Por Dalida Turkovic

Cuadro Beijing en los años 90 tempranos: una presencia visual fuerte del comunismo en la cubierta típica del patio-estilo (12 familias contenidas en un bloque construido alrededor de una yarda central), los juegos grises de Mao por todas partes, casi ningún neón que anuncia muestras y solamente los coches y las mini-furgonetas ocasionales en las calles. En esos días había dos modernidades: Yuan y FEC (modernidad de la moneda extranjera) disponibles solamente para los extranjeros, con un cambio más bajo que Yuan (1$=8.9yuan, 1$=7.4FEC). El control de gobierno fuerte, exacerbado por los sucesos recientes en el cuadrado de Tiananmen, significó que era familiarización con la gente china casi imposible - no fueron permitidos entrar en hoteles y así que no tenían ninguna exposición a las mercancías extranjeras y a la forma de vida, que estaban solamente disponibles en hoteles.

Los mid-90 trajeron nuevas perspectivas y posibilidades a China. La propiedad privada crecía, trayendo cambia en estilo de vida y la extensión rápida durante la noche en la industria automovilística, las industrias de servicio, la publicidad de la calle y las propiedades inmobiliarias. Un extranjero que deseaba aprovecharse de las oportunidades numerosas de setting-up un negocio privado en China subió contra una montaña de los obstáculos presentados por ley china. La única manera que permitieron a un extranjero para comenzar un negocio estaba en sociedad con una persona local, que tendría que tener una parte importante de la propiedad y de todas las derechas legales. In order to apply, the name approval, acceptance from MOFTEC (the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Cooperation) and tons of other paperwork all had to be legally registered, which would take many months and was often dependant on how good guanxi (relationship building) your Chinese partner had with local authorities.

The beginning of the 21st Century brought further developments. The previously tedious business registration process could now be done by various consulting agencies, providing this service for a minimum sum in a much shorter time. The easiest way of setting up a company was to apply as a consultancy service, which term covered such a broad spectrum that it effectively allowed the individual to explore business opportunities according to the market growth. Three options became available:
- Full Chinese ownership for the investment of 100,000 yuan
- Joint venture with 51-49% ratio in favor of the Chinese partner for the same amount.
- Full foreign ownership (WOFE: Wholly Owned Foreign Enterprise) for $100,000
At this period China was still looking at limiting market growth to businesses with ’serious’ investment, although services for setting up ones own business were much improved and once the business was up and running the only further legal obligation was to pay taxes.

The year 2005 brought in yet more changes and China continues to relax its need for control. Setting up a consulting company now takes only a few months. With a small amount of paperwork and a minimum of $10,000, you can own the business in China, as long as it is already registered abroad, with a Hong Kong bank account. The second step would be to hire an accountant (part-time if necessary) and open a mainland China bank account. For office space, you can run your business from home as long as the real estate management has a licence for such services or if you own the apartment. So, these days you are pretty much free to find your own way, use your own guanxi and explore the many opportunities in the land of dragons.

Copyright 2006 Dalida Turkovic

Article Source: http://www.articles4meandu.com

Dalida Turkovic - Master Coach and Master NLP Practitioner has lived and worked in China since 1990. Please visit her business coaching website Small Steps Coaching and her blog at Life Coaching First Steps.