Customizing Your China Wholly Foreign Owned Enterprise

by Chris Devonshire-Ellis, Senior Partner, Dezan Shira & Associates

Wholly Foreign Owned Enterprises (WFOE) have long been the preferred investment vehicle for international investors looking to China for lower production costs or for market access. Yet recently, a slap-dash, "cookie-cutter" approach to structuring such entities has become increasingly prevalent, and more than ever before, we are having to bail out increasing numbers of foreign investors by revising documents or even completely restructuring the investment.

While this on one hand is good news - we make money out of handling client difficulties - the reality is no professional firm likes to see such problems, and it is expensive and unnecessary for the investor to have to go through this pain, when all that was needed was more attention to detail. We prefer to see happy and successful international investors with profitable businesses.

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This article included in China Briefing Magazine
September 2006: Customizing Your China WFOE - Getting The Most From Your China Investment	Other articles in this issue: Two year countdown to the Olympics - Beijing works on infrastructure improvements by Dezan Shira & Associates, Investment Intelligence Unit, Greater China Dalian Office - Hot prospects for software industry in Dalian by Adam Livermore, Senior Associate, Dezan Shira & Associates