legal ground
Article 3 of the Regulations on the Administration of Commercial Franchise
Commercial franchising (hereinafter referred to as franchising) as mentioned in these Regulations refers to the business activities of an enterprise (hereinafter referred to as franchisor) that owns registered trademarks, enterprise logos, patents, proprietary technologies and other business resources, licenses its business resources to other operators (hereinafter referred to as franchisees) in the form of contracts, and the franchisees conduct business under a unified business model according to the contract and pay franchise fees to the franchisees.
No unit or individual other than an enterprise may engage in franchise activities as a franchisor.