We urgently need to establish our own company in China， otherwise we may not be able to hire sufficiently more technicians， above all， we cannot pay themdirectly. SunLi is initially paid for many months across complex circumventions， andevery time something goes wrong， straining SunLi’s patience to the utmost and turning me angry. Without a valid business license， we cannot make any business directly in the country， everything would have to pass over the agent’s desks， which I want to avoid as much as possible， or it would have to be managed by foreign banks， which the customers want to avoid as much as possible.
Establishing a company in Germany is elsewhere already considered a challenge. The bureaucratic requirements are high in comparison to many other countries. I will assume， for simplicity again， that it is as easy or difficult for Chinese people to found a company in China as it is for a German in Germany.
But when a foreign company， in my case， a small private German company， desires to establish a subsidiary in China， then the hurdles are extremely high. I browse the internet， ask the Chamber of Commerce in Kiel which refers me to the Chamber of Commerce in ShangHai. I search alone and by the aid of SunLi in the GuangDong province – everywhere the same result： It is a very tedious process， you will have to turn to own and local lawyers in any case， you need an officially designated consultant， and have everything translated by officially approved translators.
Based on the individual items I estimate the financial effort on 50，000 to 100，000 ？， which is enormous， it was the equivalent of one million RMB， and I cannot yet decide to issue the orders.
For the weekend after the first opening of the exhibition， a trip to NanTong (南通) is planned， YeDan has arranged this and I think naively that this will probably be a tourist city， expecting temples and gardens and archaeological sites. Everything is prepared， a hotel is reserved， the next morning a friend of YeDan is appointed to pick me up.
He is actually there on time， that is， with a large tourist bus in which 20 people are already seated， the remaining 30 gather with me to depart. I do not quite understand ... to be precise， I do not quite understand anything at all.
Other than myself， there are several Chinese， some Japanese and some Western-looking guests， YeDan’s acquaintance interprets for me what the “guide” in front tells to the Chinese guests and interpreters： We will get the opportunities for investment in NanTong described and which companies are already located there and which industrial zones are just now developed. The dramatic climax will be the new bridge over the ChangJiang (长江， literally the Long River， outside of China it is called Yang Tse). We get out and admire the civil works and the construction， in one and a half years， the bridge will be completed (by now， in 2010， it is already finished). Now no one needs to take the longer way by ferry any more， the travel time from ShangHai is shortened to a minimum.
All this and much more is demonstrated and explained to the guests of this bus tour and myself， and at the end of the day when all of us are already exhausted， there is a sumptuous dinner in a large room with many， many round tables. All the time officials pass by， wish us all good luck， gan bei， and many milliards of investment.
So， if I had not yet understood that already， each drop and little drop of baijiu and hongjiu (红酒， red wine) is telling the same story： They want us to invest milliards here！ Nice， but – where to get the milliards？
I talk to YeDan’s friend who piloted me here： We would indeed like to invest， but actually we first need a company registration， then we may see for the rest， and we got some ideas what to do！ But he must also understand that we cannot just after registering enter with millions or milliards here， we are a small company， and everything will go ahead very slowly – if this was also compliant to NanTong’s interests in investment？
Yes it is.
Well， how can we proceed then？
Well， a few weeks later we have registered the subsidiary in NanTong and received those business licenses that we are interested in. We have translated everything ourselves， with our own resources (SunLi and a staff member of the Investment Office， YangMei (杨枚))， have these translations just officially confirmed (took five minutes and a stamp process) and we did not need any advisers nor lawyers. Together with the officials we have filled in all forms， passport photos taken of me and get everything filed， stamped， sealed and accepted， all in the course of a day， for a fraction of what was previously known to me as a minimum fee. I paid no more than 2，500 RMB for everything， we did not even pay for dinner nor lunch， and then I was general manager of a Chinese company.
The next step is to get the work permit for the German general manager so he can receive in China a salary from his company. The condition for the required permanent visa would be met.
First I have to carry out a medical examination. The staff member， YangMei， who has assisted us the day before with the procedure of company registration is today helping in the health office， or wherever I happen to be there. It is a multi-storey building， on the ground floor you have to register and pay a fee， there are dozens of people waiting and pushing. I am a kind of VIP， for YangMei manages to get within minutes the routing slip and the examination result booklet. I gave her the money for the fees.
Now we go to the upper floors for blood sampling， ECG and eye check. Overall， I have to pass more than half a dozen stations， I decide in each case for that doctor room in front of which the shortest row is waiting. Very quickly I’m learning not to wait outside the door， but to go in and put the examination booklet down on the table. Just as fast I discover that I must make sure it will remain lying on top， under no circumstances I must tolerate it to descend.