( Promulgated by the Ministry of Foreign Trade
and Economic Cooperation on April 4, 1995, and effective upon promulgation)
With a view to promoting foreign investors to
make investment in China and introducing foreign advanced technologies and managerial
experience, foreign investors are permitted to establish investment companies in China in
accordance with relevant Chinese laws and regulations concerning foreign investment as
well as these regulations.
Article 1 For purposes of these
Regulations, investment company refers to a company either
solely established by a foreign investor/foreign investors
( hereinafter referred to as the foreign investor) or co-funded
with a Chinese investor/Chinese investors ( hereinafter referred
to as the Chinese investor) in China which is engaged in direct
investment. The form of an investment company shall be limited
liability company.
Article 2 The following conditions
shall be satisfied when applying for the establishment of
an investment company:
I. 1. The foreign investor shall have good
financial credit and shall possess the economic capabitity required by the establishment
of an investment company. The total assets of the investor one year before the application
is submitted shall be no less than US $ 400 million. And the investor has already
established, within the territory of China, enterprises with foreign investment, with the
actually paid-in contribution of registered capital exceeding US $ 10 million and with the
project prosposals for more than three projects approved, or: 2. The foreign investor
shall have good financial credit and shall possess the economic capability required by the
establishment of an investment company. And the investor has already established, within
the territory of China, more than ten enterprises with foreign investment which are
engaged in production and infrastructure construction, with the actually paid-in
contribution of registered capital exceeding US $ 30 million;
II. Where an investment company is estabished
in the form of an equity joint venture, the Chinese investor shall have good financial
credit and shall possess the economic capability required by the establishment of an
investment company, with the total assets of no less than RMB100 million yuan;
III. The registered capital of an investment
company shall be no less than US $ 30 million.
Article 3 Investors shall, in
applying for the establishment of an investment company, submit
the following documents for examination and approval to the
Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation ( hereinafter
referred to as MOFTEC) after these documents have been examined
and approved by foreign economic relations and trade authorities
in provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly
under the central government and special cities with independent
plan where the investment company will be established.
I. Project proposal of the establishment of
the co-funded investment company, feasibility study report, comtract and articles of
association signed by all investors; project propsal, application form of establishing a
wholly foreign-owned enterprise, feasibility study report and articles of association
signed by the foreign investor of the solely owned investment company;
II. Financial credit documents of all
investors, copies of the registration documents and certificates and documents of the
legal representative (copies);
III. ( Copies of ) the approval certificates
of the enterprises already invested by the foreign investor, ( copies of ) business
licenses and ( copies of ) the capital verification reports issued by accountants
registered in China;
IV. Balance sheets of all investors in the
recent three years;
V. Other documents required by MOFTEC.
The afore-mentioned documents shall be the
original documents, unless otherwise noted as copies.
Documents not signed by the legal
representative shall be accompanied by the Power of Attorney signed by the legal
representative.
Where an intermediary organization established
according to law has been entrusted to go through the application procedures, a Power of
Attorney issued by the legal person of the investor shall be presented.
Article 4 Investment contributed
by the foreign investor as the registered capital of the company
shall be provided in freely convertible currency and investment
contributed by the Chinese investor may be provided in RMB
yuan. The investment shall be paid within two years from the
date of the issuance of the business license.
Article 5 An investment company
may engage in part of all of the following business activities
upon approval:
I. To make investment in areas of industry,
agriculture, infrastructure and energy, etc. which are encouraged and permitted by the
state for foreign investment;
II. To provide the following services to the
enterprises in which an investment company has made investment ( hereinafter referred to
as the enterprises ), as entrusted in written form by the enterprises ( with the unanimous
consent of the board of directors):
1. To assist the enterprises in purchasing or
purchasing by proxy, either from domestic market or from the international market,
machinery, equipments and office articles for the enterprises' own use and raw materials,
parts and components required by production, and selling or selling by proxy the products
made by the enterprises either on domestic or on international market and provide
after-sale services;
2. To balance foreign exchanges between/among
the enterprises with the consent and under the supervision of the foreign exchange control
authorities;
3. To assist the enterprises in recruiting
employees and to provide technical training, market development and consulting service;
4. To assist the enterprises in seeking for
loans and to provide guarantee.
III. To provide consulting service for the
investors of the investment company.
Article 6 For the
purposes of Article 5. II of these Regulations, the enterprises
in which an investment company has made investment refer to:
I. Enterprises directly invested by the
investment company or jointly invested with other foreign investors and/or Chinese
investors, with the investment contributed by the investment company or jointly
contributed with other foreign investors accounting for more than 25% of the registered
capital of the invested enterprises;
II. Enterprises in which the investment
contributed by the investment company and other foreign investors accounts for more than
25% of the registered capital of the enterprises when the investment company has acquired
part or all of the equities of its investors or its related companies and part or all of
the equities of the enterprises already established by other foreign investors within the
territory of the People's Republic of China.
An investment company may only provide the
services stipulated in Article 5.II to the enterprises, unless otherwise specially
approved by MOFTEC.
An investment company shall not be allowed to
engage, on behalf of its investors, in trade intermediary services in China.
Article 7 An investment company
may provide the enterprises with financial support as approved
by the People' Bank of China.
Article 8 The duration of an investment
company shall be verified in light of the nature of the projects
to be established by the investment company and in accordance
with the state regulations concerning the term of operation
of the enterprises with foreign investment.
Article 9 An investment
company, in establishing enterprises, shall go through separate
application procedures in light of relevant regulations pertaining
to the authorization for approval and approval procedures
for enterprises with foreign investment.
Article 10 The enterprises invested
by an investment company, with the investment in foreign currency
contributed by the investment company or contributed jointly
with other foreign investors accounting for no less than 25%
of the registered capital of the enterprises may enjoy the
treatment granted to enterprises with foreign investment.
and may be issued with certificate of approval and business
license for enterprises with foreign investment.
Article 11 Foreign investors satisfying
the provisions stipulated in Article 2. I. 1. of these Regulations may make investment
contribution to establish investment companies in the name of their wholly-owned
Subsidiaries.
Article 12 The investor,
in applying for the establishment of an investment company,
shall present a letter of guarantee to the examination and
approval authority to ensure the contribution to the registered
capital and technology transfer when the investment company
makes investment within the territory of China.
Where an investment company is established in
the name of a wholly-owned subsidiary, the parent company shall present a letter of
guarantee to the examination and approval authority to ensure the finalization of
contribution to the registered capital of the investment company by its subsidiary based
on the conditions approved by the examination and approval authority and to ensure the
contribution to the registered capital and technology transter when the investment company
makes investment within the territory of China.
Article 13 Investment activities of an
investment company within the territory of China shall not be restricted to the place of
registration of the company.
Article 14 An investment company shall
pay taxes according to relevant Chinese laws and regulations.
Article 15 An investment company shall
implement its programs of project investment in an earnest manner and report the
investment of each year to MOFTEC for recordation within two months of the following year.
Article 16 An investment company and
the enterprises invested by the investment company are legal persons or entities
independent to each other and their business contacts shall be handled as those between
independent enterprises.
Article 17 An investment company and
the enterprise invested by the investment company shall abide by Chinese laws and
regulations and shall not take any measures to evade tax and administration.
Article 18 These Regulations shall also apply when investors from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao regions make investment on the Mainland of China to estabish investment ompanies.
Article 19 MOFTEC shall be responsible for the interpretation of these Regulations.
Article 20 These Regulations shall enter into force upon promulgation.
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