1. Approval Authorities Foreign-capital enterprises have to undergo a series of procedures to become a licensed company. The total amount of investment and the production division as described in AN INDUSTRY CATEGARY GUIDE FOR FOREIGN INVESTORS are the two major factors dividing central government and local government authorities over the registration approval. * State Development Planning Commission, The State Economic and Trade Commission, Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation are responsible for review and approval of projects with a foreign capital of US��30 million or above in industry, and other projects which require an approval from the State Council offices. * Government offices of Province, Autonomous Region, Municipalities and Special-planned cities are responsible for: I. projects with a total foreign capital of less than US��30million in non-restricted categories ; II. projects with a total foreign capital of less than US��30million but within restricted categories which have to be filed to the State Council Offices or upper level offices; Projects involving quota issuing and licenses have to undergo application from offices of Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation for such privileges; III. projects with a total foreign capital of US��30 million or above in the State promoted categories without future side effects, which have to be filed in the State Council Offices. 2. Business Establishment Procedures 1) Application Procedures for Establishing Joint Ventures with Chinese-Foreign Equity or as Contractual Partners I. The Approval of the Project Proposal Based on the knowledge of the partners�� business area and financial status, Chinese or foreign investors are entitled to forming the joint venture at their will. Chinese investors are supposed to produce a business proposal to be submitted to the examination and approval authorities (Planning Office or Technology Improvement and Management Office). Once approved, Chinese investors ought to have the joint venture registered to protect the company name and brand name. II. Approval of the Feasibility Study Right after the approval of the project proposal, the two parties are supposed to work on a feasibility study involving markets, capital, planned site, craftsmanship, technology, facilities, environment protection, raw material sale, return, foreign currency and the infrastructure to be submitted to the examination and approval authorities (Planning Office or Technology Improvement and Management Office). At the same time, two parties can discuss and sign the contract and other legal documents like the company chapter. III. Approval of the Contract and the Chapter and Issue of Certification for the Joint Venture Right after the approval of the feasibility study, the mutually signed contract and chapter can be submitted to the examination and approval authorities (Office of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation). The authority shall, within 90 days from the date of receiving the feasibility study, contract and chapter, decide whether or not to grant approval; within 45 days from the date of receiving the application for establishing the joint venture. Once the approval is granted, the office of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation issues the certificate of approval for foreign-capital enterprise IV. Application for Business License Within 30 days from the date of receiving the certification of approval for the establishment of a joint venture, the parties shall apply to the industry and commercial administrative office for registration in order to obtain a business license. The date of issue of the business license of the joint venture shall be the date of its establishment. 2) Application Procedures for Foreign-Capital Enterprises Foreign investors can entrust qualified agencies for application and approval of a foreign enterprise in China. The procedures for establishing foreign enterprises are comparatively simple with filling up THE APPLICATION FORM FOR SETTING UP FOREIGN ENTERPRISES IN CHINA and submitting the company articles and relevant legal documents to the office of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation. Under the RULES OF THE PEOPLE��S REPUBLIC OF CHINA ON FOREIGN-CAPITAL ENTERPRISES, the office of the authority is supposed to grant or not to grant its approval within 90 days from the date of receiving the application. Once the approval is granted, the office of Foreign Trade of Economic Cooperation issues the certification for foreign invested enterprise. The registration and license are proceeded with the certification. Foreign investment enterprises are supposed, within 30 days from the date of receiving their business licenses, to have their relevant registrations completed, including opening up the bank accounts for both Chinese and foreign currencies, tax registration, customs registration, foreign currency registration, business inspection and recruitment procedures. 3) One-Stop examination and Approval, Package Service To assist investors with their application and approval efficiency, many local governments provide one-stop examination and approval service. Offices of foreign trade and related government offices are co-working to speed up the procedures. Provincial governments, autonomous regions, special municipalities and high status cities all have their foreign investment service centers to proceed the procedures with a package service, which includes seeking partners, locating sites, writing business proposals and submitting, doing enterprises registration, providing feasibility study report, initiating contracts and company articles, applying business licenses, and also doing construction design and planning, obtaining land usage right, environment protection, fire prevention and public service, and some more like employee recruitment and data collection. In addition, consulting firms, law offices and accounting agencies are all available for a high quality service. 4) The legal Procedures for Foreign Investors to Come to China I. Entry Visas The potential foreign investors need to ask for the assistance from the potential Chinese business partners to get permission from the legally authorized local foreign affairs offices to issue notification for visa application. The foreign investors have to apply to the local Chinese embassies or consulates for an entry visa with the notification. The categories of the visa issued by Chinese government comprise of diplomatic visa, courtesy visa, business visa and private visa. In line with this, investors with one million US dollars or above invested in the west and middle areas of China��s poverty-stricken counties, or with three million US dollars or above invested in other areas can be issued multi-entry F visas valid for 2-5 years with a stay of no more than one year each time. The managing staff of such enterprises and organizations is entitled to the same privilege. Foreigners who need to stay and work in China for longer terms are to receive multi-entry Z visas valid for 2-5 years and the living permit of the same length. 2. Working Permit, Expert ID and Residency Certificate Foreign-capital enterprises can obtain Employment Certification for Foreigners in the People��s Republic of China for their international employees with their business licenses, foreign-capital enterprise certification, application and the documents concerning the potential employees. With the working permit, the legally authorized foreign affairs offices will issue visa application notification. The potential employees can apply for the appropriate visas at the Chinese embassies and consulates in the local areas with the employment certification and visa application notification. Once coming to China, the employee is supposed to get a working permit from the local labour bureau with documents of employment certification, visa, contract, health certificate and personal data. And a residency certificate from the police office of customs is also necessary once the working permit is obtained. Employees from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao apply for their working permits from the local offices of labor and social protection bureau in charge of people��s affairs of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao. Once approved by the offices, the employees can use the issued working permit to proceed for a residency certificate.