Market Entry · Compliance · Repatriation · Disputes 外国公司投资中国 · 英文为主中文对照
Entity setup (WFOE, JV, representative office), Foreign Investment Law and the negative list, corporate governance and compliance, employment, contracts and IP protection, profit repatriation, dispute resolution and exit — advised in English with the Chinese legal basis cited at each step.
外商独资企业与合资企业设立、外商投资法与负面清单、公司治理与合规、用工、合同与知识产权保护、利润汇出、争议解决与退出，由德载外商投资部以英文为主、附中文对照办理。
Your China journey, stage by stage 外企在华事业线
THE ROADMAPSeven stages, in the order a foreign investor actually meets them. Start where you are — each stage links to a full guide with the governing law cited.
Setting up: WFOE, joint venture or representative office
Choosing the right vehicle under the Foreign Investment Law, checking the negative list, incorporation steps and timeline, registered capital under the 2023 Company Law.
Corporate governance and ongoing compliance
Board and legal-representative structure after the 2023 Company Law, annual reporting, licences, and the data rules (Cybersecurity, Data Security and Personal Information Protection Laws) that now reach ordinary trading companies.
Hiring foreign and local staff
Work permits and residence permits for expatriates, written employment contracts, social insurance, and why terminating an employee in China is nothing like terminating one at home.
Contracts and protecting your IP
Enforceable Chinese-law contracts, company chops, first-to-file trademarks (register your Chinese name before someone else does), patents and trade secrets.
Getting profits out: dividends, fees and cross-border funds
A research note on repatriation routes — dividends, service fees, royalties, capital reduction — with the tax and foreign-exchange checkpoints at each gate.
When disputes happen: litigation and arbitration
Choosing between Chinese courts and arbitration before you sign, evidence rules, interim measures, and enforcing awards under the New York Convention.
Exit: selling your equity or winding up
Equity transfer mechanics and taxes, orderly liquidation and deregistration, employee settlements — leaving China cleanly so you can come back.
The Oriental Hub: fly in without a visa, do business next to the airport 东方枢纽国际商务合作区
SPECIAL FEATUREA State Council-approved business zone at Shanghai Pudong Airport
Invited overseas businesspeople may enter the zone with a valid travel document and a vetted business invitation — no Chinese visa — and stay up to 30 days, extendable. The first launch area began closed-loop trial operation in late 2025. What the zone is, and what it is not.
Entry guide: invitations, documents, stay and extension
Who can invite you, what documents you need, how long you can stay, and what you can do inside — meetings, exhibitions, training. Procedures are still evolving; we track the zone's announcements as they are published.
Exhibitions, training, services trade and health cooperation
The sectors named in the zone's official orientation — international conferences and exhibitions, business exchange and training, services trade, international medical and health cooperation — and how foreign companies can plug in.
Legal groundwork for a Hub-based China strategy
Structuring meetings and negotiations in the zone, then landing the resulting deals onshore: entity setup, contracts, employment and compliance — one desk from the zone gate to your first Shanghai office.
Start here 从这里进入
EXPLORETen questions foreign investors ask first
Do I need a Chinese partner? How long does a WFOE take? Can I get my money out? Each answer starts with the conclusion, then the legal basis — in English, with Chinese reference.
The Delta Law FDI Desk
A dedicated desk of a full-service Shanghai law firm. Narrow fields, deep research, openly published guides — read our work before you retain us.
Email us — initial consultation
Describe your situation in English or Chinese. We reply within one working day with a first take: what applies, what it costs, what we would check next. An assessment does not oblige you to retain us.
Related desks at Delta Law 相关栏目
CROSS-BORDER · BOTH DIRECTIONSCross-border work runs both ways at Delta Law: this desk brings foreign companies into China, while our Outbound desk takes Chinese companies abroad — the same rules seen from both sides. 德载的跨境服务是双向的：本栏目服务外资进入中国，出海栏目服务中国企业走向海外。
Expats in Shanghai: personal legal matters
Work permits, family, property and personal tax questions for the executives you send to China — handled by our Expats desk.
Shareholder and governance disputes
JV deadlocks, shareholder rights and corporate control — our Equity desk covers company-law disputes in depth (Chinese).
Commercial arbitration
Arbitration strategy, institution choice and award enforcement — the deep-dive companion to our disputes guide (Chinese).
Chinese companies going global
ODI filings, overseas structures and cross-border funds compliance for Chinese groups investing abroad — the reverse journey (Chinese).
Consult a Lawyer
In your email or WeChat message, please state: for the FDI Desk
Why Delta Law 为什么是德载
WHY USWe work cross-border traffic both ways
The same desk network that takes Chinese companies out — ODI, overseas structures, foreign counsel coordination — brings foreign companies in. Working both directions means a China deal gets read from the investor’s side and from the counterparty’s side, not only off the statute.
One firm for the whole journey
Delta Law is a full-service Shanghai firm: corporate, employment, IP, dispute resolution and family desks under one roof. Your WFOE's shareholder dispute, your expat GM's work permit and your trademark filing do not need three different firms.
Read our answers before you pay for them
Every guide on this site is openly published, cites the governing Chinese law, and says so when a rule is in flux. If the research does not convince you, do not retain us — that is the deal, and we think it is a fair one.