Hello Friends,

I'm interested in understanding the challenges in opening a restaurant/bar in Kunming area for westerners. I have family in the area and am looking at moving there in next few years. What are the city reg's/law's, Provincial reg's/laws. Are there alot. Any feedback most appreciated. CKR

Ha! This is a big topic.

I suggest you make a visit to Kunming, and arrange to chat to some of the local bar owners.

One of the big issues in Kunming is the landlords of rental property. If your business does well they somehow think they are entitled to the major potion of your profits. Too many places have gone out of business because the landlord jacks up the rent, or even charges too much to begin with.

City regs/laws are not of any concern. Like tigertiger said, it's the landlords you have to worry about, not to mention your product venders supplying you with bad and/or fake product. Then there are the employees, which is a whole new set of problems in China.
Chance of failure in China is 2x that of doing this in the US, although MUCH cheaper here to pull off.

I heard a useful comment about pilferage. Your staff will steal from you. You cannot stop this. You will lose all your hair trying. But you need to control it.
Wages are low, staff feel entitled to supplerment wages, this is part of 5000 years of culture. If they can't supplement thier income enough, they will leave. If they take too much, you lose to much. You can and should try to control how much. A difficult balance.

Regards local business partners. Local business culture is that you do not go into business to see how much you can put in and the return you will get for your efforts. You start a business and see how much you can take out of it. If you have a local partner, you forget this cultural difference at your peril.

Tax. You pay tax on the income you declare.

Local officials. Some of them will want 'rent'. You need to make sure you do not pay those who you don't need to, and you do pay those who you need to. This is where a local partner can be very useful (catch 22).

Everyone in China hears stories about the people who have become rich, but China is full of poor/breadline businessmen. You also rarely hear the many stories of Chinese businesses that have gone bankrupt, or the partner has done a moonlight flit. People just don't talk about this that much.

Nothing is impossible in China, but nothing is easy. Do your home work. Opening a business can be done, but go in with your eyes open.