Inveting in a restaurant and staying in China.

[stoney]

I have been in China one year teaching. I want to come back but I don't want to teach again:-?

A good Chinese friend wants to start a restaurant and asked if I want to invest. I know restaurants are risky, but I trust this person and their ability. I was only considering it if it will enable me to stay in China. It would be fun, and if it goes belly up in a year I could deal with

that.It's not a huge investment.

Does anyone have experience?

Would this be a way to get some kind of Visa to stay in China. I kind of doubt it but I thought I would ask.

Thanks.

[Senzhi]

If the main purpose of this investment is to stay legally in China, I would consider other options. Your money will be in China, but you'll at the most be issued with an F visa. In addition it would be too risky for what it is worth. Business regulations are not the easiest to understand, especially where local policies are involved (and which are not always documented).

However, if you really are considering setting up a restaurant business, it all depends if you want to set it up as a Joint Venture or a Wholly Foreign-owned Enterprise (WFOE).

Both have different regulations and require a different (time consuming and elaborate) government approval approach.

A Joint Venture is the easiest solution and is the one the government also encourages. It's also the one with the least bureaucracy.

Thorough homework is advised before making such a decision.

[zozzen]

there're some foreigners who are running cafes/ restaurants in Kunming and they may help. Here is one example:

http://www.gokunming.com/en/microsites/salvadors/

On the left-sided menu, there are more. I remember that there're at least 5-6 dining places are run by foreigners . You may try to approach these guys to ask.

The cost of setting up a cafe outsides central business districts or hottest tourists point can be very cheap, sometimes it takes less (or much lesser) than US$5000, depending on the scale and location. If you don't know what to do, being a boss of small cafe is fun, but make sure you can balance the operating expenses. (maybe RMB5000 a month?)

[venture160]

It's certainly possible and a number of foreigners have done this in the major cities in China. Most foreigners who set up their cafe's or restaurants are usually on a tight rope with the local authorities and run into frequent problems, for sometimes their clientele can consist of some sleazy characters whom upon presence of a nice western cafe decide to stay longer. You are probably better off NOT turning the cafe into a bar/club, this kind of venture doesnt seem to last long.

One thing about a Cafe is LOCATION. Know where your market is. Most Chinese cities even 3rd string ones have cafes but they are run by Chinese and geared towards the business crowd, and have maybe been to HK or a few other countires before. They are expensive and the food is awful.

Try finding a city that has a large population of foreign teachers, students, or even better yet foreign engineers/employees at a local factory, that alone could sustain your business for a few years.

EDIT: Sorry I misread your post, is this a Chinese restaurant or a foreign one that your friend wants you to invest in? Would you become a part-owner? I'm not sure if simply "investing" in China can get you a visa and residence permit.

[stoney]

Thanks for the input.

Yes it will be Chinese cuisine for Chinese clients. I would be part owner along with a few others. I might put in 50000RMB to help get things started. But I'm getting the feeling I can't use this as a way to stay in china, which is my point (stay without having to teach) and I think it would be a fun thing to do for the next year or two.

[venture160]

I think if you were to start an official joint venture with your chinese partner you should be able to get a Z Visa, and a work and residence permit. But I am just guessing.

[gato]

You can get an F visa without a job in China, though it might be a short-term visa and you might need to renew every 3 months or so.

[roddy]

If you just want a reason to be in China, enrol at a cheap university. Done.

[ironfrost]

If you officially form a JV you can get a 2-year F visa instead of the regular 6-month ones that you can get from grey-market "visa agents", but I've heard that the paperwork is a lot of hassle. To form a JV the foreign partner has to invest at least 25% of the company's registered capital.

If the company isn't a joint venture*, or if your name doesn't appear on the business license, you can't use it to help you get a visa.

*actually it can be a WFOE too, but that isn't really relevant here

[stoney]

"If you just want a reason to be in China, enrol at a cheap university. Done"

That is not a bad idea, but then I presume I would have to be a full time student and attend all the classes to keep my student visa, but I still want to be involved in the restaurant thing and that might require most of my time.

Are there any " cheap universities" that only require you to show up for one class a week:wink: ?

[venture160]

I think there are a number of universities where as long as you pay the tuition and show up once or twice a week you won't have ANY problems. I knew number of people at Harbin's HIT and Jinan's Shandong University that did this.

[mr.stinky]

i got some interesting information (maybe) from a fellow student today. she tells me

that there is no government visa regulation requiring students to be full-time. the

regs apparently make no distinction as to the number of hours or full/part-time status.

only need to be enrolled somewheres.

it's apparently the universities and private institutions that don't want to bother with the

forms and paperwork if you're not paying full-time fees.

anyone know whether this is correct?