The Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement, commonly known as CEPA, is a landmark free-trade agreement between Mainland China and Hong Kong which started in 2003. It provides qualifying Hong Kong businesses with a significant competitive advantage, offering preferential access and relaxed requirements for a wide range of goods and services entering the vast Chinese market.

CEPA is structured around four major areas:

1. Trade in Goods
   1. Hong Kong-origin goods enjoy zero tariffs when entering Mainland China.
   2. Requires compliance with rules of origin, which are designed to be business-friendly. ]
2. Trade in Services
   1. Hong Kong service providers receive preferential access to the Mainland market.
   2. Covers sectors like finance, law, logistics, construction, telecommunications, and more.
3. Investment
   1. Facilitates and protects Hong Kong investments in the Mainland.
   2. Includes streamlined approval processes and reduced market entry barriers.
4. Economic and Technical Cooperation
   1. Promotes collaboration in areas such as IP protection, SME development, and innovation.

For businesses in qualifying sectors, leveraging CEPA can be a powerful strategy for accelerating market entry, reducing operational costs, and enhancing profitability. However, benefiting from the arrangement is not automatic; it requires careful planning and structuring to ensure that a business meets all the specific eligibility criteria.

Zetland provides expert advisory and implementation support for businesses looking to structure their operations to take advantage of the CEPA framework. We help to design and implement corporate structures, operational workflows, and documentary evidence trails that are fully aligned with the detailed CEPA requirements. Our approach is practical, ensuring that the structure is not only compliant for CEPA qualification purposes but is also efficient and workable for day-to-day business execution.