Establishment of Retail Enterprises and Procedures for Opening Stores

The approval procedures for foreign-invested commercial retail enterprises are the same as those for wholesale enterprises.

Stores opened by foreign-invested commercial enterprises engaging in retail in the provincial-level administrative region where they are located are approved by the local provincial-level commerce department and the applications are forwarded to MOFCOM for the record. For the opening of stores in another province, the opinions of the commerce department of that province have to be sought. The provincial-level commerce department in charge will send a letter to its counterpart in the place where the store is to be located seeking its opinion. During this process, the enterprise should cooperate by supplying the necessary documents.

Provincial-level commerce departments may grant approval to the establishment of the following stores, with the applications forwarded to MOFCOM for the record:

1. Stores with a business area of less than 3,000 sqm each and not exceeding three in number; the foreign investor may not open a total of more than 30 similar stores through its foreign-invested commercial enterprise in China;
2. Stores with a business area of less than 300 sqm each and not exceeding 30 in number; the foreign investor may not open a total of more than 300 similar stores through its foreign-invested commercial enterprise in China;
3. Stores whose scope of business does not include television, telephone, mail order, Internet and the sale of automatic vending machines;
4. Stores not engaging in tobacco retailing, and not selling chemical fertilisers

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