Sales in China without WFOE

No. You must have a China government/Shanghai government-approved company. You must have the approval from China Tax Bureau and have tax invoices system. See my PM.

You do not have to set up a company in China for that, as long as you do your transactions in foreign currency. I have been doing the same for more than 10 years, with a BVI-registered company.

Thanks for the information. Alright, I thought it was possible to go via a middlehand/consulting company to invoice customers in China and then collect the money myself in the end. Much the same way that it’s possible to hire a local staff member through a middle hand. I guess another option is simply to find a local partner in the same industry and then use them to invoice the customers in my name for a small fee per transaction.

To do this properly you have two options (1) Get a local distributor to buy it from you in foreign currency. They will pay out outside China, you will sell it to them outside China, and they will handle all the importing and tax issues themselves. (2) Sell directly to your end customers. Again, you sell it to them outside China, they pay you outside China, and they handle the importing and taxes themselves. In either case, if you are in China most of the time and selling the stuff, you are technically required to set up a Rep Office to be your official presence here. If you are only visiting occasionally to do the selling you can just do it on a business visa. In either case, but especially in case (1), be VERY careful about what your distributor is doing, how they are representing the products, how they are selling them, etc. Assume they are in it for a quick profit, and care nothing for your product or brand. The scams, misrepresentations, bad service, and etc. done by the local distributors or agents in China have ruined many foreign brands. Good luck.

Our company does exactly what you need. You can sell in China without registering an entity through our local infrastructure. We can import your products, sign a sales contract with your end-user in China, invoice him in RMB (fapiao), collect money, and send it to your account. Our fee is % of the RMB invoice. We also handle VAT refunds/deductions and can work with Chinese end-users on credit terms. We also can hire Chinese local staff on your behalf with payroll and place him in our shared office. Basically, our solution allows you to develop sales independently in China without registering an entity. We take care of all formalities and managerial aspects (finance, HR, logistics, admin) while you or your local sales team focus on sales. Send me a DM if you are interested.