How to open an AliExpress store through a Chinese company

You have a product, or a good relationship with a factory in China, and you want to sell it directly to buyers around the world without first shipping a container to your own country. AliExpress is one of the shortest routes to that, but to open an AliExpress store and sell worldwide you usually need a company registered in mainland China, and this is where many Arab traders stop. In this guide you will learn why you need the company, how to set it up and choose its address, how to open the store itself, and what costs and timelines to plan for.

What is AliExpress and why does it matter to an Arab seller?

AliExpress was founded in 2010 as part of China's Alibaba Group. It is a retail platform that sells to end consumers outside China, unlike Alibaba, which serves wholesale trade between businesses. It reaches buyers in most countries, including the Gulf states, and commonly cited estimates put it at more than 150 million active users. Do not build your plan on the platform's headline figures; build it on demand in your specific category, which you can judge from the number of orders and reviews on competitors' products.

The advantage for an Arab trader is that the stock stays in China, close to the factory, while the platform collects payment from the buyer and offers international shipping through its linked logistics network. You concentrate on the product, its listing and customer service.

Why do you need a company in mainland China?

To register a seller account on AliExpress and sell worldwide from China, you need a company registered in the mainland, with a business licence issued by China's market regulation authority. The reason is transparency and security in financial transactions: the platform verifies the company's identity and pays your earnings into an account linked to it. A Chinese company also gives you a Chinese bank account, which makes it easier to receive revenue and pay local suppliers in renminbi. To weigh the alternatives first, read when a company in China for e-commerce pays.

In recent years the platform has opened programmes for local sellers in a limited number of countries, who sell from stock held in their own country. These programmes change, may not cover your country, and do not suit anyone who wants to sell worldwide from stock in China. Check the seller registration page when you apply, but plan on the basis that a Chinese company is the usual route.

What else a Chinese company gives you

• Access to large markets: you sell through AliExpress and other platforms to consumers in Europe, South East Asia and the Middle East, and to the Chinese market itself if you expand later.
• Lower production costs: you deal directly with local factories and Chinese wholesale platforms such as 1688 and pay in renminbi, so there are fewer middlemen and your margins improve.
• Incentives for small businesses: there are reduced tax rates for small low-profit enterprises and local support programmes. The conditions change, so ask your accountant what applies to your company before you count on them.
• Easier expansion: being a Chinese company makes it simpler to contract local suppliers and lets you register on other platforms that require a Chinese entity.
• Stronger business relationships: a factory deals with more confidence with a Chinese company that signs a Chinese contract and issues an official invoice, and over time this improves your payment terms and prices.
• A route to a work visa or residence: if you want to live and work in China, your company can be the basis for a work visa application, subject to conditions on the physical address, the business activity and the salary.

How do you set up the Chinese company, step by step?

The usual form for a foreign investor is a wholly foreign-owned limited liability company. Our guide on how to establish an import and export company in China covers it in full; these are the steps in order:

1. Prepare a valid passport for each shareholder and for the legal representative. You may need to have the passport notarised and legalised in your country, either by apostille if your country is a party to the Hague Convention, or through the Chinese embassy.
2. Choose a company name in Chinese that is unique and not already in use, and prepare two or three alternatives, because the first choice may be rejected.
3. Define the business scope precisely, and make sure it covers e-commerce, online retail and import and export if you need them, because both the platform and the bank review the registered scope.
4. Set the subscribed capital according to your activity and plan. Under the revised Company Law in force since July 2024, subscribed capital must be paid in within 5 years of incorporation, so do not write a figure larger than you can pay.
5. Choose the registered address, physical or virtual, and obtain the official lease.
6. Apply to the local market regulation bureau for the business licence, then collect the company seals.
7. Open the company bank account, register with the tax bureau, and appoint an accountant for the monthly or quarterly filings.

The business licence is the document you will use to verify your company and register on the platform. Tax filings are compulsory even if you make no sales, and late filing exposes the company to fines and can freeze your bank account. Before you sign with anyone, look at what professional accounting and tax filing for a foreign-owned company should include.

Plan the timing realistically. Once the documents are complete, the licence is usually issued within 1 to 3 weeks depending on the city. Opening the bank account then takes 1 to 4 weeks, because some banks require the legal representative to attend in person or by video interview, and they check the business activity and the source of funds. Overall, allow around 4 to 8 weeks before you are ready to register on the platform. The procedure is set out on our page on opening a corporate bank account in China.

Physical or virtual address?

A physical address means renting a real office in China, and it is the right choice if you plan to apply for a work visa or residence through the company, or if you will hire a local team. The cost is an annual rent that varies widely by city and district.

A virtual address is a real address registered under an official lease, but you do not occupy it. It costs less than a physical office and is enough to register the company and sell on the platform if you do not need residence in China. Avoid fake addresses that are not backed by a valid lease, because if one is discovered the company can be placed on the list of businesses with abnormal operations.

How do you open your AliExpress store once the company exists?

1. Register a seller account with an email address and phone number dedicated to the company, and enter the company name exactly as it appears on the licence.
2. Complete the company identity verification by whatever method the platform requires at the time of registration; this is often linked to a corporate Alipay account or to the legal representative's details.
3. Choose the category you will sell in, whether electronics, clothing or household goods, and make sure it suits your target market and that your company's business scope covers it.
4. Pay the security deposit required for the category. It varies by category and in many starts at around 10000 CNY, so check the current figure in the seller portal before you set your budget.
5. Register your trademark, or upload an authorisation from the trademark owner, if the category requires it; this is a common condition in many categories.
6. Upload products with clear photos from several angles, accurate descriptions in English and in your markets' languages, correct sizes and materials, and competitive prices calculated after the platform commission and shipping cost.
7. Set up international shipping templates and the handling time for each product, and link the withdrawal account that will receive your earnings.

You do not choose the buyer's payment methods yourself. The platform takes payment by card and by the local methods available in each country, then transfers the net sales to your account after delivery is confirmed or the set period has passed. Plan working capital to cover that gap.

How do you work out your selling price?

Many new stores lose money by adding a fixed margin to the factory price. Build the price from the bottom up: the supplier's price, then packaging and labels, then international shipping to the buyer's door by weight and country, then the platform commission, which is a percentage that varies by category and appears in the commission table in the seller portal, then an allowance for returns and refunds, then the advertising budget per order. What is left is your real profit. Compare the result with the prices of the best competitors in the category; if no reasonable margin remains, change the product or the supplier before you launch.

Self-managed or a managed model?

In the traditional model you manage prices, shipping and customer service yourself. In the managed models the platform has introduced, such as the Choice programme, you supply goods to the platform's warehouse and it handles consumer pricing, shipping and after-sales service, in exchange for less control over the price. The managed model suits a seller with a strong factory price who does not want a customer service team; the traditional model suits a seller building a brand. For the wider picture, read our guide to cross-border e-commerce in China.

Readiness checklist before you launch the store

• A valid business licence with a registered scope that covers online sales
• An active company bank account that can receive transfers
• A registered trademark, a filed application, or written authorisation from the trademark owner
• A budget for the category deposit, samples, photography and the first adverts
• 10 to 20 products ready to upload with complete photos and specifications
• A supplier committed to a set handling time, and a plan to inspect quality before every shipment
• An accountant under contract for the filings from the first month
• Someone who answers buyer messages within 24 hours

Common mistakes when opening a store through a Chinese company

A business scope that does not cover online sales

Some traders discover after registration that the company's scope does not include online retail, and they have to amend the licence before the platform will accept them. Define the full scope from the start.

Neglecting the trademark

Selling without a registered trademark shuts you out of many categories and lets someone else register your name in China before you do. File for trademark registration in China early, because the process takes months.

A virtual address without a valid lease

An address not backed by an official lease may pass registration and then cause problems at the first inspection. Ask for a copy of the lease and check its term and renewal.

Stopping tax filings because the store has not sold yet

A nil return is compulsory. Skipping it puts the company into abnormal status and complicates opening any account later.

Shipping to buyers without checking the batch

A new store lives on its first reviews. Ten orders with obvious defects are enough to push you down the search results for months. Check every new batch from the supplier before you start shipping it to buyers, even if only by opening and testing a random sample yourself.

What to do this week

Pick one category and study the top 20 products in it on AliExpress: price, number of orders and the reasons behind the negative reviews. Get your passport ready and ask what notarisation it needs in your country, then write down three proposed company names and a complete business scope. Decide between a physical and a virtual address based on whether you need residence. If you want someone to handle the company setup and the store until your first product is live, HiGreenPanda offers store setup on AliExpress, Amazon and TEMU from Shenzhen and Shanghai.