VIVOS Hong Kong
Hong Kong company formation and company secretary services.
VIVOS Corporate Services (HK) Ltd. forms and administers Hong Kong companies for regional and international owners — Companies Registry compliance, resident company secretary, accounting, audit liaison and profits tax filing. We are part of the VIVOS Group, so a Hong Kong entity can sit inside a Singapore, Malaysian or UAE structure administered by the same team.
Incorporating in Hong Kong: the essentials
What a Hong Kong private company limited by shares actually requires. We confirm the current position for your activity before filing.
| Entity type | Private company limited by shares |
| Regulator | Companies Registry; Business Registration Office (Inland Revenue Department) |
| Governing law | Companies Ordinance (Cap. 622) |
| Foreign ownership | 100% permitted |
| Directors | At least one natural-person director; no residency requirement |
| Shareholders | Minimum one; corporate shareholders permitted |
| Company secretary | Mandatory — an individual ordinarily resident in Hong Kong, or a body corporate with a Hong Kong registered office |
| Registered office | Required, in Hong Kong |
| Share capital | No statutory minimum; commonly HK$1 to HK$10,000 |
| Business registration | Business Registration Certificate required and renewable annually |
| Typical timeline | 3–7 working days once documents are in order |
| Annual obligations | Annual return, business registration renewal, audited financial statements, profits tax return |
| Audit | Statutory audit generally required, including for dormant-in-fact companies that have not been formally declared dormant |
What we do in Hong Kong
Company formation
Name availability, incorporation with the Companies Registry, Business Registration Certificate, articles and registered office.
Company secretary
We act as your Hong Kong company secretary: significant controllers register, statutory books, resolutions and annual returns.
Accounting, audit and tax
Bookkeeping to audit standard, audit coordination with a Hong Kong CPA practice, and profits tax computation and filing.
Offshore profits claims
Support on the territorial source basis, including the documentation an offshore profits position needs to withstand an IRD enquiry.
Banking support
Account opening support for Hong Kong companies, including the business substance and counterparty evidence banks now expect.
China-facing structures
Hong Kong holding and trading entities for mainland operations, supported by our Shanghai team for China-side coordination.
Where Hong Kong still wins
Hong Kong remains the most efficient place to hold and trade into mainland China. There is no residency requirement for directors, no sales tax, a territorial basis of taxation and a deep professional and banking market that understands cross-border trade documentation.
The two things that catch owners out are the mandatory audit — which applies even to companies with minimal activity — and bank account opening, which now requires genuine evidence of what the business does and who it deals with. Both are manageable when planned for at incorporation rather than discovered at year end.
Hong Kong company questions
Do I need a Hong Kong resident director?
No. Unlike Singapore and Malaysia, Hong Kong does not require a locally resident director. You do, however, need a company secretary who is ordinarily resident in Hong Kong or a body corporate with a Hong Kong registered office, and a Hong Kong registered office address. We provide both.
Is an audit really required if the company is dormant?
In most cases yes. A company that has simply had little activity is not “dormant” in the legal sense — dormancy requires a formal declaration and no relevant accounting transactions. Companies that assume otherwise often accumulate several years of unfiled audits, which is considerably more expensive to resolve than to have done annually.
Can a Hong Kong company avoid profits tax on offshore income?
Hong Kong taxes profits on a territorial source basis, so profits genuinely arising outside Hong Kong may fall outside the charge. This is a documentation exercise, not a box to tick: the Inland Revenue Department will want to see where contracts were negotiated and concluded, where the work was performed and who the counterparties were. We advise on whether a claim is realistic before you rely on it.
How hard is it to open a bank account?
Harder than it was, and it depends heavily on the business. Banks want evidence of real activity: identified customers and suppliers, contracts or invoices, and a clear explanation of expected flows. Applications with no substance behind them are declined. We prepare the file accordingly and tell you up front if the profile is going to be difficult.
Do you handle the Singapore or Malaysia side too?
Yes. VIVOS holds its own licences in Singapore, Malaysia and the UAE as well as Hong Kong, so a multi-jurisdiction group is one engagement. See VIVOS Group.
Set up in Hong Kong properly.
Tell us the shareholders, their residency and what the business will do. We will come back with a fixed setup fee and a fixed annual fee.