How do you sell to Chinese clients without being in China?

Selling to China usually gets framed as a decision about a subsidiary. For many companies, that decision comes much later, if at all.

The advice online is split. FDI China, which recommends forming a company and sells registration services, says selling without one works “technically, yes. Realistically, not well.”³

Law firm Harris Sliwoski leans the other way. By its own estimate, it formed more than 100 Chinese entities for clients from 2005 to 2015, and fewer than ten from 2016 to 2025.¹

This guide is part of our work on how to find Chinese customers. It covers selling, not legal structure.

Which route fits what you sell?

Start from your offer and your customer, not from a structure. These five routes all work without a Chinese company, though each moves the risk somewhere else.

Route	Fits	Your customer	What you need in China	Main risk
Cross-border service contract	Consulting, software, professional services	The Chinese client	Nothing permanent	Tax and getting paid 412
Direct export	Equipment, B2B goods	A buyer that handles importing 1	A capable importer	Product approvals, payment
Independent distributor	Physical goods at scale	The distributor 2	A vetted partner	Losing control of your brand
Cross-border e-commerce	Consumer goods on the positive list	The Chinese consumer 6	A registered local agent 6	Fees, liability, order limits 267
Licensing	Brands, technology, software	A Chinese licensee 2	A vetted licensee	Scope creep, no audit rights 2

Harris Sliwoski also lists agents, OEM partners and third-party logistics.² We cover agents below. Stock held for you in China raises a tax question, covered in the last section.

Licensing has its own paperwork. Harris Sliwoski wrote in 2019 that royalties on a technology or IP license need the contract registered under Chinese law, which can take from three days to six months or more.¹²

For what the law allows on each point, read can you do this without a Chinese company?

How do you sell a service from abroad?

Sign directly with the client, send your own invoice, and agree who bears the tax. Most product guides skip this route. It’s also where a small mistake costs you a share of each payment.

1. Check who you’re signing with. Get the registered Chinese legal name and the Unified Social Credit Code.¹ Related companies aren’t interchangeable.
2. Paper it properly. Harris Sliwoski’s 2019 advice is a written contract, dated by both sides and sealed by the Chinese party, ideally with a Chinese version.¹²
3. Settle the tax in the contract. The EU SME Centre lists income tax of generally 10%, VAT of 6% and surcharges of generally 0.72%, withheld by the client.⁴ It advises stating that your price is net of taxes, or raising it.⁴ The tax generally can’t be recovered, though your home country may credit it.⁴
4. Invoice each payment. Send a separate signed invoice for every payment.¹² A foreign invoice isn’t a fapiao, which our fapiao guide explains.
5. Warn the client about bank paperwork. Above USD 50,000 per payment, the client makes a tax filing first.¹⁰ One filing before the first payment covers a contract’s later payments.¹¹ Harris Sliwoski adds that the bank may ask for proof your company exists, and that no wire goes out until Chinese tax is paid.¹²
6. Take money before you work. Harris Sliwoski describes a typical split of 25%, another 25% and 50%, with half the fee held until the project is “completed.” It says to demand a large upfront payment and start work only once it arrives.¹²

China’s VAT Law covers services consumed in China and makes the buyer the withholding agent for a foreign seller, unless the seller uses a domestic agent under State Council rules.⁸ Income tax is less clear.

How do you sell goods to a Chinese company?

Sell to a company that imports for you, and verify it before you grant anything. Harris Sliwoski says direct sales suit sophisticated buyers that can handle importing themselves.¹

Otherwise, a distributor acts as your customer and your in-market representative, with no Chinese entity or bank account on your side.²

A US government guide says the Chinese importer usually gathers the customs documents.¹³ The standard set is the bill of lading, invoice, shipping list, declaration, insurance policy and sales contract.¹³

Harris Sliwoski’s guide is the reference on distribution contracts. These points matter most for a first deal:¹

• Exclusivity: Tie it to purchase commitments, such as a set dollar amount per year, not to “best efforts.”
• Territory: Don’t grant all of China on promises. Expand rights as they’re earned.
• Entity: Confirm which legal entity will sign, import, pay and sell.
• Resale prices: Fixed or minimum prices can raise Anti-Monopoly Law problems.
• Exit: China has no automatic goodwill payment, so settle stock, registrations and stores up front.

Calculate your real price before you negotiate. Foreign manufacturers often underestimate it, as Harris Sliwoski’s own worked example shows.¹

Step in Harris Sliwoski’s example 1	Amount
Customs value	USD 110.00
Duty at 10%	USD 11.00
Import VAT at 13%	USD 15.73
Cost before domestic costs and distributor margin	USD 136.73

Those rates come from the example, so check your own product’s code and origin. The guide adds that the importer may be able to credit import VAT, which changes the real cost.¹

A sales agent is different. Harris Sliwoski warns against calling someone a contractor when they’re effectively running your Chinese sales office, because the rules look at actual conduct.¹

How does cross-border e-commerce work?

The Chinese consumer buys from your foreign company through a cross-border platform, and the goods count as personal-use imports.⁶ It’s a narrow channel with hard limits.

Rule	What it says	Source
Seller	A company registered abroad that owns the goods	Circular 486 6
Shipping modes	Bonded stock (1210) or direct shipping (9610)	Circular 486 6
Products	On the positive list, for personal use, resale banned	Circular 486 6
List update	29 categories added from March 1, 2022	Gov.cn 18
Where it applies	37 cities and regions in the 2018 text, so check the current list	Circular 486 6
Limit per transaction	RMB 5,000	Notice 49 7
Limit per year	RMB 26,000	Notice 49 7
Single item above RMB 5,000	Allowed under the annual limit, with full duty and taxes	Notice 49 7
Above the annual limit	Treated as general trade	Notice 49 7

We found no later revision of these limits, which doesn’t prove there isn’t one. Check them with your agent.

“No entity” doesn’t mean “no one in China.” You must appoint a company registered in China for customs registration, and it shares civil liability with you.⁶

The channels differ in practice. Marketing to China puts bonded delivery at about 1 to 3 days and direct mail at 7 to 15 days.²⁰ That’s one agency’s figure.

Platforms add their own conditions. ChemLinked reported in April 2026 that Tmall Global asks for proof of production and sales outside China, including customs declarations from the past 90 days.¹⁹

Your own website is possible, too. The EU SME Centre says only direct shipping is allowed, with a domestic agent and a logistics provider connected to customs.⁵

It adds that this model best suits brands already known in China, and that blocked international search engines make such sites hard to find.⁵ Circular 486’s definition mentions only third-party platforms,⁶ so confirm this route with your agent.

What must you settle before the first sale?

Your trademark and your product’s right to enter China. Both can stop a deal, and the first one gets harder to fix over time.

Harris Sliwoski calls China “predominantly” first-to-file, says to file before you sign a distributor or ship an order, and warns that distributors sometimes register foreign brands themselves.¹

A foreign applicant with no domicile or business office in China must use a licensed trademark agency,²¹ and the Madrid System is another route.²²

Choose your classes with care. Harris Sliwoski describes gloves filed in the wrong class, which let a competitor detain shipments.¹

Then check your product. Which rule applies depends on what you sell.

Product	Rule	Source
Products sold in China	Must be marked in Chinese	US guide, 2025 14
Products on the CCC list	Can’t enter before CCC registration, which can take months	US guide, 2025 15
Food in 17 listed categories	Maker needs its home authority’s recommendation and customs registration, under Decree 280 since June 1, 2026	Singapore Food Agency 16
Medical devices	Filing or registration may be required	Harris Sliwoski 1
Cosmetics	Own registration and notification rules	Harris Sliwoski 1

Neither food source we read says how foods outside those 17 categories are handled, so check with your importer.

Sources seem to disagree on cross-border goods. Circular 486 says first-import licensing, registration and filing don’t apply, apart from suspended imports and emergency risk measures.⁶ CIRS’s headline calls the food maker exemption temporary, and its text says such imports don’t currently need registration.¹⁷

Harris Sliwoski says cross-border channels aren’t a blanket exemption from Chinese product rules.¹ Both can hold: a lighter entry process doesn’t remove your liability for the product.

Regulated products need a local specialist. This table only tells you where to start looking.

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How will Chinese buyers find you?

Through Chinese channels. The EU SME Centre says blocked international search engines make foreign sites hard to find.⁵ Baidu held 49.00% and Bing 21.69% of the search clicks StatCounter measured in October 2026.²³

Channel	Possible from abroad?	The catch
Chinese site on search engines	Yes, no ICP needed if hosted abroad, per Chinafy 24	Chinafy warns a slow site may not rank at all 24
Baidu Ads	Through an authorized agent, per AppInChina 25	AppInChina also requires a mainland-hosted site 25, so confirm with the agent
WeChat Service Account	Possible for some foreign entities, per a 2026 guide 26	Countries and procedure need confirming
Xiaohongshu professional account	Yes, without a Chinese subsidiary, per AppInChina 38	Manual verification 27, with a fee of RMB 600 in 2024 and 2026 sources 2738

The first row is the one you fully own. Read ranking on Baidu without an ICP, then decide which channel to start with.

Paid campaigns have their own rules, covered in how to advertise in China. Buyers will also check you out, so read how to earn their trust.

Plan who replies too. A Chinese page that leads to an unanswered message wastes the visit, so see answering Chinese enquiries without speaking Chinese.

How do you get paid from abroad?

It depends on who’s paying. Companies usually wire money through their bank,¹² and consumers expect a wallet. The EU SME Centre says credit cards are rarely used in China.⁵

Buyer	Usual method	What to know
Chinese company	Bank transfer	The bank reviews contract and invoice before paying 12
Consumer on your site	WeChat Pay, Alipay	Through a provider, depends on your country and business type 282930
Cross-border platform	The platform’s checkout	Settled under the platform’s own rules
Private individual, large sum	Bank transfer	Annual FX quota of USD 50,000, set in 2007 31

Providers differ on wallets. Stripe’s overview lists 22 business locations for WeChat Pay, with customers in China,²⁸ and its Checkout guide lists 35.³⁹ Airwallex accepts those payments only for businesses registered in Hong Kong or Singapore.²⁹

That limit may be Airwallex’s own, so confirm with your provider. For Alipay, Antom says coverage “does not equal automatic merchant approval.”³⁰

Our Alipay and WeChat Pay guide has more.

Stripe also lists no recurring WeChat Pay payments outside a private preview,²⁸ which matters if you sell subscriptions.

What puts you “in China” without meaning to?

People, stock, servers and fapiao. Each one can turn a clean cross-border setup into something that needs a local structure.

1. An employee in China, or an agent who signs for you or stores your goodsHave it checked
2. Mainland China hostingICP and Chinese entity
3. A client who requires a fapiaoVAT-registered entity, or agreement on your invoice
4. Sales from abroad, no staff on siteNo entity required, according to Harris Sliwoski

Tax rules look at conduct too. The income tax regulations treat a business agent that regularly signs contracts for you, or stores and delivers goods for you, as your establishment in China.⁹ Treaties may change the result, so ask a tax adviser, and read what a permanent establishment means.

Mainland hosting brings ICP rules, explained in our ICP license guide.

Harris Sliwoski says a Chinese subsidiary makes sense for local employees, substantial inventory operations or Chinese invoicing.¹

When that day comes, how to enter the Chinese market covers your options.

The firm rules out two shortcuts. It discourages joint ventures formed only to sell products,¹ and it says rep offices can’t sign contracts, collect revenue or make sales.²

The bottom line

You can sell to China from abroad, and the route follows your offer. Services need a clean contract, goods need a verified partner, and consumer goods need a compliant channel.

If you remember one thing, make it this: register your mark early, and don’t let your risk depend on someone paying you later. Take tax and regulated products to a local adviser.

How Index in China can help

We work on one part of this: being found. We translate your site into Simplified Chinese with a human reviewer, work on getting it indexed on Chinese search engines and send a monthly report on Chinese traffic.

We don’t handle customs, contracts or tax, and we’ll tell you when your case needs a local adviser. See what we do, or book a 30-minute call.

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