Hi

My girlfriend and I have been offered a job in Shanghai and we are planning on moving there and accept it. Is there a way of obtaining information about the company before we accept? It's a Chinese architecture firm and we are a bit surprised that we can't find anything about them by searching via google. Is there another way to find out whether it's a legit and serious company? Are there any listings or something where we can look them up?

I asked them in an email to tells us about their company and they replied:

"The information about our company can be found in many real estate newspapers and on the American Consulate General, HK listings, if you are interested, you can search and read them" .... "Our company is a US registered company, also has registered in HK. Currently, *** is one of the five biggest foreign invested design companies in Shanghai. It also certificated with Class A Comprehensive Designing Certifications and Planning License which are issued by China Government."

...not very informative and I don't know any Shanghai real estate newspapers and haven't been able to find any of these listings or registrations.

/Rolf_K

could you help to tell its name ? or by PM if you don't think that is good to say on the post,probably I can check that to give you some information for reference.

you may want to look up their name using their chinese name as most companies here officially operate under that and the English name seems secondary and often times is different than that which they use on a regular basis.

A " Class A Comprehensive Designing Certifications and Planning License" can be borrowed by a lot of people and does not really mean that the company is certified... You better make sure by checking with American Consulate etc. Actually if this company is professional they should have a proper website.

There's a company based in Beijing called KKC from whom you can buy Commerce Dept. data on any company. Basic report for RMB400 (P&Ls, debt rating, key people), expanded report for 600 (includes balance sheet). Of course much of this is self-reported.

Let me know if you want contact info. You'll need to know the Chinese name though of course.