Last reviewed June 2026 · Reviewed by Ben Fox, Managing Director
On-the-ground IT for foreign companies in China and Hong Kong
If you run IT for a company headquartered in London, New York or anywhere outside Asia, China and Hong Kong are the hardest part of your estate to control. You may have no people on the ground, no local-language support, and no easy way to know whether an office — or a business you’ve just acquired — meets your global standards. PTS is the partner that closes that gap.
We are British-owned, on the ground in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore since 2001, ISO/IEC 27001 certified, and bilingual. For an overseas head office that needs trusted, accountable IT in the region — without the cost and risk of working it out alone — we are the local team you can actually pick up the phone to.
Need the deep service detail? See our China IT services, or read how we extended a UK multinational’s IT into Asia.
Where we come in
Foreign companies come to us at three points — and often stay through all three.
Establish
Building out a presence in China or Hong Kong with no IT people on the ground. We set up offices, networks, identity, cloud and security to your global standards from day one — so a new entity starts solid, not improvised. For what the build involves, and the order to do it in, see our realistic timeline for setting up IT in a new China office.
Operate
You are headquartered overseas with offices or staff in China or Hong Kong. We become your remote hands and local eyes — a managed service with on-site engineers, bilingual support and a single accountable contact in your time zone.
Integrate
You have acquired a company or factory in the region. We go in, audit what they actually have, and bring its IT up to your group’s standards — security, infrastructure, licensing and compliance — so the acquisition strengthens your estate instead of weakening it. If the deal hasn’t closed yet, we also run pre-acquisition IT due diligence for mergers and acquisitions — see our work with private equity and deal teams in Hong Kong.
Why a British-owned partner on the ground
The hard part of China and Hong Kong isn’t the technology — it’s trust, communication and local knowledge. That is exactly what we are built for.
- British-owned, Western-run — you deal with people who understand how a London or New York head office thinks, reports and expects to be communicated with.
- Genuinely on the ground — owned offices and engineers in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore since 2001, not a “delivery partner” you have never met.
- A locally-registered Chinese entity — we can contract, invoice and operate legally inside Mainland China, which most foreign-facing IT firms cannot.
- Global standards, local compliance — ISO/IEC 27001 certified and fluent in PIPL, CSL and cross-border data rules, so your China estate satisfies both the regulator and your group auditors.
- Bilingual delivery — English-speaking account management for your HQ; Mandarin and Cantonese support for your local staff.
Proven with foreign companies in China
This is not a new line of business for us — it is our core. A few examples:
- Bringing a Western manufacturer’s China operations into global compliance — IT audit, policy alignment and infrastructure rebuild across fragmented China sites.
- Modernising a US corporation’s IT across China and Hong Kong — cloud migration, VDI and a new regional support model across a 12-hour time gap, with no downtime.
- Extending a UK multinational’s IT support into Asia — replacing overnight ticket queues with locally-staffed, multilingual support across Hong Kong, Singapore and Mainland China.
Expanding into China, or inherited an office you can't see?
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What overseas HQs usually get wrong
The same four assumptions cost foreign companies the most time and money in their first year in the region:
- Treating China connectivity like connectivity anywhere else. The Great Firewall affects every cross-border data flow, and the licensed circuits serious enterprises rely on have to be designed in from the start — the depth is on our China IT services page.
- Discovering ICP licensing late. Hosting anything inside China can trigger ICP licensing requirements with no Western equivalent, which our China network and compliance services handle routinely.
- Assuming Microsoft 365 just works. Mainland China runs a separate Microsoft cloud operated by 21Vianet, and the global-versus-21Vianet tenant decision shapes identity, licensing and user experience — our Microsoft 365 in China decision guide walks through the choice.
- Buying hardware from head office. Procurement in China means RMB invoicing, fapiao and local warranty registration, not a purchase order raised in London — see IT procurement in China.
Working with your global IT team
We are not here to take your job — we are here to make the hardest region in your estate manageable. We work as an extension of your in-house or global IT function: you keep strategy and control; we provide the local presence, language and execution that are hard to build from overseas. Most of our head-office contacts are CTOs, IT Directors and Heads of IT who simply needed reliable hands they could trust in a region they could not reach.
The time difference is part of the working model, not a problem to apologise for. When it is 9am in London, it is late afternoon in Hong Kong and Shanghai — issues your regional staff raised that morning have already been worked by our engineers during their business day, and your single accountable contact briefs you on what happened, not what is pending. Tickets your HQ raises overnight land at the start of our working day, not the end of someone’s shift — and New York wakes to the same summary.
Our approach
Every engagement starts the same way: we understand your global standards and your situation on the ground, then propose a clear, costed plan — a one-off audit and build, ongoing managed support, or post-acquisition integration. No fixed packages, no long lock-in. For the deep service and compliance detail see China IT services; for fund-side acquisitions see private equity IT and M&A due diligence.
Foreign company IT FAQs
We have no IT people in China — can you be our hands on the ground?
Yes — that is exactly what we do. With owned offices and engineers in Hong Kong and Shanghai, we act as your local IT team for setup, support and on-site work, reporting to your headquarters in your language and time zone.
We’re headquartered in London or New York. Can you support our Hong Kong and China offices?
Yes. We provide ongoing managed IT support for the regional offices of overseas-headquartered companies, with bilingual helpdesk, on-site engineers and a single accountable contact who communicates the way your HQ expects.
We’ve acquired a company or factory in China — can you audit its IT and bring it up to our standards?
Yes. We carry out an independent IT audit of the acquired business — infrastructure, security, licensing and compliance — then deliver the work to bring it up to your group’s global standards. It is one of our most common engagements.
Will you work alongside our existing global IT team, or take over?
Alongside. We act as an extension of your in-house or global IT function — you keep strategy and control, we provide the local presence and execution. We can also run it end to end if you prefer.
Do you have a legal entity in Mainland China?
Yes. We have a locally-registered Chinese entity, so we can contract, invoice and operate legally inside the Mainland — something most foreign-facing IT firms cannot. See China IT services.
How do you handle cross-border data and China’s regulations?
We design China IT to satisfy both local law (PIPL, CSL, MLPS) and your global standards — including tenant strategy (21Vianet vs global Microsoft 365) and compliant cross-border data flows. The detail is on our China IT services page, and we explain the rules themselves in our guide to data laws in China & Hong Kong.
Why does it matter that you’re British-owned?
Because the gap we close is as much about trust and communication as technology. A Western-run firm that is genuinely on the ground in China gives your head office a partner who understands how you work — and local engineers who understand the market.
How do we get started?
Usually with a short conversation about your situation and your standards, followed by a clear, costed proposal. Talk to PTS to start.