China

Hart David Carson does not render PRC legal advice or hold itself out as a licensed PRC practice. We coordinate a facilitation and partner network of PRC law firms, accounting and corporate-services providers and banking relationships across the relevant provinces and municipalities, working alongside locally admitted PRC counsel who carry the regulated mandate and provide all formal legal advice, regulated services and filings before MOFCOM, SAMR, SAFE and other authorities.

Control. A wholly foreign-owned enterprise (WFOE) gives the parent control of the operating company; an equity or cooperative joint venture shares ownership and governance with a Chinese partner. Three things decide: the activity's place on the foreign-investment negative list, the need for a local partner's licenses or market access, and the commercial bargain. The difference bites at exit, when transfers need partner consent, so it is confirmed with PRC-admitted counsel before registration with the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR).

Through an offshore holding company that owns the PRC entity. PRC domestic trusts, which exist under the Trust Law but serve mainly licensed financial trust products, are rarely the planning vehicle; the offshore holding company carries governance and financing, and it is where treaty access and exit are planned. Every tier must clear foreign-exchange, tax-clearance and beneficial-ownership requirements before dividends or sale proceeds can leave, so we design the chain with PRC counsel from the first step.

Cross-border flows are administered by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) and the People's Bank of China, and the remittance of dividends, capital and royalties requires supporting documentation and tax clearance. Currency convertibility and outbound-flow planning are central to any China structure and should be settled at the outset with PRC counsel and the client's banks, long before an exit is in view.

Yes, by designated routes. Private-fund management is regulated by the China Securities Regulatory Commission and registered with the Asset Management Association of China (AMAC), and foreign managers often enter by registering a WFOE as a private-fund manager (PFM). Cross-border money moves through QFLP inbound and QDLP outbound, pilot programs operating in designated cities. These steps run in sequence and take time, so plan the launch calendar around them, and eligibility is confirmed with PRC-admitted counsel and the regulators.

At 25%, and again when cash leaves. Enterprise income tax runs at 25%, with reduced rates for qualifying high-tech and small enterprises, and value-added tax applies broadly. Dividends and royalties paid abroad carry withholding that treaties can reduce, so the holding company's treaty residence matters. China implements the Common Reporting Standard, is engaged with the global minimum-tax framework and scrutinizes transfer pricing. PRC treatment is fact-specific; the home-country position is a separate question for the client's own tax counsel.