Hungary ⇄ China
China market entry study before you commit
China is not one market, and the difference between the versions of it that will and will not buy your product is not visible from Europe. Neither is the regulatory path: for a large share of European products, the binding constraint is not demand but registration, certification or import licensing. Companies routinely spend a year and a trade-fair budget discovering something that a few weeks of proper work would have told them.
A fixed fee for an agreed scope, confirmed in writing after the scoping session, before research starts.
Timeline: Typically 4-6 weeks, longer where product certification requirements have to be confirmed with a Chinese authority.
Tell us briefly what you need. We send back a written scope and the fee.
What you get
Whether and where there is real demand, by region and channel
The registration, certification and import requirements that actually gate your product
Route-to-market options: distributor, joint venture, wholly foreign-owned enterprise or cross-border e-commerce, and whether your sector is open to full foreign ownership under China's current Negative List, with the trade-offs
What your IP position needs to be before you show the product to anyone
A shortlist of credible partners or channels, with the reasoning
How it works
A scoping session on the product, the price point and what you have already tried
Research in Chinese, including direct enquiries where a public source is not enough
A draft, a challenge session, and the final study
One recommendation appears in almost every one of these studies, so it is worth saying here for free: register your trademark in China before you talk to anyone about distribution.
China operates a first-to-file trademark system. The company that files first owns the mark, whether or not they had anything to do with creating it. Filing is inexpensive and fast. Recovering a mark that a former distributor filed in their own name is neither.
FAQ
We already have a distributor. Is this still useful?
Often more so. A study frequently shows that the distributor covers one region well and is quietly blocking three others, or that the trademark is registered in their name. Knowing that before renewal changes the negotiation.
Do we need a Chinese entity to sell in China?
Not always. Distribution and cross-border e-commerce both work without one, and for a first phase they are usually the right answer. An entity becomes necessary when you need to invoice locally, employ people, or hold a licence. The study says which applies to you rather than defaulting to the more expensive option.
How is this different from a generic market report we could buy off the shelf?
A generic report describes an industry. This study answers a decision: whether your specific product, at your price point, clears the actual registration, certification or import requirements that apply to it, and which route to market fits your situation. Where public sources are not enough, we ask directly rather than estimate.
Once we have the study, who handles company registration or the distributor agreement?
If the recommended route needs a Chinese entity, our company formation service takes over from the study's recommendation on entity type, city and district. A distributor or e-commerce route is handled through the contract and IP steps the study identifies.
Can the study also compare specific cities or development zones for us?
Yes. Where location matters to your route to market, for example manufacturing or a physical presence, we can extend the study with our incentive and location comparison, so the location decision and the market decision are made together rather than twice.
Related services
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With Hungarian lawyers in our network and our own team on the ground in China, we help you recover unpaid claims and resolve non-delivery or defective performance by a Chinese counterparty, through a proven staged process that keeps costs under control.
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See the scopeVerify a Chinese supplier before you send the deposit
Find out who you are actually dealing with before the deposit leaves your account.
See the scope