Legal & Regulatory

In this issue of China Briefing Magazine, we discuss annual compliance requirements for China foreign-invested entities and detail the full audit processes for representative offices, wholly foreign owned enterprises, and joint ventures in China.

Understanding the complex regulatory approval process for China’s outbound foreign direct investments By Chet Scheltema, Frank Yang, and David Chan from Dezan Shira & Associates Dec. 31 – Times are changing for the global financial community. China was the largest investor in developing economies in 2010 and 2011, with total outbound foreign direct investment (OFDI) […]

Dec. 24 – The new issue of Vietnam Briefing Magazine, titled Annual Compliance and Audit, is out now and temporarily available as a complimentary PDF download on the Asia Briefing Bookstore. In Vietnam, the standard tax year is typically the calendar year, and therefore the deadline for foreign-owned entities to submit audited financial reports to […]

By Chet Scheltema and Hazel Wang of Dezan Shira & Associates Dec. 7 – Chinese government policy and legal guidelines for handling infectious diseases among the workforce have recently undergone major revisions and are now relatively straightforward and unambiguous. Those diseases serious enough to require isolation and quarantine are clearly identified, and any employee suspected […]

Nov. 29 – There are a number of legally-mandated requirements with which FIEs in Vietnam must comply, failure of which will jeopardize the ability of the FIE to continue operating in Vietnam. These procedures and requirements may be different from what the FIEs are accustomed to in their home countries. Investors should therefore be sure […]

Nov. 28 – The Vietnamese government has relaxed previous visa application requirements whereby foreigners had to apply at Vietnamese embassies and consulates in their country of origin to obtain single or multiple-entry visas. Now, Vietnam has outsourced the process to a number of select companies who can quickly process visa applications online.

Asia Briefing has just released a new 102-page guide introducing everything that foreign investors in China should be familiar with from the human resources and payroll management perspective.

Oct. 15 – Annual audit and compliance procedures are relatively simple for foreign representation entities compared to Indian setup entities. Foreign Representation Entities For annual compliance, foreign representation entities are required to file the following: Audited balance sheet Profit and loss accounts Director’s report Statutory auditors’ report Annual account of holding company List of places […]

Oct. 12 – Many foreign-invested companies and representative offices in China have a contract in place with a FESCO (Foreign Enterprise Service Company) for labor dispatch, payroll and/or additional services for Chinese employees. Many foreign investors assume that FESCO is a single organization, but in fact it is a generic term used by dozens of […]

Sept. 27 – The first step in setting up a business in Vietnam is acquiring an Investment Certificate (IC), also known as a Business Registration Certificate. The time period required to acquire an IC varies by industry and entity type, as these determine the registrations and evaluations required: For projects that require registration, IC issuance […]