WFOE Deregistration and Employee Severance in China
Closing a company does not eliminate its employment obligations. Resolve the people workstream before expecting the tax and registration closure chain to finish.
Workflow guide
Map every employee and legal ground before calculating or announcing the exit.
Build the roster, identify protected or complex cases, select the lawful route for each employee, calculate wages, leave and severance under the applicable local rules, document settlement and close social-insurance and employment records before corporate deregistration.
Run the people workstream before corporate closure.
The legal route and local practice determine notice, consultation, filing and payment requirements.
Create one controlled employee schedule including start date, wage basis, unused leave, contract term, social insurance and pregnancy, medical-treatment or occupational-injury issues.
At-will dismissal is not a China closure tool. Do not announce a fixed corporate closure date before the employee roster, process and settlement budget are understood.
Build the employee exit pack.
Selections stay in this browser.
Two recurring closure questions.
The answer depends on the actual legal ground and local practice.
Is an additional month always due when the WFOE liquidates?
Not automatically. Dissolution can trigger severance, while notice or payment-in-lieu questions depend on the selected ground and process. Model the actual facts instead of applying a slogan.
Can the company simply let fixed-term contracts expire?
Employer non-renewal can still create severance obligations and does not replace analysis of the closure sequence or employee protections.
Source station
Pair current employment rules with the corporate liquidation sequence.
Continue into the connected closure workstream.
Employment settlement and corporate deregistration must stay sequenced.
China Company Liquidation
Use for the tax and registration closure chain.
Open specialist route →02 · Employment routeChina Employment and Labour Guide
Use for the wider termination framework.
Open specialist route →03 · Governance routeLegal Representative Risk
Use where the appointee remains exposed during closure.
Open specialist route →Escalate before notices or settlement numbers are issued.
Protected employees, disputed grounds, collective process and local calculations require fact-specific advice.
Protected status existsPregnancy, medical treatment or occupational injury changes the risk.
Collective process may applyHeadcount and reason may trigger consultation or filing requirements.
Closure timing is fixedCorporate, tax and employment teams need one realistic sequence.
Educational information only — not legal advice. Laws, deadlines and local practice can change; obtain fact-specific advice from qualified PRC counsel.
