The newly revised Company Law will be implemented on July 1, 2024. Due to the revision of the company contribution system in the new Company Law, it is expected that a large number of companies that have not paid in their capital or have not actually operated for a long time will be deregistered. There are several paths for company deregistration under the new Company Law:

1、 General cancellation

Article 239 of the new Company Law stipulates the applicable conditions for general deregistration, which means that after the company's self liquidation is completed, the liquidation team shall prepare a liquidation report, submit it to the company registration authority for confirmation by the shareholders meeting, and apply for deregistration of the company. General deregistration is the most common path for company deregistration, as it requires a liquidation process, which takes a long time but leaves fewer issues for shareholders.

2、 Easy cancellation

Although simple deregistration is a newly added content in the new Company Law, it is not a new thing. Since March 1, 2017, the reform of simple deregistration of enterprises has been fully implemented nationwide. Article 240 of the new Company Law stipulates the conditions and procedures for the application of simplified deregistration, as well as the responsibilities that shareholders should bear if their promises are not true.

In addition, the "Guidelines for Enterprise Cancellation (Revised in 2023)" issued by the State Administration for Market Regulation, the General Administration of Customs, and the State Administration of Taxation on December 21, 2023 further clarifies the situations where the simplified cancellation procedure is not applicable, including those that require approval before cancellation registration as required by laws, administrative regulations, or State Council decisions; Revoked business license, ordered to close or revoke; In the list of abnormal business operations or the list of serious violations and dishonesty in market supervision and management; The existence of equity (property shares) being frozen, pledged or mortgaged, or investment in other enterprises; Those who still hold equity, stock and other equity investments, debt investments, or land use rights, real estate and other assets; Failure to handle income tax liquidation declaration in accordance with the law or failure to pay income tax on cleared income; Under investigation or administrative coercion, currently undergoing litigation or arbitration proceedings; Administrative penalties such as fines have not yet been fully executed; Other situations where simple cancellation registration is not applicable.

3、 Force cancellation

Compulsory deregistration is a new addition to the new Company Law and a highlight of this revision. According to Article 241 of the new Company Law, if a company has its business license revoked, ordered to close or revoked, and has not applied for deregistration with the company registration authority for three years, the company registration authority may make a public announcement through the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System, with a notice period of no less than 60 days. After the expiration of the announcement period, if there are no objections, the company registration authority may cancel the company registration.

4、 Cancellation through compulsory liquidation procedure

Compulsory liquidation refers to the situation where creditors, company shareholders, directors, or other interested parties apply to the people's court through civil litigation to designate relevant personnel to form a liquidation team for liquidation if a liquidation team is not established within the prescribed time limit, or if the liquidation team is not established after the establishment of the liquidation team, or if illegal liquidation may seriously harm the interests of creditors or shareholders. Usually, after the compulsory liquidation procedure is concluded, the liquidation team can handle the company deregistration procedures by presenting the decision letter designated by the people's court and the ruling letter on the termination of the liquidation procedure.

5、 Cancellation through bankruptcy proceedings

Article 237 of the new Company Law stipulates that if the liquidation team finds that the company's assets are insufficient to repay its debts during the liquidation process, it shall apply for bankruptcy liquidation to the people's court in accordance with the law. The Enterprise Bankruptcy Law stipulates that the company administrator shall, within ten days from the date of the termination of the bankruptcy proceedings, hold the ruling of the people's court to terminate the bankruptcy proceedings and apply for deregistration with the original registration authority of the bankrupt company.