Chinese-Foreign Equity Joint Ventures, China-Foreign Contractual Joint Ventures, Wholly Foreign-Owned Enterprise are the three main forms of Foreign Direct Investment in china for absorbing foreign capital. Other investment terms include Share Company with Foreign Investment, Foreign Invested Holding Company, Joint Exploitation, BOT, etc.

Chinese-Foreign Equity Joint Ventures

Chinese-Foreign Equity Joint Ventures anew also called as Share Company with Foreign Investment. They are enterprises jointly established within Chinese territory companies, enterprises, and other economic entities on the other side. An equity joint venture shall be invested and operated jointly by both foreign and Chinese investors, who shall share the profits and losses, as well as risks, in proportion to their respective shares in the registered capital. Chinese-Foreign Equity Joint Ventures are Limited Liability Company, and possess the status of Chinese legal person.

In such an enterprise, the proportion of the investment contributed by the foreign party shall in general not be less than 25% of the total. The partner could offer cash, or other kinds of things instead such as building, workshop, machinery, industrial property right, special technique, and field utilization right The profits and other legal interests that foreign investors have shared can be remit out or reinvest China.

Chinese-Foreign Contractual Joint Ventures

Chinese-Foreign Contractual Joint Ventures are enterprises jointly established within Chinese territories by foreign companies, enterprises, other economic entities of individuals and Chinese companies, enterprises or other economic entities, according to their cooperative conditions. The both parties to a contractual joint venture should prescribe in the contract their respective conditions, lights, obligations, incomes distribution, responsibilities for risks and debts, the company management and negotiations on the property transaction at the expiration.

When establishing China-Foreign Contractual Joint Ventures, the foreign party provides land, factory buildings, certain usable machines and facilities, and in some cases a certain amount of capital as well. Chinese-Foreign Contractual Joint Ventures may posses the status of conventional person or not.

Wholly Foreign-Owned Enterprise

Wholly Foreign-Owned Enterprise is invested entirely by foreign companies, enterprises, other economic entities or individuals within Chinese territory in accordance with the related Chinese laws. Wholly Foreign-Owned Enterprise usually takes the form of limited liability companies, and do not include the Chinese Branch of foreign company or other economic organization.

Share Company With Foreign Investment

Share Company with Foreign Investment are stock limited companies set within China's territory by foreign companies, enterprises, or other economic organizations with Chinese companies, enterprise or other economic organizations, which is established according to the principle of stock..

All principal of Share Company with Foreign Investment is made up of equal amounts of stocks, every stockholder would take certain responsibility for company in accordance with his amount of stocks, and the company is responsible for debts with all estate. It is a form of foreign-invested company, which fits with relative regulations of national laws and statutes on foreign investment company.

Foreign Invested Holding Company

Foreign Invested Holding Companies are Chinese-Foreign Equity Joint Ventures or Wholly Foreign-Owned Enterprise within Chinese territory that deals with direct investment usually in the form of limited liability companies. Foreign investor, who applies to establish an Foreign Invested Holding Company must possess great assets and good reputation, establish a certain mount of companies within China, and own over $30 million of actual-paid part of registration principal. Upon the approval of the Chinese government, Foreign Invested Holding Company could enjoy a broader field of managing than other ordinary companies, in an attempt to encourage big overseas companies to carry out their series of investment plans.

At present foreign invested Holding Company can invest in the fields of industry, agriculture, infrastructure and energy that the county encourages and permits.

Venture Capital Enterprise

Venture capital is a form of investment which means making equity investment in non-listed high-tech enterprises (hereinafter referred to as the invested enterprise) and providing venture management service for the purpose of attaining the value-added benefits. The foreign-funded venture capital enterprise (hereinafter referred to as venture capital investment enterprises) refers to the foreign-funded enterprises which are established within the Chinese territory by the foreign investors or the joint ventures set up by the foreign investors and the Chinese companies registered under the law of China, or other economic organizations (hereinafter referred to as the Chinese investors) taking the venture capital as the operational activities. The venture capital investment enterprises may be organized in the form of either unincorporated or incorporated organizations. In the case of the former, investors bear joint responsibility for the debts. They also have the right to require the necessary investors who take
venture capital as their primary business bear joint responsibility while other investors shoulder their responsibility corresponding to their subscribed capital contribution provided that it is agreed in the contract that the capital of unincorporated venture capital investment enterprise is insufficient to liquidate the debts. To establish a venture capital investment enterprise, the investors should be between 2 and 50; at least one necessary investor who takes the venture capital as the primary business and, at the meantime, meets other conditions is available; the minimum subscribed capital contribution of all the investors in total should be USD 10 million. Whereas the minimum subscribed capital contribution of investors belonging to incorporated venture capital investment enterprise should be USD 5 million. What's more, other investors should subscribe capital as least USD 1 million. The foreign investors may invest with the currency that they are free to convert to while the Chinese investors should contribute capital in renminbi.

Joint Exploitation

Join Exploitation refers to Chinese company and foreign company sign venture contract to carry out a joint exploration on inland and offshore petroleum, and mineral resources. It is a widely used from of economic cooperation in the field of natural resources exploration throughout the world. The main features of the joint exploration are high risks, high input, and high return. Joint exploitation is usually carried out in three phases: exploration development and production.

BOT

BOT means that investors who have undertaken an established industrial or infrastructure project in the country to be invested in are in charge of building, operating, maintaining and transferring such projects. Investors are entitled to operate the projects and to withdraw the investment, operational expenses, maintenance expenses and other expenses within the fixed terms. Upon the expiry of the terms, investors should transfer such projects to the government to which the projects belong to. BOT is widely employed in China in such fields as highway, electric power plants and sewage treatment in the form of establishing the project companies.