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Juha Lassila

Law on laws governing civil relations involving foreign elements - Lexology - 0 views

  • The Law covers civil and commercial relationships involving foreign natural persons and legal persons in a number of fields, including marriage, inheritance, property rights, general contractual obligations, labour law, tort and intellectual property rights. The Law clarifies the rules on the applicable laws governing civil disputes in several areas where PRC laws are currently silent, including acts of agency, trusts, arbitration, pledges of rights, labour contracts, and product liability.
  • This means that, for example, all shareholder agreements in relation to say a two-party wholly foreign-owned enterprise would have to be governed by PRC law.
  • The current PRC laws require that several types of contracts which relate to foreign investment in China such as Sino-foreign equity joint venture contracts, contracts for purchase of equity interests or assets of a domestic enterprise by foreign investors[6] must be governed by PRC Law.
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  • The Law also states that where the parties have chosen a foreign governing law, the court or the arbitration tribunal should investigate and determine the applicable foreign laws, presumably through expert testimony (as in the past). Where the parties select foreign governing laws by agreement, it is the parties' responsibility to provide copies of the selected foreign governing law
  • In addition, the Law expands to tort and property rights in movables the scope of areas where, in the context of a so-called foreign-related contract ("涉外合同"), the parties are free to choose their own governing law.
  • In particular, the Law stipulates two important general principles for determining the application of governing laws for foreign-related civil disputes: party autonomy and closest connection
  • However, the Law is not designed to radically change the current rules of conflicts of laws in China. The requirements to apply mandatory Chinese laws which are provided by other laws are maintained under the Law
  • The rules of conflicts of laws stipulated under other civil or commercial laws, which are not covered by the Law, also remain unchanged.
Juha Lassila

What constitutes anti-competitive tying in China? The Wuchang Salt Company case - Lexology - 0 views

  • Article 7 of the AML prohibits business operators operating in industries pertinent to the national economy and national security from using their market power to harm the interests of consumers. Article 7 also stipulates that these business operators must conduct their businesses “honestly and trustworthily and exercise self discipline”
  • Article 17(5) of the AML prohibits business operators from abusing their dominance by bundling the sale of commodities without a valid reason or imposing unreasonable terms within a transaction.
  • National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC)
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  • Hubei Province Price Bureau (HPPB)
  • HPPB announced that WSC had violated Articles 7 and 17(5) of the AML:
  • Wuchang Salt Company (WSC) (a supplier of table salt)
  • made their supply of salt (to local distributors) contingent on purchase of “Huo Li Er Ba” branded washing detergent powder.
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    AML = Anti-Monopoly Law
Juha Lassila

1.5 billion to one: online copyright enforcement against the odds - Lexology - 0 views

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    As China improves its protection for both online copyright and intellectual property as a whole, new weapons are being added to the rights holder's armoury
Juha Lassila

China imposes additional tax burden on foreign enterprise, foreign invested enterprises... - 0 views

  • City Maintenance and Construction Tax (“CMCT”)
  • Education Surcharge
  • Each surcharge is calculated as a percentage of the actual amount of the VAT, CT and BT paid by the taxpayers.
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  • Education Surcharge is calculated at 3% of the VAT, CT and BT payments.
  • If the tax payer (or the tax withholding agent in case of a foreign enterprise) is located in an urban area, the rate is 7% of the VAT, CT and BT payments;
Juha Lassila

Checking In: China Sees Rush of Location-Based Foursquare Imitators - China Real Time R... - 0 views

  • China is already home to more than 30 Foursquare-like location-based service companies
  • “In Chinese culture, people always bargain. Discounts and benefits can be attractive lure to potential users,” says Zhang Yi, CEO of Guangzhou-based IIMEDIA Marketing Consultation Group. “Chinese businesses attach more importance to short-term profits, and the LBS sites provide a pretty goal-oriented marketing solution.”
  • Currently, around 18% of China’s estimated 800 million mobile users are using smart phones
Juha Lassila

"Public policy" and the enforcement of foreign arbitration awards in China - Lexology - 0 views

  • Case Study 1: Morality
  • This concert, however, was suspended when Chinese authorities asserted that the performance included heavy metal music that had not been approved by the Ministry of Culture of China
  • the arbitration tribunal awarded damages to the performers
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  • the SPC concluded the performance did in fact violate China’s social public interest and, as such, the performers had breached the contract.
  • Case Study 2: Mandatory Administrative Regulations
  • Japanese company alleged the SOE was contractually obligated to pay back certain debt
  • SOE challenged the award in a Chinese court, arguing the award violated Chinese public policy because the repayment of the foreign debt to the Japanese company had not been approved by the State Administration on Foreign Exchange and this approval was compulsory. The lower court agreed and refused to enforce the award.
  • The SPC therefore reversed the lower court’s decision, ruling that the award could not be vacated on public policy grounds.
  • Case Study 3: Sovereignty of the Chinese Courts
  • a Chinese company and three foreign companies executed a contract to form a joint venture.
  • When a dispute subsequently arose between the Chinese company and the joint venture entity, the Chinese company commenced a lawsuit against the joint venture entity in the Chinese courts, which ruled in favour of the Chinese company and ordered the assets of the joint venture be impounded.
  • foreign tribunal held that the Chinese company had breached the joint venture contract by petitioning a Chinese court to impound the joint venture assets, and awarded damages to the foreign parties.
  • When the Chinese company did not pay these damages, the foreign parties brought suit in China, seeking enforcement of the arbitral award.
  • The Chinese court, however, held that the arbitration clause in the joint venture contract only covered disputes between the contracting parties and, therefore, did not cover the dispute between the Chinese party and the joint venture entity (which was not a party to the contract).
  • While no one can ever guarantee a foreign arbitral award will be enforced in China, the climate is better than many think.
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    "While no one can ever guarantee a foreign arbitral award will be enforced in China, the climate is better than many think."
Juha Lassila

China liberalizes foreign investment in medical services sector - Lexology - 0 views

  • foreign-invested medical institutions ("FIMIs")
  • Foreign investors may choose to establish a for-profit or not-for-profit medical institution.
  • For-profit FIMIs will have autonomy in determining the pricing of their services. They will need to pay enterprise income tax on net profits, but not business tax (a turnover tax on, amongst others, certain services and generally applicable to business enterprises in China charged at various rates on gross sales depending on the nature of the underlying service).
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  • for-profit medical institutions would be able to benefit from an exemption on property tax and urban land use tax on its property and land for self-use, and land-based vehicle and watergoing vessel use taxes on its land-based vehicles and watergoing vessels for self-use for a period of three years. Further tax breaks, including a three-year exemption for valued added tax on medical preparations that are made and used by the for-profit FIMI, may also apply[3].
  • From a government procurement perspective, all levels of PRC governmental authorities are now encouraged to purchase public heath services from private medical institutions.
  •  Qualification requirements for setting up an FIMI
  • The total investment amount must no less than RMB 20 million (roughly US$ 3 million or EUR 2.27 million);
Juha Lassila

SARFT undertakes major investigation into audio & video licenses: three major BT sites ... - 0 views

  • Earlier this year, SARFT issued a circular requiring all online audio-video providers to obtain licenses
  • By November, SARFT had closed 414 illegal audio-video program websites that were either operating without licenses, contained obscene programs, or utilized pirated content.    
  • By December 9, 2009, approximately 530 networks, including three top Bit Torrent [BT] websites
Juha Lassila

Peter Gray's "Chinese Burgeoning Mid-Tier Market Segment" Lecture Asia Development 2010 - 1 views

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    - Status of company competitive value factors (HI/LO) - Status of the premier-tier segment (HI/LO)
Juha Lassila

New rules on the litigation of cases involving foreign investment enterprises - Lexology - 0 views

  • The Provisions deal mainly with cases involving such FIEs as contractual joint ventures, equity joint ventures and wholly foreign owned enterprises
Juha Lassila

SAIC strengthens supervision and disposal of contract-related illegal activities - Lexo... - 0 views

  • no party may, by taking advantage of a contract, shall commit the following fraudulent activities:
  • there are new rules relating to provisions under standard contracts that all entities doing business in China should be aware of, as they create an immediate compliance risk relating to contracting with consumers using standard contracts.
  •  Supervision and Disposal Measures for Contract-related Illegal Activities  合同违法行为监督处理办法  Issuing Authority: State Administration for Industry and Commerce  Date of Issuance: October 13, 2010 / Effective Date: November 13, 2010
Juha Lassila

Past lessons for China's new joint ventures - McKinsey Quarterly - Corporate Finance - M&A - 0 views

  • pair with local companies that explicitly share their strategic goals
  • agree on the scope of the partnership
  • Bringing only older technology to China.
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  • Leaving the blueprints at home.
  • Keeping critical intellectual property completely out of a joint venture.
  • Charging for intellectual property up front.
  • map out critical stakeholders in and around the joint venture
  • ssign relationship responsibilities at multiple levels of the organization
  • developing interaction protocols
  • The CEO of a leading global insurer, for example, often teaches management practices at the Central Party School.
  • failures might have been avoided if the CEOs of the parent companies and the joint ventures’ future management teams had spent time collectively developing business plans and preparing for changes in market dynamics.
  • agree on key business priorities, such as volume versus value, channels, products, and target customer segments.
  • provide for direct reporting lines to their CEOs
  • assigned responsibility for China to a member of their management boards
  • When a European transportation company made China its second home market, for example, it elevated its China president to the global management board and sent its global CEO to China at least six times a year to meet with the joint-venture partners.
  • Preparing for breakup
Juha Lassila

The evolution of China's IPR system and its impact on the patenting behaviours and stra... - 0 views

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    Zheng Liang* and Lan Xue China Institute for Science and Technology Policy (CISTP), School of Public Policy and Management, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, P.R. China E-mail: liangzheng@tsinghua.edu.cn E-mail: xuelan@tsinghua.edu.cn *Corresponding author Abstract: This paper first reviews the evolution of China's IPR system with an emphasis on the patent system, which is mainly shaped by three forces including the transition to a market economy, the opening of the domestic market and the national initiatives for cultivating indigenous innovative capabilities. Then by using some unique data both at the national level and firm level, it analyses the patenting behaviours and strategies of foreign multinationals in China in comparison with local firms, which has yielded some interesting findings. First of all, the patent deployment of multinationals in China is mainly market-oriented and strategic. Although the negative perception of China's IPR system has led multinationals to act defensively, they have been able to adapt to the Chinese system and maximise their economic benefits, in addition to gaining competitive advantages. Also, while multinationals' patenting in China has created some obstacles for local firms to catch-up, it has also forced some of them to find new ways to innovate and develop their own capabilities. Keywords: China's IPR system; patent system; multinationals; patenting behaviours; patent strategies.
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