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By Susan Ning and Huang Jing

On 21 September 2011, Mr. Shang Ming, Director General of MOFCOM’s Anti-Monopoly Bureau revealed the most recent legislative plan of MOFCOM’ at the BRICS International Competition Conference 2011 held in Beijing.

According to Mr. Shang, MOFCOM will promulgate 3 new rules on merger control within this or next year. The 3 new rules are: Rules on Imposing Restrictive Conditions on Concentration of Operators (the "Rules on Remedies"), Rules on the Investigation and Handling of Violation of Notification Obligations for Concentration of Operators (the "Rules on Violation of Notification Obligations"), and Rules on the Investigation and Handling of the Concentration of Operators below the Notification Thresholds with Monopoly Suspicion (the "Rules on Mergers Below Thresholds").Continue Reading MOFCOM to Promulgate Three New Rules on Merger Control

By Xu Xiaodan King & Wood’s Labor Group

The Provisional Measures on Social Insurance for Foreigners Working in China (the "Provisional Measures ") were issued on September 6, 2011 by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and will come into effect on October 15, 2011. The Provisional Measures provide more specific rules on the requirement that foreigners working in mainland China should participate in the PRC social insurance scheme as stipulated in the PRC Social Insurance Law (promulgated on August 28, 2010, and came into effect on July 1, 2011). The Provisional Measures serve as a supplement to the provisions of the PRC Social Insurance Law.

Highlights:Continue Reading Shared Benefit or Shared Burden? Provisional Measures on Social Insurance for Foreigners Working in China

作者： 徐晓丹 金杜律师事务所劳动组

《在中国境内就业的外国人参加社会保险暂行办法》（“《暂行办法》”）已经于2011年9月6日由人力资源和社会保障部公布出台，并将于2011年10月15日起开始实施。该《暂行办法》针对2010年8月28日出台并于2011年7月1日实施的《中华人民共和国社会保险法》（“《社会保险法》”）中提出的在华就业的外国人应当参加社会保险的要求进行了具体规定，是对《社会保险法》的进一步补充。

要点如下：Continue Reading 《在中国境内就业的外国人参加社会保险暂行办法》要点总结

By Susan Ning, Sun Yiming and Liu Jia

Most recently, the hottest  topic on China’s Anti-monopoly Law (AML) is a piece of news spreading on the internet, indicating that China Telecom, one of China’s largest state-owned enterprises is under antitrust investigation conducted by a "relevant" competition authority for its suspected abuse of dominance in broadband market. If the abuse is successfully established, China Telecom may face huge fines under the AML. The news is also quoted by Xinhuanet.com, an authoritative website run by the government. However there has been no formal response from China Telecom or any competition authorities so far in this respect.

This article outlines details to do with China Telecom’s conduct and examines whether or to what extent such conduct would be considered as an abuse of dominance and thus in violation of the AML.
 Continue Reading Chinese Antitrust Enforcement Agencies Ready to Show Teeth to Large State-owned Enterprises?

By Miao Qu of King & Wood’s Intellectual Property  Group

This article continues to discuss Core Intellectual Property Issues in M&A and Investment. The first part of this article was published on Chinalawinsight on September 2011.

V. The Effect of the M&A on the IP Rights Agreements of the Acquiree

During the due diligence in a merger, special attention should be paid to the effect of the investment or merger on the intellectual property rights of the acquiree, especially the effect on license contracts. Two common problems are when the acquisition triggers a clause in a license contract changing control in a way that alters the effectiveness of the agreements, or some other clause in the agreements hinders future business of the acquired entity.

Case 5: A transnational company intended to purchase the domestic mobile communication department of another transnational company. During the due diligence investigations, we found a license contract between the acquiree and a state-owned enterprise ("SOE"). In this contract the acquiree licensed the core technology of the department to the SOE for exclusive use, and ensured that the core technology would not be transferred or licensed to any third party in specific locations. We contacted the management team of the acquiror and learned that the acquiror intended to transfer the technology to other domestic entities of the acquiror for implementation and management pursuant to its business framework. Therefore, we advised the acquirer that the acquiree should negotiate with the SOE to amend the license contract to ensure that the business could operate according to plan after the transaction.Continue Reading Core Intellectual Property Issues in M&A and Investment （Part II of II）

By Miao Qu of King & Wood’s Interllectual Property Group

With the growth of a market economy system, more and more enterprises are seeking to expand their businesses by investment or mergers and acquisitions ("M&A") rather than gradual traditional business growth. In investment and M&A, intellectual property ("IP") issues are increasingly involved in transactions and lawyers must be familiar with the intellectual property state of the enterprise. Moreover, lawyers engaged in dispute resolution also come across more disputes regarding the after-effects of M&A. These disputes and other legal risks which result from M&A can be mitigated or avoided. This writer summarizes typical IP issues involved in M&A from previous experience.Continue Reading Core Intellectual Property Issues in M&A and Investment (Part I of II)

作者：瞿淼 金杜律师事务所知识产权组  

本文分两部分刊登， 2011年8月8日金杜法律博客（Chinalawinsight)刊登的了本文的第一部分。文章第二部分将继续对《投资并购交易中需要警惕的知识产权问题》进行解读。

五、并购行为对被收购方知识产权相关协议的影响

 在投资并购的尽职调查过程中，还需要特别注意投资及并购行为对一些知识产权权利可能产生的影响，尤其是对许可协议可能产生的影响。常见的情形有，收购导致触发控制权变更条款，从而可能影响协议的效力；或者协议原有的一些条款可能造成收购主体未来业务经营的妨碍。

案例五：某跨国公司拟整体收购另一跨国公司在中国境内的移动通讯业务部门。在尽职调查的过程中，我们发现被收购方曾与一国有企业签订一份许可协议，将该业务部门的核心技术许可该国有企业在中国进行排他性地使用，且承诺将不会将此技术在许可地域内转让或许可给任何第三方。知识产权律师应与收购方管理团队进行及时沟通，了解该公司的业务架构，明确收购方拟将收购获得的技术转让给收购方在中国的其它主体进行实施和管理。因此，应建议收购方在签署交易合同之前，由被收购方与被许可的国有企业协商修改许可协议，以保证交易后业务能够按计划运作。Continue Reading 投资并购交易中需要警惕的知识产权问题（二）

作者：尤杨、蔺楷毅 金杜律师事务所公司组

本文分两部分刊登， 2011年9月5日金杜法律博客（Chinalawinsight)刊登的了本文的第一部分。文章第二部分将继续对《房地产信托产品的风险概要》进行解读。

二、各类房地产信托产品的固有风险

尽管房地产信托产品种类繁多，但是各类信托产品都有其固有风险，这些风险与该类信托产品的特性紧密结合，根植于该类信托产品之中。例如：

1、以特定资产收益权为投资对象的信托计划

这类信托常与结构化信托相结合，典型的结构化特定资产收益权信托的模型是：信托公司与交易对手达成协议后，信托公司向公众募集资金并赋予其优先级受益权，并以募集来的资金收购项目公司的特定房地产项目的收益权。同时，项目公司的母公司或实际控制人将项目公司的股权转让与信托公司，并获得次级受益权，借此将房地产开发商的利益与优先级受益权人的利益进行绑定。在信托计划到期后，信托公司首先向优先级受益人分配信托利益，之后再向次级受益人分配剩余信托利益。Continue Reading 房地产信托产品的风险概要（2）

By King & Wood’s Trademark  Practice

The Tort Law of People’s Republic of China was adopted on December 26, 2009, under which the IP rights, including copyrights, patent rights, and exclusive rights to use trademarks, are protected as individual rights and interests. Wang Shengming, vice-chairman of the Legislative Affairs Commission under NPC, commented, "Tort Law provides supplementary reference to the protection of IP rights."Continue Reading Tort Law Provides Supplementary Protection to IP Rights

By: Gao Chunkai, He Yunfan and Li Lingxiao of King and Wood’s Foreign Direct Investment Group

I. Background

On May 20, 2011, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange ("SAFE") issued the Circular of the SAFE on Operating Rules Concerning Financing and Round-Trip Investment Undertaken by Domestic Residents through Overseas Special-Purpose Vehicles (1)( "Circular 19" or "New Operating Rules"), which took effect on July 1, 2011. This Circular provides new operating rules for the foreign exchange registration with the SAFE of round-trip investments made through special-purpose vehicles ("SPV") and non-SPVs.Continue Reading Brief Analysis of Rules Covering Financing and Round-Trip Investment by Domestic Residents through Overseas Special-Purpose Vehicles