Often referred to by many acronyms, the wholly foreign owned enterprise (“WFOE”) or foreign invested enterprise (“FIE”) is simply a Chinese corporation that is 100% owned by a foreign party. As no Chinese joint venture partner is required, most technology or specialized manufacturing companies choose this as their preferred entity.

A WOFE can sell into the domestic market - manufacture for export only - or both. Some technology and components can be imported duty free. And finally, there are substantial tax holidays in certain favored industries. Virtually any technology company can qualify for these additional tax breaks. Of course, one need not be a manufacturer to take advantage of this flexible structure.

As of December 2004, many of the service industries included in the Horizontal Agreements Appendix of China’s accession to WTO have also matured. In the last years alone, we have ramped up, or continue to act as local counsel for clients in the areas of: hotels, microchip design, circuit board manufacture, shipbuilding, oil & gas services and manufacturing, logistics services, industrial construction supply, engineering services and restaurants.

Generally, port formation and ramp up, we also remain involved as local counsel to ensure ongoing compliance with administrative, regulatory and tax requirements.