Frequently asked questions
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Theme
China is right for you if your product has a specific job to do, for a buyer you can name, at a price that beats what China already makes. The question is not whether China is big. It is whether your case works in your segment. You can find out before you commit real money.
It tests the assumptions your entry rests on.
- Demand. Will the buyers you expect actually buy, at your price, through a channel you can reach?
- Partners. Will the distributors we find do what you need them to do?
- Money. Do the numbers work at real timelines and real costs?
You get a go or no-go on full commitment. Not a report.
First: Does the product solve a real problem for a buyer we can name, at a price and through a channel that hold against Chinese rivals? That is the hardest thing to fix later.
Then we look at your capacity to run it. Cash. Speed of decision. Regulatory exposure. Whether you can stay the course.
Culture matters. Commercial fit matters more.
China is not one market. It is many regional economies with different buyers, industries and rules. The right region is where your case is most likely to hold. Not the city you have heard of.
For most SMEs that is not Beijing or Shanghai. It is a sector cluster where the buyers, the suppliers, the policy and the distributors already sit together. These places are less famous and easier to enter.
Your choice of region sets your partner quality, your red tape, your prices, your hiring and your timeline. Choose well and you cut both cost and risk.
Localisation is a commercial requirement, not a branding choice. Almost nothing enters China unchanged.
It can mean language, packaging, documents, specifications, pricing, your digital presence or your channel. How much depends on your product, your buyer and your region.
The point is not to look Chinese. It is to remove friction from buying, approving and trusting you.
Keep what you stand for. Change what the market genuinely requires.
We follow a staged entry. Staged entry means setting up only the minimum legal and operating presence needed to test commercial assumptions in the market. The full entry structure is built only once those assumptions are validated.
Three stages. You do not enter one without evidence from the last.
- Minimum viable presence. The minimum legal and operating presence you need to test your commercial assumptions in the market.
- Validation. In-market testing of demand, channel and partner behaviour.
- Full entry. Built only if validation says go.
Each stage is scoped and priced on its own. If you want to understand your export readiness upfront, you can conduct an export readiness assessment. Please remember that our mission is to address your weak spots.
If validation recommends go, you decide the final entry structure. The legal and commercial model follows what validation found about demand, channel and timeline. If it says no, we tell you why, and what would have to change.
In most cases, yes. Early exploration can run without one. Real market participation almost never can.
Why a local entity matters:
- Credibility. Without a registered company you are not read as serious. Larger partners deprioritise you, and you are often left out of the long-term conversations.
- Access to public buyers. Government bodies and state-owned enterprises are mostly closed to you without a local entity. In many industries these are the biggest buyers.
- Being able to trade. Contracts, RMB payments, hiring, banking and compliance are all constrained without a local structure.
- Licences. Many sector approvals and licences are only issued to a registered Chinese company.
- Incentives. Tax breaks, subsidies and free trade zone benefits go to locally established companies.
A few companies do run without one, usually on a premium imported positioning. It is the exception, and it rarely scales.
Without a local entity you are watching the market, not in it.
Not during early validation. Strongly recommended before you commit. Remote works for screening and for finding candidates. It does not work for deciding.
Go in person because:
- Trust is built face to face. Key partners expect it.
- Terms settle faster in a room than on a call.
- You can read a partner on their own site.
- Large corporates and public bodies expect a senior visit.
Explore remotely. Decide in person.
Expect 12 to 24 months from the first test to an operating company. Validation is the first part of that and normally takes 1-8 months.
Regulation is the variable. In licensed sectors, approvals alone can add years.
The commercial side moves fast. The regulator sets the pace
It depends on the model and how far you go. Selling through a distributor costs far less up front than setting up a wholly foreign-owned enterprise before you know there is demand. The biggest cost driver is whether you test the case before you build the structure.
Structure also drives tax, payment flows, reporting duties and what you can actually do locally. That varies by sector and by what you want from the market long term.
Shaeps charges you no fees. You cover the official third-party set-up costs - normally capped at RMB 40,000 - as well as other up-front costs such as trademark and IP protection.
Our compensation is an equity share in the Chinese entity, taken when it is registered. In rare cases we take a share of its sales instead. We keep it only if the entry succeeds.
We work with you, not for you - hence no cure, no pay. You pay us nothing for our time. No hourly rates, no reports, no retainer. As we register your Chinese company, we take an equity share in it. In rare cases we take a share of its sales instead. We keep it only if the entry succeeds. If it does not, the shares go back to you.
For most SMEs the first risks are commercial, not regulatory.
- Demand that looked confirmed in meetings does not turn into orders.
- A partner chosen for their name underperforms on the work.
- Timelines built on home-market habits miss by a year or more.
Staged entry compresses all three. You test the case before you commit the capital.
Regulatory and IP risk are real and must be managed. They are operating requirements, not the reason to go or not go.
You must register in China. Your home registration does not protect you here.
In China the trademark belongs to whoever registers it first, not to whoever used it first. Register trademarks and patents before you approach partners.
Registration is the floor. Above it:
- Write partner contracts that limit what technology moves.
- Keep operational discipline around trade secrets.
- Decide in advance what you will share, with whom, and on what terms.
We start with what the partner has to do, not with who is available. The most common failure is picking on surface credibility - size, sector name, relationships - instead of fit with your commercial model. We search on fit first.
Three tests.
- Coverage. Do they really sell into your segment, or only claim to?
- Capacity. Can they handle the logistics, the paperwork and the commercial demands of your product?
- Incentive. Will your product be a priority next to the other brands they carry?
Most selection processes over-weight the first and ignore the third. The third is what decides performance.
Partner quality varies widely. The answer is verification and staged exposure, not trust.
Screening through networks
We prioritise partners reached through verified local networks and prior relationships. That cuts out intermediaries with nothing behind them.
Due diligence
Before any commitment we check:
- Business licence and registration status.
- Ownership, and who really controls the company.
- Track record, cases and client references.
- Real capability in your sector, not just trading.
How the deal is built
- Start small before you scale.
- Avoid large payments up front without performance.
- Get local legal review before signing.
- Move in defined stages, not one big agreement.
Trust in China is built, not assumed. Relationships matter, but verification and structure do the work.
We look for partners who can execute, not partners who are interested.
- Capability. Proven work in your value chain and sector.
- Reach. Real distribution, real customers, or real institutional access.
- Incentive. A clear commercial reason to put you first.
- Delivery. A track record of doing, not introducing.
Leads come from local networks, investor relationships and commercial channels on the ground. That is only the first filter. What counts next is behaviour. Do they answer, do they commit, do they act on agreed terms?
