01
Entity & structure
Do you need a US company, branch, distributor, EOR arrangement, or acquisition vehicle — and in which state?
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Outbound from ChinaNorth America corridor
United States legal counsel for Chinese businesses.
Route a China-connected United States matter by workstream, local legal market and appropriately qualified counsel. This page provides general orientation, not destination-law advice.
Legal orientation, not legal advice
01Project screening
Early screening
Before you commit, clear the legal gates.
Start with the decisions most expensive to unwind after signing, funding, or hiring.
02
Investment screening
Could the proposed investment require CFIUS or other national-security review?
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People & immigration
Will the operation hire locally, transfer staff, or create payroll and employment obligations?
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Export controls & trade
Do items, software, or technology raise US export, re-export, or customs questions?
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Data, technology & IP
Will personal data, confidential information, software, or brands move between China and the US?
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Contracts & disputes
Which governing law, forum, arbitration route, and enforcement strategy fit the deal?
Find counselFlagship orientation
A legal corridor is not a checklist. It is a sequence of connected decisions.
Get the facts into view early, identify where China-side and United States advice intersect, then take the route that matches the commercial move—not a generic practice-area label.
Open the United States legal orientation
02Business routes
Action-led routes
What are you doing in United States?
Choose a business action first. We will take you to the legal questions and counsel path it creates.
Structure
Establish a US operation
Entity choice, state of formation, governance, and first registrations.
People
Hire & relocate people
Employment, immigration, secondments, payroll, and workforce compliance.
Transaction
Invest / acquire a US business
Share or asset deals, CFIUS screening, funding, and completion.
Commercial
Trade & contract with US counterparties
Commercial agreements, supply, distribution, and payment risk.
Protection
Protect export controls, IP & data
Export controls, IP, confidential information, and regulatory-facing issues.
Contentious
Resolve a dispute
US courts, arbitration, urgent relief, enforcement, and exits.
03Coordination
ChinaOrigin-side
Coordinated mandate
USUnited StatesDestination-side
Cross-border coordination
Make the handoff visible.
Host-country counsel does not replace China-side advice. The most consequential questions often sit where approvals, capital, governance, and enforcement cross jurisdictions.
China-side counsel
- ODI, SAFE, and relevant China-side approvals
- China-parent governance and authority
- Mainland contracts and onshore implications
- PRC enforcement or asset questions
United States counsel
- US entity, governance, and transaction documents
- Employment, immigration, and local contracts
- CFIUS, export controls, and sector regulation
- US courts, arbitration, and enforcement
Featured City Desks
Dedicated City Desks for United States
Use a City Desk when the legal work is concentrated in a specific U.S. market because of governing law, transaction location, employees, assets, courts, regulators or dispute forum.
United States
New York
When the legal centre of gravity is New York.
Transaction · Contract · Forum
Explore New York Legal Market →Find New York LawyersUnited States
Los Angeles
When the legal centre of gravity is Los Angeles.
Trade · IP · California forum
Explore Los Angeles Legal Market →Find Los Angeles LawyersOther cities with listed counsel
These are directory filters, not dedicated City Desks.
04Counsel directory
Counsel route
Browse United States counsel.
Search listed profiles by name, city, firm, or legal focus.
Emily Carter
Boston, United States
Clinical Research and Health Data
Kathrine Boer
Houston, United States
Export Control and Sanctions
Jeff Farley
Washington DC, United States
Export Control and Sanctions
Sophia Liang
San Francisco, United States
Intellectual Property
David Chen
San Francisco, United States
Company Formation
Marcus Reynolds
Houston, United States
Export Control and Sanctions
Marcus Webb
Los Angeles, United States
Trademarks
Sarah Mitchell
Washington DC, United States
Export Control and Sanctions
David Jackson
New York, United States
Foreign Investment
Steven Davis
New York, United States
Commercial Arbitration
Brian Johnson
Chicago, United States
Trademarks
Robert Williams
Washington DC, United States
Civil LitigationNo matching counsel profiles.
Try a different name or workstream.
05Review & sources
Review protocol · United States corridor
05 / Evidence file
Know the scope, sources and review boundary.
This page is maintained as editorial legal orientation. It does not claim review by a named United States lawyer unless that reviewer and qualification have been independently verified.
Current editorial review
Legal scope
Federal issues plus major commercial states unless a specific state is stated
Source basis
Congress, federal agencies (including CFIUS-related), state company registries, courts, and profession-specific official sources as appropriate.
Editorial owner
China Legal Portal outbound desk
Re-review trigger
Material changes in CFIUS practice, export controls, immigration, company law, employment, data, tax, or dispute procedure.
Questions at the first call
Practical starting points.
Can a Chinese company form a US subsidiary?
Yes, but entity choice, state of formation, tax registration, immigration, sector regulation, and China-side approvals should be assessed for the actual project.
Could a US acquisition require CFIUS or other screening?
Potentially. Certain investments and sectors can raise national-security review. Screening should happen early; this page is orientation only.
Do export controls apply if we only sell from China?
They can. US export, re-export and technology-transfer rules may still apply depending on the items, parties, and end use. Obtain US trade counsel for the facts.
When should PRC ODI or foreign-exchange counsel be involved?
When a China parent, outbound investment, funding, remittance, or China-side approvals are part of the project, those steps should be coordinated with the US timetable.