Sell to China

Outsourced Sales, Marketing & Customer Service in China

Virtual Office in China for your local Sales, Marketing & Order Processing teams

PassageMaker’s Virtual Office is an ideal solution if you have Chinese customers or distributors and you wish to protect your Intellectual Property (IP), receive payment in RMB (local currency) and offer your buyers official receipts (know as “Fapiao” in China).

Why use the Virtual Office rather than setting up your own company in China?

Shorter ramp up time
Lower set up costs when PassageMaker’s existing infrastructure and licensing is leveraged

China’s market is full of local buyers who are crying out for premium Western goods, but how do you sell to them?

Problem 1: Mainland China-based buyers prefer to pay in local currency (RMB) as they don’t have easy access to foreign currency. Buyers often require an official receipt inclusive of tax. If the seller does not have a fully-registered, physical office in China, the seller cannot provide formal receipts, pay taxes or accept RMB from sellers.
Problem 2: International firms who instruct their Chinese suppliers to sell to a China-based buyer may face problems with collusion among the Chinese entities and eventually find themselves cut out of the supply chain when the China based supplier and buyer become acquainted.
Setting up your own company is certainly a solution, but not if you want sales now. PassageMaker’s Virtual Office gives you instant infrastructure.

Virtual Office offers instant infrastructure for trade facilitation, currency conversion, tax benefits & firewall protection

PassageMaker has been selling products in China since 1998! Clients can leverage our first-rate infrastructure in Mainland China (China-savvy Western management, SOP’s, Business templates, Multi-currency bank accounts, Domestic sales approvals & import-export licensing) while our Hong Kong office can to serve as “your virtual Hong Kong Office” allowing you to enjoy HK’s very business-friendly tax structure!

PassageMaker will:

Facilitate purchase of your products from your appointed suppliers for resale in China to your customers, or directly to your customers.
Take payments in RMB and issue official ‘fapiao’ (receipts) to local suppliers and customers through our licensed companies.
Transfer the profits (minus service fees and taxes) to you either in China, Hong Kong, or abroad, or keep them on hand in China to pay local suppliers if you wish.

Here’s How We Do It

Once the client has hired PassageMaker for the Virtual Office service, sales facilitation can be arranged as follows:

Product will be sold to Client’s designated China customers at the designated sale price. The mode of delivery can range from drop shipping a few units to organizing entire truck loads.
PassageMaker will collect sales revenue from client’s China-based Buyer and can issue an official VAT receipt to that Buyer.
PassageMaker will return sales revenue minus agreed PassageMaker service fee to Client. If Client requests, revenue resulting from sale of product may remain in PassageMaker’s account for use to purchase additional product from Client’s suppliers in China or overseas.

The virtual office can be structured to provide the following solutions:

Payment Facilitation
Document Development & Implementation (price lists, PO’s, invoices, shipping documents) between Suppliers, PassageMaker and Client’s China customers.
Logistics
Legal (coordinating contracts among the various parties and registering/monitoring IP )
Government Relations
Product Registration & Compliance

What isn’t included:

PassageMaker does not provide supply chain financing or bear exposure to potential default on payments made between Client’s suppliers, Client and Client’s buyers.
Responsibility for Product Liability and Product Recall does not extend to PassageMaker when facilitating the delivery of Client’s products to Client’s buyers in China.

Typical tasks that can be assigned to your team in your Virtual Sales office:

Once the client has engaged PassageMaker to set up the Virtual Office, the team members (or an approved 3rd party) can be assigned the following essential initial tasks:

Market Feasibility Study (MFS)

Conducted to clarify the following items:

market potential
import duties
product registration process
local language labeling requirements
pricing strategies, tax issues and terms of trade
intellectual property plan to protect trademarks and design concepts
distribution strategy
identify key trade associations & trade shows
conduct focus groups
perform competitor analysis
research pricing points at a regional or national level among wholesalers, distributors and retailers
arrange laboratory testing to confirm product is in compliance with local standards.

Pre-engagement of the market

create product name and brand concept in local language
register intellectual property (trademarks and design concepts)
product registration (safety compliance)
develop local language brochures, websites and sales materials
recruit technical & non-technical sales staff
training and coordination of sales staff
sub-distributor development
accounts receivable management
media advertising
trade show attendance
coordination of warehousing and logistics

Notes on Product Testing and Registration in China

Product Testing and Registration in China (including the application for CCC mark) can be a complex and lengthy process. In most cases a local registration agent is hired to help prepare the documentation and submit the application to the appropriate government agencies. If your product is not already registered in China, as your partner, PassageMaker can offer suggestion on which agents to use as well as guide you through this process. PassageMaker will advise on how to reduce both the costs involved and the lead times. The registration agent’s costs are invoiced in a transparent fashion direct to client with no mark ups added by PassageMaker.
In particular, our team is well versed in issues related to the China Compulsory Certificate mark (also known as “CCC Mark” or “3C”) which is a compulsory safety mark for many products imported, sold or used in the China market. The CCC mark is administered by the CNCA (Certification and Accreditation Administration) and includes a review of both the product and production facilities. PassageMaker’s assembly center in Buji and the products built there have successfully achieved the CCC mark.

Notes on Patent Protection and Trademarks

PassageMaker is committed to protecting Intellectual Property in China. As your partner in China, if you have not already registered your IP, PassageMaker will guide you through the process of finding and engaging a local patent attorney to protect brand imagery, patents, technology, and other intellectual property you may be concerned about. The patent agent’s costs are invoiced in a transparent fashion direct to client with no mark ups added by PassageMaker.