After the implementation of the new ODI regulations in 2026, what is the compliance path for enterprises going global? This exhibition in Shanghai will be explained in three days

When a national level new regulation on outbound investment is implemented in the summer of 2026, many small and medium-sized business owners who are considering going abroad will not be excited at first, but confused.

  This is a milestone administrative regulation in China's outbound investment field, integrating the management requirements for outbound investment that were previously scattered in departmental regulations and normative documents into a single institutional framework.

The policy direction is clear: to promote high-level opening up to the outside world, promote high-quality development of foreign investment, and effectively implement foreign investment management to protect the legitimate rights and interests of investors. But at the operational level, a small and medium-sized enterprise planning to set up a factory in Southeast Asia, register a brand company in Europe, or set up a regional headquarters in the Middle East often faces a series of practical problems - should filing go through development reform or business? What documents are required for foreign exchange registration? How many compliant ways are there for funds to exit the country? How to use the rules of origin under the RCEP framework?

These issues are precisely the most realistic starting point for Chinese companies to go global in 2026.

1、 The logic of going global has changed from 'selling products' to' going global 'for enterprises

For a long time in the past, the internationalization of Chinese enterprises remained at the level of trade: selling goods overseas, customers overseas, and the company's main body and funds within the country. In this mode, enterprises have almost no perception of ODI (outward direct investment).

But going out to sea in 2026 is no longer like this. From public industry observations, the connotation of Chinese brands going global is changing - no longer just selling products overseas, but gradually expanding into multiple fields such as technology, content, services, and branding. Innovative pharmaceutical companies establish clinical centers in Europe, trendy toy brands build local supply chains in Southeast Asia, new energy companies set up assembly bases in the Middle East, and catering brands open regional headquarters in Singapore.

When a company changes from an "exporter" to an "overseas operator", the problem is no longer how to export goods, but how to place the company, funds, team, and tax compliance overseas. There is a complete ODI process in between: establishment of domestic entities, registration of overseas companies, filing/approval of development and reform, filing with the commerce department, foreign exchange registration, planning of capital outflow paths, subsequent annual reports, and compliance maintenance.

Each stage has time costs and material thresholds. A manufacturing company with annual revenue of tens of millions often has only two or three people in its finance department, making it difficult to fully understand the full set of rules for cross-border investment at the same time. This is also why complaints about the difficulty of going global have been particularly concentrated among small and medium-sized enterprises in the past two years.

2、 Three policy changes in 2026 that small and medium-sized enterprises must be aware of

In 2026, there are three things that directly affect the way companies operate overseas.

The first one is the "Regulations of the State Council on Outward Investment" that came into effect on July 1st. This administrative regulation clarifies the scope of application, management system, and direction of investor rights protection for domestic investors investing abroad. For enterprises, the most practical significance is that there is a clearer legal basis for outbound investment, and some ambiguous areas that used to rely on window guidance are being institutionalized. When enterprises make ODI planning, they can evaluate the path based on clearer rules, rather than repeatedly asking about differences in caliber in different regions.

The second one is the "Management Measures for Overseas Loans of Domestic Enterprises" (Yinfa [2026] No. 63) implemented on April 20th. This document, jointly issued by the People's Bank of China and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, regulates the behavior of domestic enterprises providing loans to overseas related parties. The method is clear, and the lender should use their own funds to carry out overseas loans, and the funds must be used within the agreed purpose in the agreement. For many companies that have placed orders overseas and need their domestic parent companies to advance working capital, this means that there are clearer compliance boundaries for cross-border fund transactions.

The third notice is about the expansion of cross-border capital operations for multinational corporations in both domestic and foreign currencies in August. This notice extends the scope of application from large multinational corporations to "medium-sized enterprises engaged in overseas operations", and introduces a gradient access and unified account system that integrates domestic and foreign currencies. For medium-sized enterprises, this is a substantial signal of convenience - cross-border fund pool tools that were previously only available to top multinational corporations now have opportunities for medium-sized enterprises to access them.

Three things combined convey the same direction: the country is regulating the order of foreign investment while providing more convenient fund management tools for enterprises that truly engage in physical overseas operations. But the "benefits" of policies will not automatically become the "convenience" of enterprises, and there is still a distance between information acquisition and professional judgment.

3、 The Six Most Frequently Asked Questions by Business Owners

The questions repeatedly raised by small and medium-sized enterprise owners during policy presentations and industry exchanges in various regions are highly concentrated.

The first question is: "Is it worth doing ODI filing value for a company of our size? The answer depends on the true purpose of the enterprise going abroad. If it only acts as a trade agent, does not receive overseas income, and does not hire people overseas, the trade route may be sufficient; but if it wants to register trademarks overseas, rent offices, hire local employees, and open company bank accounts, the ODI subject is almost unavoidable.

The second question: "How long does it take for filing?" The cycle varies greatly in different regions and industries. Sensitive industries and large investments require approval, while general industries go through filing. The adequacy of material preparation in the early stage directly affects the overall progress.

The third question: "How do money go out?" Common paths include direct investment under ODI, trade settlement under current account, and eligible overseas loans. The applicable conditions, quotas, and subsequent compliance requirements for each path are different and need to be matched with the actual business structure of the enterprise.

The fourth question: "Which country to choose for landing?" RCEP has been in effect for more than four years, but many companies still have limited understanding of the agreement itself - how to check the tariff reduction table, how to use the cumulative rules of origin, and how to apply for approved exporter qualifications. These details often determine the actual cost of choosing the landing country.

The fifth question: "How to arrange taxation?" How to repatriate profits of overseas companies, how to apply tax treaties, and how to make compliance declarations under CRS information exchange are all problems that will be encountered in the second year after going abroad.

The sixth question: "After going abroad, who will be in charge of daily compliance?" Annual reports, foreign exchange inspections, tax resident status determination, transfer pricing documents - these are not one-time tasks, but long-term maintenance.

Each of these six questions requires professional institutions to make judgments based on the specific situation of the enterprise. Framework answers can be found online, but when it comes to the industry, scale, and target country of one's own company, face-to-face communication is often required.

4、 Why do we need to connect these services all at once at the exhibition

For companies considering going global, the expo held at the Shanghai World Trade Exhibition Center from November 20th to 22nd provides a scenario for addressing the aforementioned issues.

The exhibition will last for three days and is expected to receive approximately 8000 visitors over the course of three days. In the ODI enterprise overseas sector, exhibitors include overseas company registration agencies, cross-border law firms, tax accounting firms, foreign exchange and banking service agencies, overseas park operators, destination country investment promotion agencies, etc. Business owners can compare solutions from different service providers in the same space, instead of scheduling appointments and running to the office one by one.

The actual value of exhibiting can be summarized into several points:

One is information centralization. The new regulations on foreign investment, overseas lending, and cross-border fund pools will be intensively introduced in 2026, making it difficult for individual enterprises to track them all on their own. The policy interpretation section at the exhibition will be directly explained by institutions familiar with practical operations on "what to do now".

The second is that the plan is comparable. Similarly, setting up a company in Southeast Asia can result in significant differences in registration cycles, tax costs, and employment policies across different destination countries. Facing investment promotion agencies and service providers from multiple countries at once, enterprises can compare horizontally instead of being guided by a single information source.

The third is the alignment of demand. The exhibition is aimed at business owners who are already interested in going global and conducting preliminary research. Within three days, companies can engage in in-depth communication with service providers based on their industry, scale, and target market, rather than participating in general industry forums.

The fourth is follow-up communication. The connections established at the exhibition can be directly transformed into one-on-one consultation and program development in the future. Many business owners feel that the most difficult first step in going global is not execution, but finding a reliable professional service provider.

5、 Write at the end

The foreign investment environment in 2026 is a stage where Chinese companies will have clearer rules, richer tools, and clearer thresholds. After the implementation of the State Council's Regulations on Outward Investment, going abroad is no longer a vague area of "leaving first and then deciding", but a path that can be followed according to regulations.

For small and medium-sized enterprises, the real challenge lies not in policy direction, but in how to translate general rules into specific actions for their own companies. This requires both accurate understanding of policies and on-site knowledge of the destination country's market, as well as systematic arrangements for cross-border funds, taxation, and legal affairs.

From November 20th to 22nd, 2026, the Shanghai World Trade Exhibition Center, a three-day expo, brought these service providers together in one space. Whether you are just starting to study the path of going abroad or already preparing in advance, you can spend three days to clarify and compare key issues such as ODI filing, foreign exchange registration, overseas company registration, and cross-border taxation in one go.

For exhibition and visit inquiries, please call 13681692751 (same as WeChat) or visit the official website www.qs-expo.com to learn about the exhibitor list and schedule.