China
China: 6 company types, its taxes, banking and business environment, and what it is known for.
Forming a company
Company types in China
The 6 forms a founder can choose here, each with its own figures. Open one for its sources.
What it is known for
Where China is in the world’s top 10 on a measure anyone can check, the best rank first. Only the top is shown; a low rank is never stated.
- World’s1stLogistics and freight Container port traffic256.9 million TEU of 118 economies · 2021 World Bank, World Development Indicators See the top 10
- World’s1stWorld-leading exports Phones and network equipmentTelephone sets, including smartphones and other telephones for cellular networks or for other wireless networks; other apparatus for the transmission or reception of voice, images or other data, including apparatus for communication in a wired or wireless network (such as a local or wide area network), other than transmission or reception apparatus of heading 8443, 8525, 8527 or 8528US$281 bn · 47.3% of world exports of 224 exporters · 2024 CEPII BACI, January 2026 release See the top 10
- World’s1stWorld-leading exports Computers and data-processing unitsAutomatic data-processing machines and units thereof; magnetic or optical readers, machines for transcribing data onto data media in coded form and machines for processing such data, not elsewhere specified or includedUS$190.4 bn · 37.5% of world exports of 226 exporters · 2024 CEPII BACI, January 2026 release See the top 10
- World’s1stResearch and technology Patent applications by residents1,672,001 of 121 economies · 2024 World Bank, World Development Indicators See the top 10
- World’s1stResearch and technology High-technology exportsUS$856.8 bn of 123 economies · 2024 World Bank, World Development Indicators See the top 10
- World’s2ndLogistics and freight Air freight carried26,170 million tonne-km of 137 economies · 2023 World Bank, World Development Indicators See the top 10
- World’s2ndWorld-leading exports Electronic integrated circuitsUS$167.5 bn · 18.4% of world exports of 220 exporters · 2024 CEPII BACI, January 2026 release See the top 10
- World’s4thDigital services ICT service exportsUS$73.6 bn of 133 economies · 2025 World Bank, World Development Indicators See the top 10
- World’s4thTax-treaty network Income-tax treaties in force110 of 100 treaty networks we hold the tax authority's own list (tax-treaties collection) See the top 10
- World’s7thForeign investment Foreign direct investment received, a year on averageUS$58 bn of 182 economies · 2023–2025 World Bank, World Development Indicators See the top 10
- World’s9thKnowledge-intensive economy Economic Complexity Index1.27 of 142 economies · 2024 Harvard Growth Lab, Atlas of Economic Complexity (CC0) See the top 10
A rank is among everything the source reports for that year, so it moves when the source adds or drops economies. Exports include goods passing through for re-export. Nothing here is a recommendation.
Doing business here
Business accounts
Providers whose own published list of countries names China. A listing means a company formed here may apply, not that it will be accepted.
Not in our records No provider's country list has been read for China.
EU listings
Two lists a bank checks when it opens an account for a company or its owner.
- EU high-risk third countries (AML)
- Not listed
- EU non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes
- Not listedOfficial EUR-Lex, 52026XG01465, Annex I as of 2026-02-17
Official sites
The authorities’ own sites for China: where to register, file and check.
Blocs and agreements
The trade arrangements China belongs to, as each arrangement’s own texts state them: since when, and what each covers. What a membership means for a business is for you to judge.
- Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership
- Free trade area · since 1 January 2022
Covers goods, services, investment.
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1 January 2022 Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Japan, Lao PDR, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, Viet Nam
- Andean Community
- Observer
Listed as observer country; no date given.
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La Comunidad Andina, integrada por Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador y Perú es un organismo internacional líder en integración en el continente
Regional and customs arrangements only, 36 of them; bilateral trade agreements are not yet in our records.
Tax
Company tax
Tax, and what the company owes the registry each year.
- Corporate income tax
- 25%
- Distributions
- Not in our records
- Audit
- Financial report to be audited by an accounting firm in accordance with law (Art. 208)
- Small-company relief
- Not in our records
- Annual obligations
- Not in our records
- Annual registry fee
- Not in our records
VAT
The tax on what the company sells in China, and when it must register, as the tax authority states it.
- The tax
- VAT (value added tax)
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第十条 增值税税率： （一）纳税人销售货物、加工修理修配服务、有形动产租赁服务，进口货物，除本条第二项、第四项、第五项规定外，税率为百分之十三。
- Standard rate
- 13%
The VAT Law passed on 25 December 2024 applies from 1 January 2026 with the 13%, 9% and 6% rates; a 3% levy rate applies under the simplified method.
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第十条 增值税税率： （一）纳税人销售货物、加工修理修配服务、有形动产租赁服务，进口货物，除本条第二项、第四项、第五项规定外，税率为百分之十三。
- Other rates
- 9% Transport, postal and basic telecommunications services, construction, leasing and sale of real estate, transfer of land-use rights, and listed goods such as agricultural products, edible oil and salt, water, gas and heat, books and newspapers, feed, fertiliser, pesticides, farm machinery and film
- 6% Services and intangible assets other than those taxed at 13%, 9% or zero
- 0% Exports of goods and cross-border sales of services and intangible assets within the scope set by the State Council
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（二）纳税人销售交通运输、邮政、基础电信、建筑、不动产租赁服务，销售不动产，转让土地使用权，销售或者进口下列货物，除本条第四项、第五项规定外，税率为百分之九：
- Registration threshold
- CNY 5,000,000 · about €666,676
annual VAT-taxable sales (年应征增值税销售额); above it registration as a general taxpayer is compulsory; continuous 12 months or four quarters
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本法所称小规模纳税人，是指年应征增值税销售额未超过五百万元的纳税人。
- A foreign company
- no local representative required
Where a unit or individual outside China carries out a taxable transaction in China, the purchaser is the withholding agent; the foreign supplier may instead appoint a domestic agent to file and pay under State Council rules, so no agent is required of it.
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第十五条 境外单位和个人在境内发生应税交易，以购买方为扣缴义务人；按照国务院的规定委托境内代理人申报缴纳税款的除外。 扣缴义务人依照本法规定代扣代缴税款的，按照销售额乘以税率计算应扣缴税额。
- Returns filed
- Depends on the business
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第三十条 增值税的计税期间分别为十日、十五日、一个月或者一个季度。纳税人的具体计税期间，由主管税务机关根据纳税人应纳税额的大小分别核定。不经常发生应税交易的纳税人，可以按次纳税。 纳税人以一个月或者一个季度为一个计税期间的，自期满之日起十五日内申报纳税；以十日或者十五日为一个计税期间的，自次月一日起十五日内申报纳税。
- Tax authority
- Registration page read 2026-10-22
Tax calendar
When the main returns and payments fall due in China, tax year 2025, as the tax authority states it.
- Corporate tax return
- 5 months after the end of the tax year · each year
for consolidated tax payment an enterprise must file the annual enterprise income tax return within five months after the end of a tax year and settle the tax payable or refundable — for a calendar tax year, by 31 May of the following year (the 2025 return is due by 31 May 2026).
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For consolidated tax payment, an enterprise shall file an annual enterprise income tax return within five months after the end of a tax year and settle the tax to be paid or refunded
- Corporate tax, final payment
- 5 months after the end of the tax year · each year
the annual settlement (final settlement and payment) is made at the same time as the annual return, within five months after the end of the tax year; the enterprise settles the whole year's EIT, paying the shortfall or claiming the excess — for a calendar tax year, by 31 May.
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For consolidated tax payment, an enterprise shall file an annual enterprise income tax return within five months after the end of a tax year and settle the tax to be paid or refunded
- Corporate tax, instalments
- Day 15 of the following month · each quarter
enterprise income tax is prepaid monthly or quarterly, the period being determined by the competent tax authority; on the basis of the actual profit of the month or quarter an enterprise files its prepayment return and pays within fifteen days after the end of the month or quarter. The record uses the common quarterly case; large enterprises normally prepay monthly, and the period, once fixed, may not be changed during the tax year.
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For prepayment of tax, an enterprise shall file an enterprise income tax prepayment return within 15 days after the end of a month or quarter.
- Personal income-tax return
- 30 June · each year
a resident individual with comprehensive income who must settle annually does so between 1 March and 30 June of the year following the income year; the record takes 30 June, the closing date of the statutory window. Individuals whose tax was fully withheld and whose circumstances fall outside the mandatory cases need not file.
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需要办理汇算清缴的，应当在取得所得的次年三月一日至六月三十日内办理汇算清缴
- Personal income tax, final payment
- 30 June · each year
the annual reconciliation (汇算清缴) determines the tax actually due for the year and settles it against tax already withheld, paying the shortfall or refunding the excess; it is completed within the 1 March to 30 June window, so the balance is paid by 30 June.
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需要办理汇算清缴的，应当在取得所得的次年三月一日至六月三十日内办理汇算清缴
- Personal income tax, instalments
- Day 15 of the following month · each quarter
an individual who derives business income computes individual income tax annually, prepays it monthly or quarterly by filing a return within fifteen days after the end of the month or quarter, and settles the year before 31 March of the following year. Employees' wages are taxed by withholding, not by individual prepayment, so this obligation concerns business income.
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由纳税人在月度或者季度终了后十五日内向税务机关报送纳税申报表，并预缴税款
- VAT return
- Day 15 of the following month · each month
where the VAT period is a month or a quarter, the taxpayer files and pays within fifteen days after the end of the period. The period is set by the competent tax authority from ten days, fifteen days, a month or a quarter; small-scale taxpayers and certain financial institutions (banks, finance companies, trust companies, credit unions) use the quarter, and other general taxpayers the month. The record takes the monthly case; the deadline is the fifteenth of the following month.
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纳税人以一个月或者一个季度为一个计税期间的，自期满之日起十五日内申报纳税
- Payroll withholding
- Day 15 of the following month · each month
the withholding agent must pay the tax withheld in each month or on each occasion into the State treasury within fifteen days of the following month and file the withholding return; withholding periods follow the payment of wages, so the standard case is monthly.
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扣缴义务人每月或者每次预扣、代扣的税款，应当在次月十五日内缴入国库，并向税务机关报送扣缴个人所得税申报表
Running the company
Running a company here
Not in our records The authorities’ pages on running a company have not been read for China yet.
Economy and trade
What it exports
Goods China exported, by product, as a share of its goods exports each year. Exports include goods passing through for re-export. A share describes China’s own trade; it does not compare places.
| Product (HS heading) | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Value, 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Telephone sets, including smartphones and other telephones for cellular networks or for other wireless networks; other apparatus for the transmission or reception of voice, images or other data, including apparatus for communication in a wired or wireless network (such as a local or wide area network), other than transmission or reception apparatus of heading 8443, 8525, 8527 or 8528 HS 8517 | 8.5% | 9.3% | 7.8% | US$281 bn |
| Automatic data-processing machines and units thereof; magnetic or optical readers, machines for transcribing data onto data media in coded form and machines for processing such data, not elsewhere specified or included HS 8471 | 6.1% | 5.3% | 5.3% | US$190.4 bn |
| Electronic integrated circuits HS 8542 | 4.5% | 4.1% | 4.6% | US$167.5 bn |
| Motor cars and other motor vehicles principally designed for the transport of persons (other than those of heading 8702), including station wagons and racing cars HS 8703 | 1.1% | 2.3% | 2.5% | US$91.3 bn |
| Electric accumulators, including separators therefor, whether or not rectangular (including square) HS 8507 | 1.6% | 2.3% | 2.1% | US$75.5 bn |
| Parts and accessories of the motor vehicles of headings 8701 to 8705 HS 8708 | 1.4% | 1.5% | 1.5% | US$54.5 bn |
| Semiconductor devices (for example, diodes, transistors, semiconductor-based transducers); photosensitive semiconductor devices, including photovoltaic cells whether or not assembled in modules or made up into panels; light-emitting diodes (LED), whether or not assembled with other light-emitting diodes (LED); mounted piezo-electric crystals HS 8541 | 1.6% | 1.8% | 1.4% | US$52.2 bn |
| Electrical transformers, static converters (for example, rectifiers) and inductors HS 8504 | 1.4% | 1.5% | 1.4% | US$52.1 bn |
| Parts and accessories (other than covers, carrying cases and the like) suitable for use solely or principally with machines of headings 8470 to 8472 HS 8473 | 1.3% | 1.2% | 1.3% | US$45.7 bn |
| Tricycles, scooters, pedal cars and similar wheeled toys; dolls' carriages; dolls; other toys; reduced-size (scale) models and similar recreational models, working or not; puzzles of all kinds HS 9503 | 1.3% | 1.2% | 1.1% | US$40.7 bn |
Total goods exports, 2024: US$3,605.7 bn. The ten largest headings are shown.