A China representative office, or rep office for short, is a local presence in China for a foreign company.
Actually, despite being in China, the rep office is quite different to a WFOE or joint venture company, as it is not a company which is legally allowed to do business and make profit.
A rep office exists to allow a foreign parent company conduct business meetings, perform quality control, promotion of products or services, and market research.
It is a cost centre, which is funded by the foreign investor (the parent company), and acts as their foreign arm allowing them to perform activities within China which might benefit their overall business.
A rep office, due to not being a legal entity which is allowed to trade within China, is fairly straightforward and fast to set up.For You Business Company will usually have a rep office registered within around 2 weeks.
Rep office information:

>A representative office’s name should be in this format:
  “Company name + City + Representative Office / Office”
>The parent company of a rep office must have been in operation for a minimum of 2 years or more
>A rep office may open a corporate bank account in China, but only to receive operating funds from the overseas parent company
>The business address must be in a commercial building
>Rep offices may employ staff, however not directly. They must use FESCO, a 3rd party HR agency, to hire their staff
>No registered capital is required to set up a rep office in China