Do I Need a Company in China to Sell Online? How to Sell in China Without a Chinese Company

Yes, you can sell in China without a Chinese company. Cross-border e-commerce lets a foreign business sell to Chinese consumers from abroad, on a marketplace or through its own website or WeChat Mini Program, with payment in RMB and settlement in its own currency. You need a local entity, or a local importer, to sell like a domestic merchant.

China rarely rewards a strategy copied from Western markets, and the question of a local company comes early. This article compares the ways to sell without a Chinese entity, explains how you get paid, and shows when a local company becomes necessary. QPSoftware, a cross-border e-commerce agency in Shanghai, builds stores for brands that sell from abroad.

Can You Sell Online in China Without a Local Entity?

Yes. China’s rules on cross-border retail imports are written for sellers registered abroad. A 2018 notice of the Ministry of Commerce and five other departments defines the cross-border e-commerce company as an enterprise registered outside China that sells retail imports to consumers in China. Its goods are supervised as personal items, within buyer limits of RMB 5,000 per order and RMB 26,000 per year.

Two conditions come with it:

• A local agent for customs. The seller appoints a company registered in China, which registers with customs, declares truthfully and shares civil liability.
• Responsibility toward buyers. The seller remains responsible for product information, returns, recalls and compensation for quality problems.

For the full picture of the channel, from the list of goods to customs clearance, read our guide to cross-border e-commerce in China.

What Are the Ways to Sell in China Without a Chinese Company?

There are three main options:

Option	How it works	What to watch
Your own cross-border store	A website or a WeChat Mini Program; a cross-border payment service collects RMB and pays you in your currency	Logistics, customs data and the official list of goods
Cross-border marketplace	Tmall Global or JD Worldwide hosts your store and brings its shoppers	Each platform sets its own entry requirements
Service provider in China	A registered company handles declaration, payment, logistics or warehousing for you	You remain responsible to your buyers

Your Own Cross-Border Store

With your own cross-border store, you do not need to set up a company in China. You need a good partner for the store and for the payment. Selling services is simpler, since payment is the main issue. Selling products adds logistics, customs clearance and the list of goods allowed for retail import.

Cross-Border Marketplaces

Marketplaces such as Tmall Global and JD Worldwide work a bit like Amazon, each in its own way. They set their own requirements, which differ from one platform to another and are easier to meet for a business that has already proven itself in other countries. The retail import rules also require the platform to be registered in China and with customs, and to verify the identity of the sellers it hosts.

Service Providers

Brands that do not want a tax entity in China can work with a service provider registered in China. Under the 2018 notice, such a provider handles declaration, payment, logistics or warehousing on behalf of the overseas seller. Under the tax rules for retail imports, the e-commerce company, the platform or the logistics company can collect the tax on the buyer’s behalf.

How Do You Get Paid in RMB Without a Chinese Company?

Chinese consumers pay with the mobile wallets they use every day, and cross-border payment services let a foreign merchant accept them. WeChat Pay’s documentation for overseas merchants describes the model: the merchant prices its products in one or several currencies, the buyer pays in RMB at WeChat Pay’s exchange rate, and the merchant is settled in one currency, on T+1.

This is how QPSoftware works. We integrate Chinese payment methods such as WeChat Pay and Alipay into your store: your buyers pay in RMB, and you receive your own currency in your bank account outside China.

What QPSoftware Built for Ma France

Ma France runs a B2C platform that offers products made in France by French SMEs to Chinese consumers. QPSoftware developed its WeChat Mini Program store and integrated a cross-border payment solution: through the GoAllPay platform, payments from the WeChat wallet are transferred directly to Ma France’s bank account in France, and the store converts currencies automatically. Read the Ma France cross-border Mini Program case study.

When Do You Need a Company in China?

A local entity, or an importer working for you, becomes necessary when you want to operate as a domestic business rather than sell from abroad: to import goods through general trade and sell them from stock in China, or to sell products that are not on the list of goods allowed for retail import. Once you sell online from China, the E-commerce Law requires you to register your business (Article 10) and to hold the permits your activity needs (Article 12).

Two structures are common:

• A wholly foreign-owned enterprise (WFOE). You own the company alone, without a Chinese partner. QPSoftware took this route itself: founded in 2009, it opened its WFOE in Shanghai in 2010.
• A company with a Chinese partner. You set it up with a local partner who shares your goals and whom you can trust.

Selling from inside China also brings licenses into play: see the licenses you need to sell online in China.

Which Option Fits Your Business?

1. You want to test demand in China. Start cross-border, with your own store or a marketplace: there is no company to create.
2. You sell consumer products that are on the official list. Cross-border retail import fits, within the buyer limits.
3. You sell to Chinese businesses, or products outside the list. You need general trade, through your own company or a local importer.
4. Your volumes grow and China becomes a long-term market. Compare the cost of running a company in China with the margins of your cross-border sales.

What Should You Do Next?

The right choice depends on your products, your volumes and your plans for China. You can start without a company, prove demand, and decide later.

QPSoftware helps foreign brands sell to China without a Chinese entity: we build your store, connect WeChat Pay with payment in RMB and settlement in your currency, and launch. If you have questions about your own case, contact us.

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