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Where to register a company in China

Ownership rules are national. Everything that decides whether your registration goes smoothly is local.

Short answer

The rules on foreign ownership are national, so a WFOE is a WFOE in every city. What changes is local: how strictly the district verifies your registered address, how the banks in that city treat foreign-owned entities, which licences your scope triggers, and what it costs to run an office and hire staff. Choose the city where your customers, suppliers or staff actually are — then choose a district where your address can pass verification.

Six cities side by side

City	Licence timeline	Address and district	Best for
Shenzhen	3–5 working days	Qianhai and Hetao incentives; licensed virtual addresses widely accepted	Hardware, technology, cross-border holding structures
Shanghai	3–6 working days	Strictest address checks; Pudong, Jing'an and Huangpu for services	Consumer brands, trading, professional services, regional HQ
Guangzhou	3–5 working days	Tianhe for services, Panyu and Baiyun for trade, Nansha free trade zone	Sourcing, wholesale, export trading, e-commerce
Wuhan	3–5 working days	East Lake High-tech for technology; development zones for manufacturing	Manufacturing, logistics, central-China distribution
Hangzhou	3–5 working days	Yuhang and Binjiang for e-commerce; ICP filings check the site	E-commerce brands, live commerce, SaaS
Chengdu	3–5 working days	High-tech Zone for technology; food and beverage needs a site inspection	Software and gaming, western-China distribution

Shenzhen Register a company in Shenzhen Hardware, technology and cross-border structures, with Qianhai and Hetao offering their own incentives. Read the guide Shanghai Register a company in Shanghai The largest base of foreign-invested companies in mainland China — and the strictest address verification of the six cities we cover. Read the guide Guangzhou Register a company in Guangzhou South China's trading floor — the fastest route for sourcing, wholesale and cross-border e-commerce. Read the guide Wuhan Register a company in Wuhan Central China's manufacturing and logistics base — the lowest operating cost of the six cities we cover. Read the guide Hangzhou Register a company in Hangzhou China's e-commerce capital — the right base if your revenue comes from marketplaces, live commerce or SaaS. Read the guide Chengdu Register a company in Chengdu West China's consumer and software hub — cheaper to run, and the gateway to a market of over 100 million people. Read the guide

Frequently asked

Does the city change how much of the company I can own?

No. Ownership capacity is set nationally by the negative list, which is short and applies identically in every city. A foreign investor can hold 100% of a service, trading or technology company anywhere in mainland China. Sector restrictions, not geography, are what limit ownership.

Which city is fastest to register in?

Licence issuance is similar across all six — typically three to six working days once the address documents are accepted. The real differences appear afterwards: bank account opening ranges from one to four weeks depending on the city and the branch, and sector licences such as food, education or ICP add weeks or months regardless of where you are.

Can I register in one city and operate in another?

Yes, but it creates friction. The registered address determines the tax authority, the bank branch and the district that inspects you, so a company registered in Chengdu but operating in Shanghai will deal with Chengdu officials by post and may face questions about substance. If the operation is genuinely in another city, register there.