SHANGHAI · 21:15 CST
Company registration in China — $5 750 for the full launch
Registering a company in China costs $300; the full launch — everything the company needs to start working — is $5 750. That figure covers registration, a corporate bank account, a legal address for the first year, finance and tax service for the first year, and a work permit with visa for one person. Government and third-party fees are not in it — their list, with amounts, is further down this page. We register across mainland China. Prices are from the Orion Consulting and Bookkeeping price list, checked 16 July 2026: the list is kept in UAE dirhams under our Shams Free Zone licence No. 2327240, and shown here in US dollars.
Searching for "WFOE registration"? Fair — it is the term everyone types. The careful answer is below: our price list prices services, not a legal form. And two of the five lines are the reason we are still here in year two: the address renews, the books keep being kept, and both figures are printed before you sign anything.
You searched "WFOE" — here is what we actually sell
WFOE — Wholly Foreign-Owned Enterprise — is what people type when they want their own company in mainland China with no local partner. The term is real. What we sell against it deserves a precise answer, so here it is, without a sales gloss.
Our price list prices five services, not a legal form
The estimate on this page is built from five lines: registration, corporate bank account, legal address, finance and tax service, and a work visa. The list does not say "WFOE", "joint venture" or "representative office" anywhere — so neither will we. Which form fits your case depends on your activity and your city, and we answer that in correspondence, before any contract. A landing page that promises you a legal form before hearing your case is guessing.
"We register across mainland China" is the price list's own line, checked 16 July 2026
Coverage is mainland-wide — that wording comes from our price list, not from a copywriter. What changes from city to city is the practical side: the address, the bank, the visa file. Name the city and we will answer for that city specifically.
The licence behind this page is an accounting licence
Orion Consulting and Bookkeeping LLC operates under Shams Free Zone licence No. 2327240, and its registered profile reads "accounting, bookkeeping and auditing activities; tax consultancy". That is the same work the China finance and tax service is made of. Registration firms sell the launch day; our main product starts the day after it.
The launch estimate, line by line
Five services from our price list, checked 16 July 2026 · shown in US dollars
Launch, all five services
$5 750
Registration + account + address + finance and tax service + one work visa. Government fees are separate — the list is right below.
From year two
$3 000/yr
Two lines stay: the legal address at $1 630 and the finance and tax service at $1 360. Counted openly — everything else in the estimate is one-time.
Prices from our list, not a public offer. Shown in US dollars, converted from the AED price list at the fixed peg of AED 3.6725 = $1, rounded; invoices are issued in dirhams under Shams Free Zone licence No. 2327240. Government and third-party fees are not included — they are listed below, not discovered in month three. Prices and the service mix are as checked on 16 July 2026. This page is reference material, not tax or legal advice.
Government and third-party fees were never inside the $5 750 — and we print them here, on the same page as the price, instead of invoicing them as a surprise in month three.
Government and third-party fees — separate, checked 16 July 2026
- $40Z visa state fee, per person
- $70 / $140 / $160Residence permit state fee — one, two or five years
- $50/pageDocument translation in China — a visa file needs at least three documents: police clearance, degree certificate, reference letter
- $50–$80Notarisation per document for a remote setup — passport and power of attorney
- $50–$80Apostille or consular legalisation per document, minimum two documents
- $410/moHealth insurance and payroll taxes for an employee on a residence permit — per person, paid by the company, at the set CNY 6 000 salary
$410 a month for an employee on a residence permit is about $4 900 a year per person — more than the entire launch without a visa ($4 660). The figure assumes the set CNY 6 000 salary; a higher salary changes it, and we will quote your case. This is the line China budgets forget most often.
Get a quote for my caseThe five lines, opened up
Registration ends with a licence, four seals and translated documents
For $300 we prepare and file the documents, provide the legal address, obtain the business licence, make the seals and translate your passport and the licence. The seals number four: the company seal, the finance seal, the contract seal and the legal representative's personal seal. In China a seal is not stationery — it is signing power. Whoever holds the seal disposes of the company.
We do not guarantee the bank account — nobody honest does
For $1 360 we prepare the documents, book the appointment and go to the opening with you. The decision belongs to the bank, not to us. Anyone who guarantees you an account at a Chinese bank is selling something they do not control.
The legal address includes someone standing next to you at inspections
The $1 630 a year buys more than a lease agreement. It includes support when the migration service checks the premises, help with the account opening, and help during a tax inspection. An address without that support costs less anywhere you look — and it stops helping on exactly the day someone comes.
Finance and tax service is the part that keeps us around in year two
For $1 360 a year we register the tax account, file individual income tax, profit tax and the quarterly returns, issue invoices, reconcile the bank, prepare the annual financial statements, calculate CIT — corporate income tax — file the annual corporate report and keep the accounting vouchers. The profile matches our own Shams licence No. 2327240: "accounting, bookkeeping and auditing activities; tax consultancy". This line and the address are the whole of year two: $3 000 a year, known before you start.
The visa line is first-time issuance for one person — renewals are quoted separately
$1 090 per person covers the initial processing: the work permit, the work visa and the electronic social-insurance card. State fees come on top — $40 for the Z visa, and $70, $140 or $160 for a residence permit of one, two or five years. Our price list fixes the first issuance only; it does not price the renewal, so we quote renewals per case instead of inventing a number here.
Opening without a trip to China
The launch can run without you flying in. Two documents are certified where you live, then made valid for China, then translated once they arrive. Three steps, each with its price attached.
Step one — notarise two documents: your passport and a power of attorney
A local notary certifies both, at $50–$80 per document.
Step two — legalise or apostille, depending on your country
If your country is in the Hague Convention, an apostille is enough — $50–$80 per document, at least two documents. Everyone else goes through consular legalisation.
Step three — the documents are translated in China at $50 a page
We handle the translation on the China side, so the wording matches what the registrar and the bank expect to read.
What you will not find on this page — and why
Orion Consulting publishes no China tax rates — not corporate income tax, not VAT, not individual income tax thresholds. As of 16 July 2026 we have not verified them against the Chinese tax authorities' own publications, and one rule runs this entire site: a figure appears on a page only with its source and a check date. Our service prices are open in full; the rates are not.
Everything the internet says about China's rates traces back to consultants, not to the state
Retelling another consultant's retelling is not something we do in a tax matter. On the UAE pages we work differently and it shows: each figure stands on a decision number — FDL 47/2022, MD 84/2025, MD 229/2025 — because we downloaded and read those decisions. On Hong Kong we publish 8.25% and 16.5% and point at the catch in the same breath. For China that verification has not happened yet — so there are no figures.
No registration timelines — our price list does not fix any
A handsome number of days on a landing page is exactly what we criticise elsewhere. We name the timeline once we know your city and your activity, and then we answer for it.
No charter-capital promises, no account guarantees, no invented reviews
Whether your case needs registered capital, how much and when it is paid in — our price list does not say, so this page will not guess; that answer comes with the quote for your city and activity. The bank account: the decision is the bank's. And there are no client stories here because we publish none without written consent — a page about money that fabricates its reviews lies about the rest too.
What we do about China tax instead of writing about it: we register the tax account, file individual income tax, profit tax and the quarterly returns, calculate CIT and submit the annual statements — all inside the $1 360-a-year service. The rate for your activity and your city we will name in correspondence, together with the rule it stands on. A number we cannot yet answer for does not go in the shop window.
Читаете по-русски? This page exists in Russian with a fuller section for Russian tax residents.
Questions people ask before a contract
What is a WFOE?
A WFOE — Wholly Foreign-Owned Enterprise — is a mainland-China company owned entirely by its foreign investor, with no local partner. It is the term people search, and it is a fine term. One honest note: our price list does not operate with legal forms — it prices the services that make a company work, and the right form for your case is named individually, in correspondence, before any contract.
Is the $5 750 launch a WFOE registration?
It is a company registration; the price list behind this page prices five services and does not fix the legal form. Whether your company should be a WFOE, a joint venture or a representative office depends on your activity and your city — we answer that for your case rather than promise a form from a landing page. What the $5 750 does fix: registration, a corporate bank account, a legal address for a year, finance and tax service for a year, and a work visa for one person.
What does the company cost from year two?
Two lines from the launch estimate repeat every year: the legal address at $1 630 and the finance and tax service at $1 360 — $3 000 a year, counted openly. An employee on a residence permit adds $410 a month — about $4 900 a year at the set CNY 6 000 salary, paid by the company. One footnote we refuse to hide: the price list covers the work permit and visa as first-time issuance only, so a visa renewal is quoted separately for your case.
Can I open the company without flying to China?
Yes. You notarise two documents where you live — your passport and a power of attorney — at $50–$80 each. They are then legalised or apostilled: if your country is in the Hague Convention, an apostille is enough, at $50–$80 per document, minimum two documents. We translate them in China at $50 a page.
What exactly does the work visa line cover?
$1 090 per person is the first-time processing: the work permit, the work visa and the electronic social-insurance card. State fees are separate — $40 for the Z visa, and $70, $140 or $160 for a residence permit of one, two or five years. The visa file needs at least three documents translated at $50 a page: a police clearance certificate, a degree certificate and a reference letter.
I am a Russian tax resident. Do I have to report a China company at home?
Yes. While you are a Russian tax resident, a foreign company under your control is a controlled foreign company. Two filings matter: a participation notice within three months of acquiring the stake — clause 3, Article 25.14 of the Russian Tax Code, with a RUB 50,000 fine per foreign company for missing it under clause 2, Article 129.6 — and an annual CFC notice, due by 30 April for individuals under clause 2, Article 25.14. A missed CFC notice costs RUB 500,000, and the statute applies it "по каждой контролируемой иностранной компании" — for each controlled foreign company (clause 1, Article 129.6; text of the norms checked 29 July 2026). Control starts at a stake above 25%, or above 10% when Russian tax residents together hold more than 50%. This answer is general and is not tax advice — review your case against the documents.
Why does a China page quote prices from a dirham price list?
Because the company issuing the invoice is ours in the UAE: Orion Consulting and Bookkeeping LLC, Shams Free Zone licence No. 2327240. The price list is kept in UAE dirhams, and this page shows the amounts in US dollars at the fixed peg of AED 3.6725 = $1 so they are easy to compare. The one line that is neither dirhams nor dollars is the CNY 6 000 salary base for employee insurance — that one is set in yuan.
China or Hong Kong?
It depends on your model, and the honest difference is this: for Hong Kong we publish the tax mechanics, for China we do not yet. In Hong Kong profits tax is 8.25% on the first HKD 2,000,000 and 16.5% above, there is no VAT and no dividend tax, an audit is mandatory every year, and registration starts at $2 100. For China our service prices are open, the rates are not. If your question is about tax, start with Hong Kong.
Tell us the city, the activity and how many visas
That is everything we need for a real quote. We reply with the launch estimate for your case, the fees your documents will actually trigger, the timeline we can stand behind for your city — and the year-two figure, because we plan to be the ones invoicing it.
Orion Consulting and Bookkeeping LLC, Downtown Dubai, available 24/7. We register companies in the UAE, Hong Kong and China and run the accounting that follows.