Por Dalida Turkovic

Retrato Beijing nos 1990's adiantados: uma presença visual forte do communism na carcaça típica do pátio-estilo (12 famílias abrigadas em um bloco construído em torno de uma jarda central), em ternos cinzentos de Mao em toda parte, quase nenhum néon que anuncia sinais e somente carros e mini-camionetes ocasionais nas ruas. Naqueles dias havia duas moedas correntes: Yuan e FEC (moeda corrente da troca extrangeira) disponíveis somente aos estrangeiros, com uma taxa de troca mais baixa do que Yuan (1$=8.9yuan, 1$=7.4FEC). O controle de governo forte, exacerbated pelos happenings recentes no quadrado de Tiananmen, significou que conhecer povos chineses era quase impossível - não foram permitidos entrar em hotéis e assim que não tiveram nenhuma exposição aos bens extrangeiros e ao lifestyle, que estavam somente disponíveis nos hotéis.

Os mid-90 trouxeram perspectives e possibilidades novos a China. A posse confidencial estava crescendo, trazendo muda no estilo de vida e na expansão rápida durante a noite na indústria de carro, nas indústrias de serviço, em anunciar da rua e na propriedade real. Um estrangeiro que quer fazer exame da vantagem das oportunidades numerosas do ajuste - acima de um negócio confidencial em China veio acima de encontro a uma montanha dos obstáculos apresentados pela lei chinesa. A única maneira que um estrangeiro foi permitido para começar um negócio estava na parceria com uma pessoa local, que tivesse que ter uma parte principal de posse e de todas as direitas legais. 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.