Requirements for Recognition

An application for recognition of a regional headquarters shall meet the following requirements:

1. The applicant must be a foreign-invested enterprise with independent legal personality;

2. The direct or indirect shareholding by the overseas parent company shall not be less than 50 percent, and the total assets of the parent company shall be no less than $200 million;

3. The registered capital shall be no less than $2 million;

4. An enterprise basically meeting the preceding requirements with a substantial contribution to the local economic development may be recognized with discretion.

An application for a recognition of a quasi-headquarters shall meet the following requirements:

1. The applicant must be a foreign invested enterprise with independent legal personality or its branch;

2. The direct or indirect shareholding by the overseas parent company shall not be less than 50 percent, and the total assets of the parent company shall be no less than $100 million;

3. The registered capital shall be no less than $1 million. If established in the form of a branch, the operating funds allocated by the head office accumulatively in the last three years shall be no less than $1 million.

An application for recognition of a business division headquarters shall meet the following requirements:

1. The requirements in Item 1 to 3 for the recognition of regional headquarters shall be met; 

2. The applicant shall have continuously operated in this municipality for more than one year, and the proportion of the business income of the enterprise in the previous year shall be no less than 10 percent of the business income of the BU headquarters of the overseas parent company, and the business income of the enterprise in the previous year shall not be less than one billion yuan.

In addition to the above requirements, the applicant enterprise must have committed no serious dishonest acts within three years, or the effects of any such dishonest acts have been repaired since the date of application.

Application Materials

An application for recognition of a regional headquarters, a quasi-headquarters or a business division headquarters shall include the following materials:

1. An application paper signed by the legal representative of the enterprise (with official seal). The contents shall include: basic information of the applicant enterprise and its parent company or investment company; a description of how the requirements for recognition are met in the light of the actual situation of the enterprise; a structural chart of the parent company's investment management (including investment relationship and shareholding ratio); if the application is for recognition of the BU headquarters, the structure information of the business unit of the parent company shall also be provided.

2. Documents issued by the parent company authorizing the signatory applicant to sign to fulfill the basic functions of regional headquarters, headquarter-offices and BU headquarters, and the certification materials of the authorized signatory.

3. The audit report of the parent company or the investment company for the previous year. The enterprise established in the form of a business unit shall also be required to provide special audit materials for its business income.

4. The business license or registration certificate (duplicate) of the domestic and foreign enterprises authorized for use by management.

5. If the headquarter-office is established in the form of a branch, a certificate of operating funds allocated by the general company shall also be submitted.

Application Procedure

The recognition of regional headquarters, quasi-headquarters and business division headquarters shall be carried out according to the following procedures:

1. The enterprise may apply to the competent administrative department of commerce of the district where it is registered, and the Lin-gang Special Area Administration or Shanghai Hongqiao International Central Business District Administration and submit relevant materials;

2. The competent administrative department of commerce of each district, and the Lin-gang Special Area Administration, Shanghai Hongqiao International Central Business District Administration shall conduct the preliminary examination of the application materials within five working days upon receipt of completed application materials, and submit their preliminary examination opinions to the Municipal Commerce Commission; 

3. The Municipal Commerce Commission shall complete the review within five working days upon receipt of completed application materials and make a decision of approval or disapproval.

Address, Fee, Consultation

1. Authority in charge: Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce

2. Address: Window No 27-34, Comprehensive Service Hall, F1, Building No 5, No 300 Shibocun road, Pudong New Area, Shanghai

3. Approval fee: Free of charge

4. Consultation phone number: 021-50722200

Rights and Obligations of the Applicant

The applicant shall have the following rights according to law:

1. The applicant shall have the right to know the handling procedures and the basis for examination and approval;

2. The applicant shall have the right to be informed of the progress of examination and approval;

3. The applicant shall have the right to require the approving authority to keep relevant information confidential;

4. The applicant shall have the right to retrieve the application before the approval decision is made;

5. The applicant shall have the right to file complaints, applications for administrative reconsideration, or administrative lawsuits.

The applicant shall have the following obligations according to law:

1. The applicant shall submit authentic materials;

2. The applicant shall disclose real conditions to the approving authority;

3. The applicant shall provide relevant supplementary and correct materials as required by the approving authority.

Source: shanghai.gov.cn