To encourage foreign investment to establish R&D centers in China, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation issued the Circular Concerning Issues Related to Foreign Investment in the Establishment of Research and Development Centers in 2000. It includes the form and business scope of a foreign-invested R&D center, conditions for establishment, the procedure and relevant preferential policies.
a. The direction, field, major task and implementation plan of R&D; 4). the application submitted to the examination and ratification authorities shall include the following: (2) If an existing foreign-invested enterprise whose scope of business includes "research" or "development" establishes an independent R&D department, it should submit relevant documents on the independent R&D department to the previous examination and ratification authorities. If the enterprise‘s scope of business does not include the above-mentioned operations, its contract and articles of corporation shall be revised and submitted to the previous examination and ratification authorities for approval. (1) To establish an R&D branch or an independent R&D department, the examination and approval shall be conducted by the examination and ratification authorities for the foreign-invested enterprise within its power; however, should the enterprise be a restricted category A enterprise below the ceiling, the examination and approval shall, without exception, be conducted by the examination and ratification authorities at the provincial level. b. An R&D center established under a foreign-invested enterprise (including an investment company) a. An R&D center established by foreign investors in the form of an equity joint venture, a cooperative joint venture or a wholly foreign-owned enterprise is subject to the examination and approval of the examination and ratification authorities at the provincial level. 3). Procedures for the Establishment of a Foreign-invested R&D Center b. An R&D center shall be staffed with full-time managerial and R&D personnel, of whom those possessing the bachelor‘s degree or above and directly engaged in R&D activities, as a percentage of the total staff, shall not be lower than 80 percent. a. There are clear-defined R&D fields and specific R&D projects, a permanent location, instruments and equipment needed in scientific research and other conditions necessary for scientific research. The total investment of the R&D center devoted to research and development shall not be lower than US$2 million. 2). Conditions for the Establishment of a Foreign-invested R&D Center b. An R&D center is to serve as an institution engaged in the R&D and experimental development (including intermediate experiments that serve R&D activities) in natural sciences and related scientific and technological fields. The contents of R&D may be basic research, product application research, high-tech research and research for social benefits. The R&D projects shall not include those listed under the prohibited category in the Industrial Catalogue for Foreign Investment, nor can the center conduct any trade of technological results that are not generated by the R&D center itself or manufacturing activities other than intermediate experiments. An R&D center may transfer its own R&D results and commission R&D projects to, or undertake cooperative projects with domestic scientific research academies and institutes. A training center cannot be classified as an R&D center. a. A foreign-invested R&D center may take the form of a Sino-foreign equity or cooperative joint venture or wholly foreign-owned enterprise established according to law by foreign investors (including investment companies established with foreign investment), or an independent department or branch within a foreign-invested enterprise.
1). Form and Business Scope of a Foreign-invested R&D Center 
