Managed IT services and IT support in China — cross-border operations supported with local expertise. Operating a business in China comes with a unique set of regulatory, technical, and logistical challenges — especially for international firms managing regional or global IT standards. Our locally registered Shanghai entity, 培腾司商务咨询（上海）有限公司, lets us deliver practical, on-the-ground support backed by more than 25 years of experience.
We help international companies set up, scale, and maintain IT operations across Greater China — including Shanghai, Shenzhen, Beijing, and key Tier 2 cities — while staying aligned with corporate policies, security frameworks, and compliance requirements.
Headquartered overseas and need a trusted partner on the ground? See IT for foreign companies in China & Hong Kong — establishing, supporting and integrating IT to your global standards. Running IT across both sides of the border? Our cross-border Hong Kong–China IT playbook walks through the practical decisions.
Warning
China IT has hard compliance edges. Cross-border data transfers (PIPL, CSL, DSL), tenant choice (21Vianet vs a global Microsoft 365 tenant) and local entity requirements need deciding before you build, not after — retrofitting them is slow and expensive.
PTS for China-Based Operations
IT Procurement in China
We handle vendor sourcing, local invoicing, RMB payments, and import logistics. Our team ensures compatibility, warranty coverage, and after-sales support — essential for buying hardware and software in China.
IT Project Delivery
From office builds to technology upgrades, we manage local IT infrastructure projects with bilingual project managers, on-the-ground engineering teams, and China-specific delivery plans.
Ongoing IT Support
We provide managed IT services and day-to-day technical support across Mainland China, with local field engineers and remote helpdesk coverage from our multilingual service teams.
Network Design and Compliance
We design networks that comply with China’s internet and cybersecurity policies, using licensed circuits, local hosting options, and M365 tenant advice for hybrid or localised models.
Cross-Border IT Integration
We help clients bridge their global platforms with local operations, managing VPN requirements, firewall design, hybrid cloud infrastructure, and cross-border connectivity.
Why PTS?
Local Presence, Global Standards
We work across Hong Kong, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Beijing, and key Tier 2 cities. Our services are aligned to ISO 27001 and ISO 20000, ensuring quality and security for global firms.
Cross-Border Experience
We’ve delivered regional infrastructure, AV, and IT support projects for hedge funds, insurers, asset managers, retailers, and engineering firms expanding into or operating within China.
Navigating China’s Regulatory Landscape
From China’s Cybersecurity Law to data residency requirements, we help clients understand and comply with local regulations while maintaining operational control from regional or global offices.
Setting up or scaling IT in Mainland China?
Practical, costed proposal · No obligation · Mandarin-speaking engineers on the ground
What is IT support in Mainland China?
IT support in Mainland China is a specialised discipline that differs materially from IT support in Hong Kong, Singapore, or any Western jurisdiction. The differences are not cosmetic — they affect the design of every layer of the technology stack. The most important ones:
Different cloud ecosystem. Microsoft 365 in China is operated by 21Vianet, a separate tenant with its own endpoints, licence terms, and feature availability. Microsoft Azure China is similarly operated by 21Vianet. AWS has a domestic version run by Sinnet and NWCD. Google services are not officially available. Cross-border integration between these China-domestic clouds and the global versions you use elsewhere is a real engineering exercise.
Different connectivity reality. The Great Firewall affects every cross-border data flow. Pure consumer VPNs are unreliable and have legal grey areas. Licensed cross-border connectivity options exist — MPLS through licensed carriers, SD-WAN with Chinese ICP-licensed providers, dedicated lines — and these are what serious enterprises use. Network design has to start from this reality, not work around it.
Different regulatory framework. The Cybersecurity Law (CSL), the Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL), the Data Security Law (DSL), and the Multi-Level Protection Scheme (MLPS) collectively set requirements for data localisation, cross-border data transfers, security assessments, and IT supplier qualification. A foreign company can’t simply transplant its global IT operating model into China — it has to be adapted. For a plain-English explainer of these laws — and Hong Kong’s PDPO — see our guide to data laws in China & Hong Kong.
Different vendor and procurement landscape. Hardware procurement requires RMB-denominated transactions, local invoicing (fapiao), and import considerations. After-sales warranty in China is handled by Chinese subsidiaries of the same global vendors, not by your global accounts. Local support contracts often need to be in place separately.
Different language and operational reality. Mandarin-speaking engineers, Mandarin documentation, and locally-tuned escalation paths are not optional. Trying to run China IT support from outside China typically fails at the practical level.
PTS helps foreign companies navigate all five of these dimensions, with a locally registered entity in Shanghai (培腾司商务咨询（上海）有限公司), Mandarin-speaking engineers, and direct experience delivering services across Shanghai, Shenzhen, Beijing, and key Tier 2 cities.
Where to base your China IT operations
For multinational and regional businesses, one of the first architecture decisions is where to base the China IT operation and how to connect it. Three common approaches:
Pure local presence. A standalone IT operation inside Mainland China — local servers (or domestic cloud), 21Vianet M365 tenant, local helpdesk, local engineers, local procurement. Cleanest for compliance, slowest to integrate with global systems. Best when China is a substantial or sensitive part of the business.
Hong Kong as a gateway. China-domestic services hosted locally where they have to be, but coordinated from Hong Kong — closer time zones, easier expat staffing, faster integration with global systems, and the legal flexibility of HK contract law. Common for financial services, professional services, and APAC HQs serving both HK and Mainland markets. Our IT support team in Hong Kong anchors this model, with the Shanghai entity handling everything that has to happen inside the Mainland.
Singapore as APAC HQ + China local. Singapore handles APAC strategy and regional coordination; a smaller China local operation handles the on-the-ground work. Common for multinationals that have already centralised APAC IT in Singapore.
Most foreign companies operating in China use some hybrid of these — and the right balance depends on headcount, regulatory exposure, and the strategic role China plays in the business. PTS works with all three patterns, from owned offices in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Shanghai.
Setting up IT for a new China office: a realistic timeline
Foreign companies setting up a first China office consistently underestimate the IT lead times — and most of the pain comes from sequencing, not technology. Decisions that take a day elsewhere sit behind legal, licensing, and carrier dependencies in China. This is the order that works:
1. Entity prerequisites come first
Very little can be ordered until your Chinese legal entity — typically a WFOE — exists. Telecoms contracts, RMB payments, and fapiao all require a registered entity, a business licence, and a legal representative. If incorporation is still in progress, use that time to make the architecture and tenant decisions below, so orders can go in the moment the paperwork lands.
2. Order connectivity as early as possible
Licensed internet circuits and cross-border links are the longest lead-time items in a China office build — installation commonly takes weeks, not days, and varies by city, carrier, and building. Order circuits as early as your entity and premises allow, and plan an interim connectivity arrangement so the office isn’t dark while you wait.
3. Settle tenant and licensing decisions before you build
The global-versus-21Vianet Microsoft 365 decision shapes identity, email, device enrolment, and licensing for everything that follows — change it later and you rebuild rather than reconfigure. Make this call, and the equivalent calls for any line-of-business systems, before procurement starts.
4. Procure locally, with fapiao in mind
Hardware shipped in from HQ hits customs clearance, warranty registration, and invoicing problems that buying through Chinese vendor subsidiaries avoids. Purchase in RMB with proper fapiao through a local entity — ours, if you don’t yet have your own — and allow realistic delivery time for anything that genuinely has to be imported.
5. Plan day-one support before day one
Mandarin-language helpdesk, escalation paths, and IT onboarding for local hires should be in place before the first employee walks in — not bolted on after the first complaint. Day one sets the tone for how local staff judge the new office, and how HQ judges the project.
PTS runs this sequence end to end through our Shanghai entity, 培腾司商务咨询（上海）有限公司, coordinated from our own office in Citigroup Tower (花旗集团大厦) in Lujiazui — entity-stage planning, circuit ordering, tenant build, local procurement, and day-one support under one accountable contract.
How to choose a China IT partner
Choosing an IT partner for Mainland China operations is high-stakes. The wrong choice can mean compliance failures, broken integration with your global systems, or a black-hole experience where issues escalate to invisible offshore teams. To cut through that, evaluate any provider — including us — against five factors. We call this the PTS China-Ready Framework.
1. Locally registered Chinese entity
Some providers claim “China coverage” by employing freelancers or working through unbranded sub-contractors. That model breaks down the moment something goes wrong — there’s no entity that’s actually accountable in China, no Chinese tax invoicing (fapiao), no local employment liability, and often no operational control over service quality. Ask the provider whether they have a registered legal entity in Mainland China, what its corporate structure is, and whether they can issue Chinese tax invoices directly.
2. Regulatory anchoring
The provider should know — not vaguely “be aware of” — the regulatory frameworks that affect your IT design. Specifically: the Cybersecurity Law (CSL), the Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL), the Data Security Law (DSL), and the Multi-Level Protection Scheme (MLPS) tiers. They should be able to tell you which obligations apply to your business, what compliance evidence is needed, and where the practical pinch-points sit. If they can’t, they’re learning on your money.
3. Tenant strategy expertise
Microsoft 365 in China is the single most common architectural decision for foreign companies. The choice between staying on a global tenant (with cross-border performance challenges), running a dedicated 21Vianet tenant (with separate features and licence terms), or running a dual-tenant model (with cross-cloud collaboration via Microsoft Entra B2B) materially affects user experience, compliance, and cost. A provider that can’t articulate this decision in detail isn’t qualified to make it for you. See our detailed Microsoft 365 in China guide.
4. Cross-border network architecture
Connectivity between your China offices and your global systems is where most foreign companies get stuck. The provider should know the difference between consumer VPN solutions (unreliable, grey-area), licensed MPLS through carriers like China Telecom (reliable, expensive, compliant), SD-WAN over ICP-licensed providers (the modern middle ground), and dedicated cross-border circuits (heavy enterprise option). They should be able to recommend an architecture based on your actual data flows, not a one-size-fits-all answer.
5. Bilingual on-the-ground delivery
China IT support fails when escalations route through engineers who don’t speak Mandarin, don’t understand local context, or can’t be on site within hours. The provider should have Mandarin-speaking engineers based in China (not in Hong Kong, not in Singapore, not in India), and the ability to dispatch them onsite in Shanghai, Shenzhen, Beijing, and major Tier 2 cities. Test by asking who would respond if a Mandarin-only user opened a P1 ticket at 3pm Shanghai time.
PTS operates through 培腾司商务咨询（上海）有限公司, a locally registered Shanghai entity that lets us hire local engineers as PRC employees, invoice clients in RMB, and stand behind our work as an accountable Chinese company.
These five factors are how PTS scores ourselves on China delivery. We hit five out of five — and you can verify each one independently.
Platforms, tenants and tools we work with in China
China IT has its own technology stack. Here’s what PTS deploys and runs:
Cloud platforms. Microsoft 365 operated by 21Vianet. Microsoft Azure in China (21Vianet operated). Alibaba Cloud (Aliyun). Tencent Cloud. AWS China (Sinnet and NWCD). Global Microsoft 365 / Azure / AWS where appropriate for cross-border architectures.
Collaboration. Microsoft Teams (global) and Teams 21Vianet for in-China users. WeCom (企业微信) — the standard for Chinese enterprise collaboration. DingTalk (钉钉) — common in manufacturing and large mainland firms. Cross-cloud Teams collaboration via Microsoft Entra B2B for dual-tenant clients.
Networking. Cisco Meraki, FortiGate, and Aruba where compliant. Licensed MPLS cross-border circuits through China Telecom, China Unicom, and China Mobile. SD-WAN solutions through ICP-licensed providers. Local Internet circuits and IPLC (International Private Leased Circuit) for cross-border data flows.
Endpoint management. Microsoft Intune (China cloud where required). Apple Business Manager — note Apple’s reduced China availability for some features. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint. Local antivirus solutions where compliance demands.
Compliance and regulatory tools. ICP licensing administration for hosted services. MLPS tier-1 and tier-2 assessment support. PIPL data flow mapping. Cross-border data transfer assessments under CAC guidance.
Procurement and logistics. Direct purchase relationships with Dell, HP, Lenovo, Apple (where applicable), and major networking vendors’ China subsidiaries. RMB invoicing, fapiao issuance, customs clearance for imported hardware, warranty registration with local subsidiaries.
If your stack isn’t listed, ask — we likely support it or know who does.
Our pricing approach
PTS doesn’t publish per-user rates because no two China engagements are the same. The variable that affects China pricing most — beyond headcount and sites — is the complexity of cross-border integration and the regulatory tier your business falls into. A small representative office with 5 users on a 21Vianet tenant is straightforward; a manufacturing operation with 200 users, MLPS tier-2 obligations, and cross-border data flows to a global ERP is materially more involved.
Our approach is the same as in our other markets:
1. Initial conversation (free, around 30 minutes). You tell us about your China presence — headcount, sites, current setup, what’s working, what’s not, and what you’re trying to achieve.
2. Light-touch discovery (free, around a week). We map your environment — tenant configuration, network architecture, regulatory exposure, current vendors, compliance status.
3. Costed proposal (within a couple of business days). Written proposal covering the managed services tier, SLA commitments, cross-border architecture (if relevant), compliance scope, RMB invoicing, and the monthly fee.
What affects China pricing
- Headcount across Mainland sites. Per-user basis, with location-specific weighting if your sites are spread.
- Tenant architecture. Single global tenant vs 21Vianet dedicated vs dual-tenant cross-cloud each have different operational overhead.
- Compliance tier. Standard PIPL/CSL compliance vs MLPS tier-2 vs financial-services regulated vs critical-information-infrastructure operator all carry different overhead.
- Cross-border architecture. Standard SD-WAN vs MPLS vs IPLC each have different operational and connectivity costs.
- Coverage hours and language. Standard Shanghai business hours (Mandarin/English) vs extended-hours coverage.
- Onsite footprint. Cities and frequency of onsite visits required (Shanghai, Shenzhen, Beijing, Tier 2).
What our proposals include explicitly
- The managed services scope (what’s in, what’s out)
- SLA commitments by priority tier
- Compliance scope (PIPL, CSL, MLPS where relevant)
- RMB invoicing through 培腾司商务咨询（上海）有限公司
- 12-month term with three-month termination notice (standard)
Request a proposal — typical turnaround is within 48 hours of the initial conversation.
Trusted by global brands
PTS supports clients in China across sectors including:
- Financial services (fund managers, insurers, trading firms)
- Retail and luxury (store fit-outs, back-office IT, support)
- Real estate and engineering (AV, network, and collaboration platforms)
- Professional services (secure office setups and regional support)
See how we helped one multinational bring China operations into global compliance, and explore our China IT writing — including Microsoft 365 in China, the top 10 VPNs in China, and PIPL compliance.
Practical, proven, compliant
Operating in China requires more than just technical skills — it demands local knowledge, careful planning, and practical execution. PTS delivers all three, with bilingual teams, trusted partners, and a strong track record across Greater China.
China IT FAQs
Do you provide managed IT services and technical support in Mainland China?
Yes — it’s our core China offering. PTS delivers full managed IT services and day-to-day technical support across Mainland China: remote helpdesk in Mandarin and English, on-site field engineering in Shanghai, Shenzhen, Beijing and major Tier 2 cities, proactive monitoring and patching, vendor and procurement management, and the cross-border integration that keeps your China users connected to your global systems. It’s all delivered through our locally registered Shanghai entity, so there’s an accountable Chinese company standing behind the service.
Do you have a registered legal entity in Mainland China?
Yes. PTS operates through 培腾司商务咨询（上海）有限公司, a locally registered Wholly Foreign-Owned Enterprise (WFOE) in Shanghai. This lets us hire local engineers as PRC employees, invoice clients in RMB, issue Chinese tax invoices (fapiao), and stand behind our work as an accountable Chinese company.
Where in China can you deliver IT services?
Our home base is Shanghai. We deliver routinely across Shanghai, Shenzhen, Beijing, Guangzhou, and other Tier 1 cities, and on-demand in Tier 2 cities. For locations outside our routine coverage, we coordinate with vetted local partners and remain accountable for service quality through our Shanghai entity.
Should we use a global Microsoft 365 tenant or 21Vianet for our China users?
It depends on headcount, data residency requirements, and which features you need. Small China operations (under 50 users) with no strict data localisation requirements often stay on a global tenant with optimised cross-border networking. Larger or regulated operations typically move to a dedicated 21Vianet tenant. Some organisations run a dual-tenant model with cross-cloud Teams collaboration via Microsoft Entra B2B. We can advise based on your specifics. See our Microsoft 365 in China guide for the decision framework.
Can you handle cross-border data flows between China and our global systems?
Yes. We design and operate the architectures that move data legally and reliably between Mainland China and global systems — MPLS over licensed carriers, SD-WAN through ICP-licensed providers, dedicated IPLC circuits, and the application-layer choices (Teams cross-cloud, Entra B2B) that go with them. We also help with the PIPL cross-border transfer assessment where required.
Are you familiar with PIPL, CSL, and MLPS requirements?
Yes. We know the obligations that the Cybersecurity Law (CSL), the Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL), the Data Security Law (DSL), and the Multi-Level Protection Scheme (MLPS) place on our clients, and we structure our service delivery to support those obligations. We are not a compliance law firm — for legal opinions you’ll want a PRC-qualified lawyer — but we know the practical pinch-points and how to operationalise compliance.
Do you support WeCom, DingTalk, and other Chinese collaboration tools?
Yes. For clients whose business model requires WeCom (企业微信) or DingTalk (钉钉) — common in manufacturing, retail, and businesses with significant local-Chinese workforce — we deploy, configure, and run those platforms alongside Microsoft 365 or as the primary collaboration stack.
How do you handle hardware procurement and warranty in China?
Through our Shanghai entity, we source hardware from local subsidiaries of Dell, HP, Lenovo, Apple (where available), and major networking vendors. Invoicing is in RMB with proper fapiao. Warranty registration is handled with the Chinese subsidiary at point of purchase. Cross-border shipments of hardware into China require customs clearance, which we handle.
Can you support our existing global IT team rather than replace it?
Yes. Many of our China engagements are augmentation, not replacement. A common pattern: a foreign company’s global IT team owns strategy and the global tenant; PTS handles on-the-ground delivery in China, including local helpdesk in Mandarin, onsite engineering, vendor management, and compliance support. The global team escalates to us; we escalate to them; everyone knows who’s accountable for what.
Do you provide Mandarin-language helpdesk support?
Yes. Our China helpdesk operates in Mandarin and English. For English-only Hong Kong-based managers needing visibility, we provide bilingual reporting and ticket summaries in English.
What’s the difference between PTS’s China service and a Hong Kong MSP claiming China coverage?
The legal entity. Many Hong Kong MSPs claim “China coverage” by sending HK staff over for short trips, working through freelancers, or partnering with unaccountable sub-contractors. We operate through a locally registered Shanghai WFOE with PRC employees and RMB invoicing. When something goes wrong in China, there’s a Chinese legal entity that’s accountable — not a Hong Kong company hoping its sub-contractor takes the call.
How is your service priced for China?
Bespoke per engagement, based on headcount, sites, tenant architecture, compliance tier, cross-border requirements, language coverage, and onsite footprint. Costed written proposal within 48 hours of the initial conversation. See our pricing approach above.
What’s the minimum contract length?
A standard managed services agreement is annual with a three-month termination notice. Project work is delivered on its own statement of work.