foreign entities are required to take on local partners for operations within China This is not completely correct. Legally you can operate at least a joint ve

foreign entities are required to take on local partners for operations within China This is not completely correct. Legally you can operate at least a joint venture (JV), a limited company (有限公司), or a representative or branch office for a foreign company (分公司 or 代理公司). When operating a limited company, they may be Wholly Foreign Owned Enterprises (WFOE, known as a "woofie"), also categorized as "foreign invested" (外资).