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Investors beware
The bustling Chinese private equity markets can bring great returns, yet, Leo Long writes, investors should be wary to avoid getting entangled in the legal and regulatory web when seeking out these alluring opportunities.
Private equity (PE)...
Fourth amendment to Patent Law aims to increase damages and more
Q : Please briefly describe the Patent Law amendment currently being considered.
A: The State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) published the draft amendment to the Patent Law for public comment on 1 April. Once passed,...
Capital connections
Regulators are introducing new concepts to spark market interaction, forming new connections linking investors and the market. Leo Long takes you on an exploration of the opportunities and risks these new regulatory networks may...
The Intellectual Property Court: breakthrough and improvement
With the issuance of the Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on Establishing Intellectual Property Courts in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, and the implementation of the Provisions of the Supreme...
Work safety amendments give sharper teeth to current law
On 31 August 2014, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress issued an amendment to the 12-year-old Safe Production Law, to address ongoing safety problems and provide more effective safety protection to workers.
The...
Control risks before submission of FIE equity contract for approval
China currently implements an approval system for foreign investment, with the establishment, division, merger and changes in the major particulars of a foreign-invested enterprise (FIE) all subject to the approval of the approval authority...
Consumer data protection tightens for online operators
More comprehensive consumer rights, particularly with respect to personal data protection, and additional responsibilities for online operators came into effect with amendments to the Consumer Protection Law that became effective on 15 March 2014.
The...
Caution needed on amended version of FTZ Negative List
On 30 June 2014, the Shanghai government issued the Special Administrative Measures for Foreign Investment Access in the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone (Negative List) As Amended in 2014, amending the Special Administrative...
Amendments mean trademark protection enters a new era
The year 2013 can be said to have been a year of change in the protection of trademarks in China. The Third Plenum of the 18th Chinese Communist Party Central Committee proposed that “the...
IP red flags
A confluence of trends confirming the abuse of intellectual property rights as an antitrust target via article 55 of the Anti-Monopoly Law, the courts and enforcement arms has unnerved foreign multinationals that sell or license...
On stronger tides
A wave of fast flowing reforms may raise the levels of capital market fluidity in China, but players must navigate the undercurrents, writes Richard Li
The tide raises all ships, as an old saying goes,...
Summary and positive significance of Company Law amendments
Amendments to the existing Company Law were considered and approved at the Sixth Meeting of the 12th Session of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, on 28 December 2013. The amended Company Law officially...
Resolving differences of opinion on OEM trademark infringement
OEM refers to original equipment manufacturing, namely the conduct whereby a foreign trademark rights holder, directly or indirectly, commissions a domestic manufacturer in China to make a product and affix the designated trademark to...
Company Law changes relax capital requirements
On 28 December 2013, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress amended the Company Law to relax or cancel certain capital-related requirements to establish and register companies in China. The amendments took effect...
Development and legal structure of the asset securitisation market
The term “asset securitisation” means a structured method of financing where the sponsor sells assets, or a portfolio of assets, that lack liquidity but can generate a predictable cash income to an investor, thus...
Trademark Law clamps down on pirate registration of trademarks
In recent years, cases of pirate registrations of trademarks in bad faith have been a frequent occurrence, even spawning a group of “professional pirate registrants” who specialise in the pirate registration of others’ trademarks...
Protection of TM rights needs co-operation of various systems
On 30 August, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress deliberated on and adopted the Bill to Amend the Trademark Law, which will officially be implemented from 1 May 2014. The New Trademark...
Major changes affect trademark-related damages
The amended Trademark Law deliberated on and adopted at the fourth session of the standing committee of the 12th National People’s Congress on 30 August 2013 makes some revisions in respect of trademark-related damages,...
Legal attributes of deceptive marks in China’s Trademark Law
Article 6 of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property says trademarks covered by this article may be neither denied registration nor invalidated, with a number of exceptions including the following: “when...
Draft consumer protection law addresses ‘e-issues’
China is finally about to amend its law for the protection of consumers, almost 20 years after it was first promulgated in October 1993. On 28 April 2013, the National People’s Congress Standing Committee...
Equal pay for equal work: revision of remuneration system
TheDecision of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress to Amend the PRC Employment Contract Law will be implemented from 1 July 2013. One bright spot of the amended law is further clarification...
Ambiguity around labour dispatch still abounds
In the past few months amendments to the Labour Contract Law (LCL) – which were passed by the standing committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) on 28 December 2012 – and their impact...
Labour intensive
On 1 July, the National People’s Congress standing committee’s amendments regarding the Labour Contract Law, passed in December, will come into effect with a direct impact on an estimated 37 million workers in China....
Revised Trademark Law increases penalties, but is that enough?
In recent years, weak protection of trademark rights, difficulty in suppressing bad-faith infringement, repeated infringement violations and relatively low measures of damages for infringing behaviour have emerged as prominent problems during the course of...
Dancing in unison
After years of half-hearted efforts, it appears changes to the trademark, copyright and patent laws may be the first co-ordinated steps towards stopping IP infringers, writes Colin Galloway
When former premier Wen Jiabao announced in...
NPC push for data privacy protection of employees
On 28 December 2012, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress promulgated the Decision on Enhancing Protection of Network Information, effective from the same date. This decision applies primarily to network service providers,...
Judicial remedies for bad-faith registrations of trademarks
Q: What is bad-faith registration of a
trademark?
A: The term “bad faith registration of a trademark” means the act of using improper means to preemptively register the trademark of another that is already being...
Time will tell if legislation can effectively contain trademark piracy
Thenews that the trademark “Moyanzui” was worth millions spread like wildfire after Mo Yan had won the Nobel Prize for Literature, revealing the value of trademarks in modern society.
This explains why the phenomenon...
Employment Contract Law draws line on hiring workers via agencies
On 28 December 2012, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress finally passed an amendment to the Employment Contract Law (ECL), under which companies will no longer be allowed to hire employees through...
Surviving the winter
Private equity investors must rely on their best instincts and closely monitor recent legal developments if they want to make it through an icy economic season for the industry, writes Richard Li
"It’s November now....
Employers to gain from amended law on breach of contract issues
On 31 August, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress passed an amended version of the Civil Procedure Law, which will take effect on 1 January 2013. The amendment includes several provisions that...
For the record, PE funds should ensure they carry out proper filing
TheNotice on Promoting the Compliant Development of Equity Investment Enterprises, issued by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) on 23 November 2011, specifies that equity investment enterprises (including funds of funds) that invest...
Making a case for green over greed
After 20 years of frantic development, the problem of environmental pollution has become the focus of what today constitutes a threat to national and public safety in China. A complete break with the past...
Employers beware: noose is tightening on unwanted or illegal foreign workers
The National People’s Congress has passed the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Entry and Exit Control, which takes effect on 1 July 2013. The new law not only governs the exit...
Stopping the rot
Changes at home and abroad may leave you wondering how to weed out corruption and promote compliance. John Church sheds some light across three major jurisdictions
Earlier this year, Chinese procurator-general Cao Jianming delivered his...
Employees better protected under amended law on occupational disease prevention
On 31 December 2011, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress promulgated the revised PRC Occupational Diseases Prevention and Control Law, which took effect on the date of its release. An occupational disease...
Administrative enforcement law to come into force next year
The Administrative Enforcement Law, a major piece of legislation to regulate administrative acts, was finally adopted and officially promulgated at the 21st meeting of the 11th National People’s Congress on 30 June after long discussions...
NPC issues interpretation on Hong Kong Congo case
In August, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) issued a draft interpretation of Hong Kong’s Basic Law regarding “the Congo case” – a case referred to it by the Hong Kong Court of Final...
Guiding cases: a precedents system with Chinese characteristics
On 26 November 2010 the Supreme People’s Court issued the Case Guidance Work Provisions (No. 51), which came into effect on the date of issue.
The main provisions
Work institutions: the Supreme People’s Court established a...
Commercial crime targeted in eighth amendment to the PRC Criminal Law
The eighth amendment to the PRC Criminal Law was adopted by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on 25 February and came into force on 1 May. The Certain Issues Concerning the Specific Application of...
IP comes under the spotlight as China strives for innovation
A focus on innovation in the new five-year plan follows a year of legal change in intellectual property. By Colin Galloway
Five-year plans are always a good indicator of the government’s economic priorities. The endorsement...
Innovation
In mid-March, the fourth plenary session of the 11th National People’s Congress approved the People’s Republic of China’s 12th five-year plan. The plan emphasizes innovation as a source of future economic growth and a...
Social insurance law progressive but lacks teeth
The new PRC Social Insurance Law sends a positive signal, but faces many hurdles in implementation. By Matthew Durham, senior consultant, Barlow Lyde & Gilbert, Shanghai
The new PRC Social Insurance Law was finally passed by the Standing...
New law on the application of laws in foreign-related civil relations
The PRC Application of Laws in Foreign-related Civil Relations Law was considered and adopted at the seventeenth meeting of the standing committee of the eleventh National People’s Congress on 28 October, and will come...
China adopts first comprehensive law on social insurance
The PRC Social Insurance Law was considered and adopted at the seventeenth meeting of the standing committee of the eleventh National People’s Congress on 28 October, and will come into effect on 1 July...
Determining the validity of franchise contracts
Most franchising-related disputes are disputes over franchise contracts. Among these, conflicts over the validity of franchise contracts are particularly complex. This article attempts to analyse this issue by considering an actual case that occurred...
Draft criminal law increases environmental liability
In August, the 11th National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China reviewed the draft eighth amendment of the PRC Criminal Law. One of the major focuses of the draft amendment appears to...
People’s Mediation Law initiates judicial confirmation regime
The PRC People’s Mediation Law, which was considered and approved at the sixteenth meeting of the Standing Committee of the Eleventh National People’s Congress on 28 August, will come into effect on 1 January...
Translating the terms used to describe written law
Just as the Inuit people have many terms for describing different types of snow, the Chinese have many terms for describing the different documents that fall within the category of “written law”.
This can be...
SASAC and State Council tinker with definitions of secrets
The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) has issued regulations on commercial secrets at state-owned enterprises (SOEs). The regulations are dated 25 March, the day after the trial of employees of mining giant...
China amends its renewable energy law
On 1 April 2010, amendments to the PRC Renewable Energy Law took effect. The amendments mark the first time that the Renewable Energy Law has been amended since its promulgation in February 2005.
Based on...
After Expo…
Shanghai is gearing up to offer new funding opportunities. But how close is it to becoming a world-class legal, trading and financial centre? By Robin Weir
A month before the World Expo 2010 opened to...
IP battles move to the courts
Intellectual property owners are turning away from China's administrations for industry and commerce and towards the court system for protection. Meanwhile, the daily battle against counterfeiters continues. By Colin Galloway.
China’s accession to the World...
Caribbean oil storage deal demonstrates China’s regional ambitions
Located 1,100 miles (1,800 kilometres) southeast of Miami, Florida, St Eustatius is one of five islands that constitute the Netherlands Antilles. The tiny island, of just 8.1 square miles (21 square kilometres), is home...
Tort Law clarifies environmental liability
On 26 December 2009, the National People’s Congress passed the PRC Tort Law, which will take effect on 1 July 2010. Chapters eight and nine of the Tort Law specifically address liability for environmentally related...
Tort law to take effect in July
The PRC Tort Law was adopted at the twelfth session of the Standing Committee of the Eleventh Term of the National People’s Congress on 26 December 2009, and will take effect on 1 July 2010.
The law...
Climate change measures evolve and converge
In the past two years, there has been a steady stream of regulations and public pronouncements from the governments of the People’s Republic of China and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region concerning the...
Supreme Court and SIPO elaborate on implementation of revised PRC Patent Law
To ensure that the Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on the Amendments to the PRC Patent Law published on 27 December 2008 is fully enforced, the Supreme People’s Court...
Resolving investigation, evidence collection dilemma of arbitration tribunals
Both commercial arbitration cases and their disputed amounts have skyrocketed across China in recent years. Arbitration has now emerged as a key method for dispute resolution and a go-to alternative to traditional litigation, resulting...
Systematic entanglement in judging validity of financial contracts
Financial risks are escalating with the growing complexity of financial innovation, calling for stronger regulation characterised by look-through review to maintain financial stability. Against this backdrop, financial justice and regulation systems are demonstrating growing...
The A-List 2023-24: Visionaries
After collecting a wide range of market feedback, the editorial team of China Business Law Journal announces The Visionaries in China’s legal market. Winny Zhang reports.
Access The A-List 2023-24: The Visionaries
While the world has...
Compliant ESG systems for state-owned enterprises
ESG (environment, social and governance) performance has become a theme of our time that China’s state-owned enterprises (SOEs) cannot afford to overlook.
In his report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of...
Compliant ESG systems for SOEs
With an ESG wave sweeping the globe, China’s state-owned enterprises have responded by entering a new era of compliance
ESG (environment, social and governance) performance has become a theme of our time that China’s state-owned...
Success stress
Guangdong’s legal market is robust, diverse and sitting pretty for future growth, but there remain crucial challenges, writes Winny Zhang
Guangdong’s law firms are feeling the strain of success. More lawyers have been hired as...
Innovations in GBA arbitration
Headquartered in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area (GBA), the Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration (SCIA, also known as the South China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission, or the Greater Bay Area International Arbitration...
Long roots, strong branches
In May 1954, the central government made the decision to establish a foreign trade arbitration commission within the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade. Thus, arbitration, along with the internationally aligned principles that...
JunHe hires real estate, private equity specialists
JunHe has added two partners, Liu Zhengdong and Li Chenghao, and two counsel, Liu Xin and Wu Ling, to its Shanghai office, and one private equity counsel, David Wang, to its Hong Kong office.
The...
Between rocks and hard places
In the face of data requests from law enforcement agencies, conflicting legal requirements from home country and foreign jurisdictions are putting multinational tech companies in an unprecedented dilemma. How should they respond? Pan Cong,...
The point of return
For some companies the pandemic was the last straw, but there may yet be redemption and a chance to start again. Frankie Wang explains the latest developments in bankruptcy and restructuring in China
LeTV, a...
A secret war
New legal regimes mean an increase in trade secret litigation in both China and the US, but what measures are needed to protect trade secrets? Seth Gerber, Zhu Shaobin and Lucia Tang give their...
More than half the sky
Senior women lawyers from China and the wider Asia region share personal stories of challenges and successes. Frankie Wang and Vandana Chatlani report
The Chinese saying goes, “women hold up half the sky”. But female...
Arbitration evolution
As China’s government and arbitral institutions make intensive efforts to internationalize domestic practices, the question now is how this process should be defined. Luo Weiteng reports
As a method for resolving disputes between parties quickly...
Determining validity of contracts against regulatory provisions
In the current backdrop of strong supervision on the financial sector, financial regulators are attaching increasing importance to punishing financial institutions for violations of laws or rules. These include violations of contracts, which are...
Levelling up
China has come to a new crossroads, where it needs to make important decisions on its future. It has chosen to go for a more efficient and open economy, writes Richard Li
This year marks...
Tech evolution
Following the first part of our special technology series last month exploring the evolution of fintech, Leo Long looks at the germination of the concept around the Asia-Pacific, revealing which jurisdictions are ahead of...
China’s market economy status probed in Argentina
In a recently initiated anti-dumping investigation of Chinese ceramic sanitary ware, the Argentinian authorities decided to treat China as a market economy.
The market economy status of China has a key impact on the prices...
Recognizing M&A risks in the target country
The biggest difference between cross-border and domestic M&As lies in that the former involves two or more jurisdictions. An acquirer of cross-border M&A, therefore, needs to be prepared for an increasing number of, and...
Notable issues in the M&A of military and defence industry
At a meeting with the People’s Liberation Army delegation during the third session of the 12th National People's Congress in March 2015, President Xi Jinping said for the first time that the integration of...
Legal risks with land transfer revenues in PPPs
In recent years, the public-private partnership (PPP) model has been widely used in the fields of infrastructure and public services. The state has also been vigorously promoting a deepening connection between PPPs and capital...
IP world tour
Intellectual property rights and protection remain a vital sector for Chinese outbound investors. Joanna Law stops off at some global IP hotspots
No matter where you look in the world, it’s a certainty that a...
Beijing labour union measures add to compliance burden
New labour measures adopted by the Standing Committee of the Beijing Municipal People’s Congress are likely to impose additional costs and further administrative burdens on companies in Beijing.
Some of the key components in the...
Deals of the year 2014
Headwinds may have buffeted China’s economy in 2014, but the best deals took flight nonetheless, pushed aloft by the ingenuity of the law firms supporting them. Leo Long reports on those that separated themselves...
Party pill for all ills?
The CPC’s reform manifesto is wide-ranging and comprehensive. Susan Munro and Hannah Cao explore the key issues of this policy prescription
The Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee’s Decision on Major Issues Concerning Comprehensive...
Document No. 463 may have a notable impact on BT projects
On 24 December 2012, the Ministry of Finance, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the People’s Bank of China and the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) jointly issued and implemented the Notice on...
Exploring the effect of shareholder background on trust acquisitions
Trust institutions have, in recent years, basically divided themselves into four types – state-owned, local government-owned, financial institution-owned and privately owned, with a mutual entanglement of domestic and foreign capital.
Shareholder backgrounds
Industry figures show that...
Outbound in full sail
Legal advisers can look forward to larger and more sophisticated transactions involving Chinese investors as acquirers mature and target markets become more receptive, writes George Russell
James Hosking can tell when Chinese investment into the...
Civil Procedure Law amendments bring clarity and greater remedies
China has passed an amended Civil Procedure Law, which provides parties with wider remedies and greater clarity to court procedures. This amended law is an important development in China’s legal history and brings China’s...
Analysis of amendment to the Civil Procedure Law
On 31 August the Amendment of the Civil Procedure Law (CPL), adopted at the 28th session of the Standing Committee of the 11th National People's Congress, was promulgated and is to come into force...
BT projects under government procurement procedure
Given that the legislation in the infrastructure concession sector is dated, certain local governments, with a view to providing valid legal basis for BT (build-transfer) concession financing projects, have referred to the Government Procurement...
Insurance funds to invest in land reserve projects (part 2)
Insurance funds can invest in government land reserve projects through a debt investment scheme in four ways. In the last issue of this magazine, we introduced two of these ways. This article will look...
Tighter control, more freedom
To accompany our review of the leading deals of 2010, we asked our readers to identify the key legal issues that will face business in the coming months. By Robin Weir
To complement our review...
China and Latin America: striking a new balance
Driven by demand for the commodities needed to fuel its fast-growing economy, China has successfully built strong commercial and investment relationships with Latin America over the last decade.
Despite the global economic downturn, China continues to invest...