How do I choose the name of my Chinese company?

Choosing a proper Chinese name for your Chinese company is considered the first step to start the enterprise registration procedure; investors should reserve 5 names for its prospective WFOE in China with the local Administrative Bureau for Industry and Commerce.

In China the official company name should be 100% in Chinese characters; usually you can choose Chinese characters which have similar meaning of your ideal company name in your mother tongue or choose it by similar pronunciation.

The name of the company has to be composed according to a fixed structure that it’s different for every kind of china entity. To see the structure in more details click below:

Wholly Foreign-Owned Enterprise (WFOE)and Joint Venture (JV) Setup in China

Wholly Foreign-Owned Enterprises’ names, as well as Joint Ventures’, have to be composed in the same way as Chinese company ones. The structure of the name is formed as follow (in Chinese):

Location (City) + Business Name + Business Activity + Business Structure

For example the name of a limited liability company called Bstarts, registered in Shanghai and engaging in business consulting is:

Shanghai + My Business China+ Consulting + Co.,LTD.

Representative Offices in China

Since Representative Offices are not legal entity in China, but only subsidiary of their foreign company, their name has to be composed as follow:

Nationality of the Foreign Enterprise (not mandatory) + Foreign Enterprise Name (+ Business Activity and Structure) + Location in China (City) + “Representative Office”

For example, the name of a Representative Office of an Italian Company called “Bstarts Business Consulting Co.,LTD.” has to be:

(Italy) + Bstarts Business Consulting CO.,LTD. + Shanghai + Representative Office

Words as “China, Sino and International” are not permitted in Chinese names unless a special permission is given; although they are permitted in the non-Chinese names.

Usually you will have to choose 5 to 10 names for your future Chinese company because if a name is similar to an existed company in the same industry/activity will be rejected by Chinese authority.

Got a question about starting your business in China? Check out more articles I’ve written on http://www.mybusinesschina.com/articles or email me at info@mybusinesschina.com.

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