4-2 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.

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