequence that minimizes downtime.
Guide
ICBC vs BoC vs CMB for Foreign-Owned WFOEs
Three biggest banks compared on foreign-owned WFOE friendliness, cross-border infrastructure, and decline rates in 2026.
Guide
Defensive Filing Across All 45 Nice Classes — When To
When 45-class defensive filing is worth $15-30k and when it's overkill — class-by-class trademark filing strategy for foreign brands.
Guide
Opposing a Squatted Trademark — Process and Odds
The CNIPA opposition process during the 3-month publication period, what evidence wins, what evidence doesn't, and success-rate ranges.
Guide
Three-Year Non-Use Cancellation Procedure
How to recover a squatted Chinese trademark via the 3-year non-use cancellation route — burden of proof, timeline, and gotchas.
Guide
WFOE Business Scope Language That Survives Review
How to draft a WFOE 经营范围 (business scope) that AIC approves first time and doesn't lock you out of pivot directions.
Guide
WFOE Annual Audit and 工商年报 Walkthrough
Annual statutory audit + AIC annual report cycle for a WFOE — what auditors check, fees, and surviving the first audit clean.
Guide
Converting a Rep Office Into a WFOE
Step-by-step: dissolving the Rep Office, registering the new WFOE, migrating staff visas and bank accounts. Realistic 4-6 month timeline.