A city-policy guide for solo founders evaluating Beijing — China's national S&T innovation center with multi-district OPC policies in 2026.
A Haidian private office costs ¥5,000-12,000/month, 3-5x that of Chengdu. If your OPC is not AI/research/IP-intensive (requiring top-tier Tsinghua/Peking University talent and Beijing IP Court protection), Chengdu or Hangzhou may be more economical.
After registering a company, paying social insurance for employees (including yourself) is a statutory obligation. Beijing's minimum social insurance base is approximately ¥6,326/month, with company + individual contributions totaling about 40%, i.e. at least ¥2,500+/month. This cost must be budgeted into your monthly operating expenses.
The presence of ByteDance, Baidu, Meituan, JD.com, and other tech giants makes Beijing AI engineer salaries the highest nationally (senior AI ¥40-80K/month). Without offering equity or an exceptionally compelling technical vision, attracting top-tier talent is extremely difficult for OPCs.
Children's education, home purchase eligibility, and license plate lottery are all restricted by Beijing hukou. If planning long-term settlement in Beijing, plan ahead for residence permit points and possible hukou pathways. Some high-tech parks (e.g., Zhongguancun) offer hukou bonus points for entrepreneurs.
Daily 1-2 hour commutes are a massive time and energy drain during the early OPC stage. Consider living and working along subway lines, or directly integrating living + working in the Haidian/Zhongguancun area.
