I want to incorporate or set up Limited Company with my Chinese partner. We want to limit costs but the government states that we need an office. We don't really need an office per se. What is the cheapest legal way to satisfy this condition?
From my experience in Shanghai you can set up a rep office - depending on who you use the cost should be HKD20-30k. However you are NOT allowed to bill and collect revenue generated in China with this structure.
If you want to do that I think you need a Wofe (Wholly owned foreign enterprise). More costly to set up than a rep office.
Douglas is right. You can rent a space from a business center and that will be enough for both the business license and to satisfy the tax people when they come to visit and approve you to issue fapiaos.
You can get a small rep. office in GZ that is about 30 square meters for around 500 yuen per month. It will be enough to satisfy the "official" location requirements. Though, you may need to hire an office person (800-1000 yuen per month) to sit there in case anyone stops by.
There are a lot in the TienHe area as well as some of the areas out near Panyu. If you have a Chinese partner they should be able to go online and find all sorts of places. That is how my wife found the one I use.
You are right, they are supposed to call. But sometimes they are "too busy" to call, or just "in the neighborhood" when they stop by. That is how they phrased their 2 unannounced visits to me.