China · from contract to enforcement
Legal support in China from a Budapest law firm with its own team in Shanghai
We are a Hungarian law firm headquartered in Budapest, with more than fifteen years of experience in China-related matters. We help European and Hungarian companies with their matters in China, and Chinese companies in Hungary. With our own team on the ground, whatever the issue, we help solve it and protect your interests. Cost is set before each stage: a fixed fee, or hourly rates with an agreed cap.
What we do on China matters
- Counterparty and supplier due diligence: corporate status, representation, ownership, licences, litigation and enforcement history.
- Contracts designed for enforcement in China: governing law, jurisdiction, arbitration, payment security and bilingual documentation.
- Commercial disputes and debt recovery: staged legal and financial assessment, demand, negotiation, proceedings and enforcement.
- Intellectual property: local coordination of trademark filings, licensing, technology transfer and infringement matters.
- China establishment and continuing legal coordination: structure, permits, corporate documents and local compliance.
- Hungarian law for Chinese investors: company formation, residence and work permits, employment, tax and regulatory matters in Hungary.
- Supplying Chinese-owned factories in Hungary: readiness review, counterparty checks on the Hungarian subsidiary and the Chinese parent, contract review and negotiation support for suppliers and subcontractors. Details on the package page.
Our team in Budapest and in China
Várnai & Partner Cathay Associates is a law firm headquartered in Budapest, with its own office in Shanghai and more than fifteen years of experience in China-related matters. We know how business is done in China, how its authorities and courts work, and how to move a matter forward on the ground.
Whether a Chinese partner has failed to perform, you need a contract that works in China, or a Chinese company is coming to Hungary, you do not have to assemble a team yourself: we assign the right lawyer as your main contact, and our Shanghai team and Chinese lawyers licensed for the work carry out the matter in China. We do not present ourselves as a Chinese law firm.
European companies can also reach us through the MKIK China Desk – Operated by Cathay Partners.
Related service packages
Standalone services for China-related matters.
Commercial debt recovery and dispute resolution in China
With Hungarian lawyers in our network and our own team on the ground in China, we help you recover unpaid claims and resolve non-delivery or defective performance by a Chinese counterparty, through a proven staged process that keeps costs under control.
Tell us about the matter and what you want to achieve. We review it and send a written offer, either a fixed fee or hourly rates with an agreed cap, so the cost is predictable before work starts. If the scope stays the same, so does the fee. Each later stage, a viability review, negotiation, litigation, arbitration or enforcement, gets its own written offer before it begins.
Read moreKft. or EU branch registration in Hungary, ready for tax and banking
A Hungarian limited company (Kft.) or branch, registered by a Hungarian attorney and ready for tax and banking from day one.
A fixed fee that covers every item of the Kft. registration: registration, EU VAT number and authority fees. You know the cost from the first step and can plan with it.
Read moreResidence and work permits for the people you send to Hungary
Strong immigration experience applied to your situation, with the right permit route, the document checklist and a complete application for managers, specialists and their families.
Fixed fees per person, by permit type and batch size, with the cost known in advance.
Read moreA Hungarian legal team on retainer, without hiring in-house
A Hungarian legal team on call under an agreed monthly scope, covering contracts, employment and authorities, without hiring in-house.
Fixed monthly retainers and hourly rates, so you know the cost in advance.
Read moreBecoming a supplier to Chinese investors in Hungary
Support to qualify as a supplier, subcontractor or service provider to a Chinese-owned company or Chinese general contractor in Hungary, and to work with them under a contract that holds up.
Tell us about the matter and what you want to achieve. We review it and send a written offer, either a fixed fee or hourly rates with an agreed cap, so the cost is predictable before work starts. If the scope stays the same, so does the fee.
Read moreAll servicesFurther options and the MKIK China Desk
On our group platform, cathay.partners, we also offer China supplier due diligence, a China market entry study and China company registration as standalone services, because that is where we organise the work in China.
For the full range of China-related matter types we handle, see our China practice area page.
The MKIK China Desk
We operate the China Desk of the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the MKIK China Desk – Operated by Cathay Partners. It gives companies doing business with China first orientation before any formal engagement and tells them which of our teams can help.
Related insights
Frequently asked questions
What does a China-related matter cost?
Tell us about the matter and what you want to achieve. We review it and send a written offer, either a fixed fee or hourly rates with an agreed cap, so the cost is predictable before work starts. If the scope stays the same, so does the fee. Company formation, residence and work permits, and the retainer are fixed-fee packages, with the fee confirmed in writing before work starts.
Do your own lawyers act in China too?
Legal work under Chinese law is carried out by Chinese lawyers licensed for the task, together with our Shanghai team. You work with one contact person: we assign the right lawyer to your matter and coordinate the work in China, so you do not have to find and manage an adviser there yourself.
How long does it take to recover a claim in China?
It depends on the documents, the delivery route, the counterparty's response, the forum, and, if it comes to that, enforcement; nobody can guarantee a timeline. Each stage, from the demand letter to enforcement, gets its own estimated timing and its own offer before it starts.
As a Chinese investor, how do we start a Hungarian company?
Company formation, the tax number, the document set for opening a bank account and residence permits for the people you send can be ordered as one project through [Hungary in a Box](https://cathay.partners/solutions/hungary-in-a-box), or as a standalone service on our [company formation](/en/termekek/cegalapitas) page.
Is what we tell you kept confidential?
Yes. What you share with us goes only to those who need it to answer you or do the work, at our end and at the cooperating Chinese lawyers'. See our privacy notice for how we handle personal data.
Beyond the legal work
The Cathay Partners platform adds market and partner research, site selection, government relations, incentives, staffing, logistics and project delivery to the legal work, as separate services with a clear hand-off.
Tell us about the China matter
Name the countries and companies involved and where things stand. Please do not send sensitive documents yet; we reply with the proposed route and tell you which documents we will need at which stage.