Melanie Hua Chen

Melanie Hua Chen, 37, was born in Beijing and works as a lawyer for UHY Advisors, assisting clients on tax issues in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Melanie Chen, Managing Director for China Region Group, UHY Advisors, New York.She specializes in cross-border transactions in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan and advises U.S. companies on complex tax issues in the region.Previously, she worked for Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu in Shanghai and for a law firm in Beijing.

Melanie Chen is a managing director of UHY Advisors, a professional services firm focusing on mid-market companies with revenues typically ranging from $25 million annually to $500 million.A graduate of Beijing University and Harvard Law School, she heads the firm's China Group, which provides tax and business consulting to companies seeking to operate in China and to Chinese companies seeking to list abroad.She recently spoke to ChinaForum about the impact of China's new single corporate tax rate, which goes into effect Jan.1, 2008.

Panelists scheduled to participate include George Qin, a relationship manager with the Bank of China; Nelson de Castro, senior vice president and director of global markets for Citizens Bank; Melanie Chen, managing director of UHY Advisors in Albany, N.Y.; Marshall Meyer of The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania; and Leslie K.L. Thiele, a partner in Whiteman Osterman & Hanna, an Albany, N.Y. law firm.

Melanie Hua Chen, 37, was born in Beijing and works as a lawyer for UHY Advisors, informing clients on tax issues in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

And while foreign businesses have enjoyed tax breaks that China doesn't give its own companies, a new tax law will end that advantage, said Melanie Chen, managing director at tax and business consultant UHY Advisors.And unlike in the United States, "in China, if something is not expressly permitted by law or regulations, you can't do it," she said.
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"The signing of the contract is the beginning of the real negotiations," Chen said."There are two rules: Everything is possible in China.Nothing is easy."

That becomes apparent at the dinner table, where she said the head and tail of a fish are "highly desired" and typically are offered to the guest.

Chen offered one more observation: "In China, telling someone they've gained weight is a compliment."

Meyer, the Wharton School professor, said China's growth shouldn't be a surprise, pointing out that it had been the world's largest economy for centuries, until the mid-19th century.

"What we're seeing now is a return to normalcy," he said.Anderson can be reached at 454-5323 or by e-mail at eanderson@timesunion.com.

Melanie Chen, Managing Director of China Group, UHY Advisors, New York
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Melanie Chen, Managing Director of China Group, UHY Advisors, New York

Melanie Chen, Managing Director of China Group, UHY Advisors, New York

Melanie Chen

mchen@uhy-us.com

Melanie is a Managing Director in the New York office of UHY Advisors NY, Inc. specializing in tax planning and compliance in the Greater China Region.Melanie is licensed to practice law in both New York State and China.

Contact: Melanie (Hua) Chen at UHY Advisors' China Group, based at UHY LLP in USA.