A hard battle

At the time of writing, many countries around the world are entering into lockdown mode. The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases have risen as the pandemic spreads, and stock market indices around the world have spiralled downwards as panic grows.

The epidemic has forced the central government to issue numerous regulations that aim to shield the workforce from bearing the costs of the disruption and stabilize the employment relationship. The regulations, at both national and local levels, seek to address employment issues

While there is no one-size-fits-all approach to handling the myriad employment issues raised by the COVID-19 crisis, employers need to review the different situations carefully.

Our cover story, Remote controls, summarizes the significant regulations related to these employment issues and provides insight for companies in China to resolve these issues during this challenging time.

Law firms are also adapting themselves in this fast-changing environment, but some of them have also made great achievements in the past year. This issue features our annual China Business Law Awards, given to both Chinese and foreign law firms that showcased the strongest performances in 2019. The past year was a flourishing one for China’s legal market, where law firms, regardless of their size, strived to fit corporate counsel demands for quality services.