The Administrative Measures and Registration Provisions came into force on 1 March 2010, which have lowered thresholds and simplified the setup process. In addition to Sino-foreign equity joint venture enterprises, Sino-foreign contractual joint venture enterprises and foreign sole proprietorships (collectively “foreign-related enterprises”), foreign investors (including foreign enterprises and individuals) may also invest in China directly by establishing foreign investment partnership enterprises (“FIPEs”) in China.

The threshold is lower and the procedures are simpler for establishing FIPEs than foreign-related enterprises.