China Representative Office Registration and Maintenance Guide (8) – Pre-approval for Special Industries

1. General Industry

The application for registration of a Representative Office by a foreign company which engages in general business is straight forward. It normally involves a two step process. That is, first application to register with local Administrative Bureau for Industry and Commerce and then handle the post registration procedures. The detailed registration procedures for these Representative Offices are described in China Representative Office Registration and Maintenance Guide (7) – Registration Procedures.

2. Special Industries

The applications for registration of a Representative Offices by those companies which engage in some industries, however, requires pre-approval from the relevant regulators in those industries.

Authorities for approval are distributed among various State Council Departments and are delegated to their local offices. Applicants should apply for approval from different departments (at their local offices) according to their core activities. Some of the major types of industries and their approval authorities are: