Hiring a commercial professional in mainland China or Hong Kong can give a foreign company local market knowledge, customer access, and faster response times.
It can also create employment, tax, commission, licensing, and contract-authority risks.
The first mistake is treating business development, sales, and relationship management as the same job. The second is treating mainland China and Hong Kong as one employment market.
Before recruiting, define the commercial problem, customer location, employee authority, compensation model, and legal-employer structure.
An Employer of Record may support suitable roles when the company does not have its own local entity. It does not automatically authorize local sales, eliminate permanent-establishment exposure, or replace required business and industry licences.
Where the role is still being defined, the China recruitment service can help with candidate sourcing and screening. Recruitment is separate from the decision about who may lawfully employ the person, whether they may sign customer contracts, and whether the role creates a permanent establishment or other local business risk.
BD, Sales, or Relationship Management?
Choose the function before choosing the candidate.
Business development
A Business Development Manager creates new routes to growth.
Typical responsibilities include:
- Researching market opportunities
- Identifying customer segments
- Building partnerships
- Evaluating distributors
- Developing channels
- Testing market demand
- Creating qualified opportunities
This role often fits a company that has not finalized its route to market.
Sales
A Sales Manager converts opportunities into revenue.
Typical responsibilities include:
- Prospecting
- Managing pipeline
- Conducting customer meetings
- Preparing proposals
- Coordinating demonstrations
- Negotiating commercial terms
- Forecasting
- Closing business
This role works best when the company already understands its product, pricing, target customer, and sales process.
Relationship management
A Relationship Manager develops existing or strategically important accounts.
The role may focus on:
- Customer retention
- Renewals
- Account expansion
- Cross-selling
- Senior stakeholder relationships
- Service escalation
- Institutional partnerships
Relationship managers are common in financial and professional services, but they are also valuable in technology, industrial, consulting, and logistics businesses.
Mainland China and Hong Kong Are Different
Mainland China and Hong Kong have separate employment, payroll, tax, statutory-benefit, immigration, and privacy systems.
A mainland employee may require:
- A mainland Chinese legal employer
- A Chinese labor contract
- Payroll in renminbi
- Individual income tax withholding
- Social insurance
- Housing fund administration where applicable
A Hong Kong employee may require:
- A Hong Kong legal employer
- Hong Kong employment terms
- Local payroll
- Mandatory Provident Fund administration
- Inland Revenue Department employer reporting
- Employees’ compensation insurance
One employment contract should not casually cover both jurisdictions.
Use the comparison of Hong Kong EOR and China EOR when deciding where the employee should be based.
Choose the Location Based on Customers
The best location is usually where the employee can reach the relevant customers, partners, or industrial cluster.
Mainland China may fit when:
- Most target customers are mainland companies
- Mandarin is operationally necessary
- Regular domestic travel is required
- The role manages mainland distributors
- Factory or industrial-customer access matters
- Chinese procurement processes are central
The correct city depends on the sector. Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Suzhou, Dongguan, Chengdu, and other cities serve different customer and industrial concentrations.
Hong Kong may fit when:
- The role manages Hong Kong clients
- The mandate covers regional APAC accounts
- International financial or professional services are central
- English or Cantonese is frequently required
- The employee supports cross-border partnerships
- Customers are mainland companies expanding internationally
A Hong Kong employee does not automatically provide an authorized mainland sales presence. Frequent or substantial work in mainland China can create separate immigration, employment, and tax questions.
Can an EOR Employ the Salesperson?
A China Employer of Record may employ a suitable mainland worker while the foreign company directs the person’s daily work.
The EOR generally handles:
- The employment contract
- Payroll
- Individual income tax withholding
- Social insurance
- Housing fund administration
- Leave and employment records
- Onboarding and offboarding
The client generally controls:
- Territory and customer strategy
- Pipeline management
- Sales targets
- Pricing policy
- Performance feedback
- Customer assignments
- Commercial tools and CRM access
The China EOR guide explains the wider responsibility split.
For a Hong Kong employee, use a provider with an appropriate Hong Kong employing entity and local processes. The Hong Kong EOR provider guide explains the questions to ask.
What an EOR Does Not Do
An EOR supplies an employment structure. It does not automatically give the foreign client authority to:
- Issue local invoices
- Collect customer payments
- Operate a licensed business
- Import or sell regulated products
- Hold inventory
- Sign local contracts through the EOR
- Present the EOR’s office as the client’s branch
- Eliminate permanent-establishment risk
- Avoid all local corporate tax obligations
The proposed business activity and role authority must be reviewed before recruitment.
A reputable provider may reject a position if the employee would perform activities that the arrangement cannot support.
Control Contract Authority
Sales employees naturally create more tax and legal exposure than many support roles.
Before onboarding, define whether the employee may:
- Quote prices
- Offer discounts
- Negotiate payment terms
- Change contract language
- Accept purchase orders
- Sign contracts
- Make warranties
- Appoint distributors
- Commit marketing funds
- Collect payments
Formal signing authority is not the only consideration. Risk may remain if the employee negotiates all material terms and overseas approval is merely routine.
Review the China EOR permanent-establishment guide before assigning negotiation or contracting duties.
Check Industry Licensing
Some commercial roles require more than an employment contract.
Additional licences, registrations, or qualifications may apply in areas such as:
- Banking
- Securities
- Insurance
- Fund management
- Pharmaceuticals
- Medical devices
- Telecommunications
- Internet services
- Education
- Import and export
- Regulated professional services
A relationship-manager title in financial services may carry formal regulatory requirements that a general EOR arrangement cannot satisfy.
Confirm whether the employee, employer, or client must be licensed before making an offer.
Build a Precise Job Description
A commercial job description should include:
- Primary objective
- Territory
- Customer segment
- Products or services
- New versus existing accounts
- Reporting line
- Travel expectations
- Work location
- Contract authority
- Pricing authority
- Distributor responsibilities
- CRM requirements
- Performance measures
- Commission structure
- Compliance obligations
Avoid combining every commercial function into one vague “Greater China BD and Sales Manager” role.
If the employee must create a market from the beginning, the position and targets should reflect market development rather than mature-territory sales.
Assess Candidates in Context
Revenue numbers alone do not show whether a candidate fits the role.
Examine:
- Previous customer segment
- Average contract value
- Typical sales cycle
- Industry knowledge
- New versus inherited accounts
- Direct versus channel sales
- Product complexity
- Territory maturity
- Employer brand strength
- Internal support available
- Personal contribution to results
A candidate who succeeded with an established global brand and mature inbound pipeline may not be suited to building a market for an unknown entrant.
Test the Candidate’s Network Properly
Candidates frequently claim to have a strong network. Test whether that network is relevant and repeatable.
Ask:
- Which customer groups did you cover?
- Which decision-makers did you engage?
- In which cities did you operate?
- How did you enter accounts without an existing introduction?
- What portion of pipeline did you create?
- How did relationships convert into revenue?
- Which partnerships did you build personally?
Do not request confidential customer lists, proprietary pipeline information, or documents belonging to a previous employer.
A candidate’s ability to create relationships is usually more valuable than a static contact list.
Use Practical Assessments
Commercial candidates are often skilled interviewers. Add realistic work samples.
For business development
Ask the candidate to outline the first six months of entering a defined market.
Assess:
- Segmentation
- Account prioritization
- Channel strategy
- Market assumptions
- Milestones
- Compliance awareness
- Resource requirements
For sales
Provide an opportunity with stalled procurement or multiple decision-makers.
Assess:
- Stakeholder mapping
- Qualification
- Negotiation judgment
- Internal coordination
- Forecasting
- Next-step discipline
For relationship management
Provide an important account experiencing service failures.
Assess:
- Listening
- Accountability
- Escalation
- Recovery planning
- Retention judgment
- Commercial prioritization
Do not ask candidates to produce free work using real confidential customer data.
Design Commission Carefully
Commission disputes often begin with an incomplete plan.
The commission agreement should define:
- Eligible products and customers
- Territory
- Calculation rate
- Revenue or gross-margin basis
- Booking versus invoicing
- Whether customer payment is required
- Currency and exchange rate
- Tax treatment
- Shared-account credit
- Renewals and expansions
- Returns, cancellations, and bad debt
- Payment date
- Plan changes
- Treatment after resignation or termination
Do not rely on a short clause stating that commission is paid “according to company policy.” Attach or acknowledge the actual plan and explain how it interacts with the employment contract.
Match incentives to the role
Business-development measures may include:
- Qualified pipeline
- Strategic partnerships
- Pilot projects
- Channel development
- Market-entry milestones
Sales measures may include:
- Revenue
- Gross margin
- New customers
- Conversion
- Forecast accuracy
- Collections
Relationship-management measures may include:
- Retention
- Renewal
- Account growth
- Cross-selling
- Customer profitability
- Service recovery
A company should not change earned commission retroactively without review.
Performance Management and Termination
Missing a sales target does not automatically make termination lawful.
The employer should maintain evidence such as:
- Agreed targets
- Territory and account assignments
- CRM records
- Performance reviews
- Coaching notes
- Written warnings where appropriate
- Improvement plans
- Support provided
- Employee responses
The correct process differs between mainland China and Hong Kong.
In mainland China, the EOR is the legal employer and must be involved before any warning, role change, compensation reduction, or termination announcement.
In Hong Kong, notice, wages, commission, statutory benefits, final payments, and the termination reason still require review under the local employment framework.
Never dismiss an EOR employee directly and ask the provider to prepare documents afterward.
Protect Customer and Employee Data
Commercial workers may access:
- Customer contacts
- CRM records
- Purchase history
- Pricing
- Pipeline
- Contracts
- Meeting notes
- Personal information
- Marketing preferences
For mainland employees, China’s Personal Information Protection Law may apply. For Hong Kong employees and customers, review the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance.
Define:
- Which CRM the employee uses
- Where data is stored
- Who can export records
- Whether data crosses borders
- How customer consent and notices are managed
- How access is removed during offboarding
- What information the employee may retain
Customer lists and CRM exports should remain in company-controlled systems.
Anti-Bribery and Third-Party Controls
Sales pressure can increase the risk of inappropriate payments, gifts, entertainment, or intermediary arrangements.
Commercial employees should receive clear rules covering:
- Gifts and hospitality
- Travel and entertainment
- Discounts
- Rebates
- Sponsorships
- Distributor onboarding
- Sales agents
- Referral fees
- Government-related customers
- Approval thresholds
- Expense evidence
- Conflict disclosure
High revenue targets should not encourage employees to bypass due diligence.
The company should approve agents and distributors centrally rather than allowing a salesperson to engage intermediaries informally.
Onboarding Checklist
Before the employee starts:
- Confirm the correct jurisdiction and employing entity.
- Sign the local employment contract.
- Issue the commission plan.
- Define territory and accounts.
- Document pricing and contract authority.
- Establish permanent-establishment controls.
- Complete licensing checks.
- Provide CRM and data training.
- Deliver anti-bribery training.
- Set expense rules.
- Confirm working location and travel.
- Establish performance-review dates.
- Explain escalation and approval processes.
Use the China employee onboarding guide for the wider employment process.
When to Establish Your Own Entity
An EOR may fit first hires and controlled market testing.
A local entity may become more appropriate when:
- The team becomes permanent or substantial
- Local invoicing is required
- Employees negotiate or sign contracts
- The company needs local licences
- Inventory or facilities are maintained
- Local revenue grows
- The company needs direct commercial authority
- The EOR becomes operationally restrictive
- Permanent-establishment exposure is significant
The decision should be based on business activity, not only employee count.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can an EOR employ a sales manager in China?
Potentially, yes. The provider must review the role, city, authority, product, and commercial activity before approving the arrangement.
Can the salesperson sign contracts?
Do not grant signing authority without tax, legal, and provider review. An EOR does not automatically authorize the employee to bind the foreign client.
Can one employee cover mainland China and Hong Kong?
Commercially, a regional mandate may be possible. Employment, immigration, tax, travel, licensing, and work-location implications still require review.
Can commission be discretionary?
Some bonus elements may be discretionary, but commission plans should clearly define when amounts are calculated, earned, adjusted, and paid.
Does an EOR eliminate permanent-establishment risk?
No. The employee’s actual activities, workplace, authority, and the company’s business model remain decisive.
Final Takeaway
Successful commercial hiring begins with a precise mandate.
Before hiring a BD, sales, or relationship manager:
- Choose the correct function
- Locate the role near the relevant customers
- Separate mainland China from Hong Kong requirements
- Define contract and pricing authority
- Check licences
- Document commission rules
- Test candidates in context
- Protect customer data
- Establish compliance controls
- Plan when EOR should transition to an entity
To assess a mainland commercial role and employment structure, contact HROne.
This article provides general information and does not constitute legal, tax, employment, immigration, licensing, or data-protection advice.
