作者：刘新宇 高晓瑞 金杜律师事务所国际贸易组

报关商品归类错误可能会引起不同的法律责任，这里先举两个案例:

案例一：某大型外商投资企业（“A公司”）从德国进口72.6吨乙烯胶粉。A公司在向海关申报该批货物的名称为乙烯胶粉、货物商品编码（“HS编码”）为29012100。此后，受理申报的海关提取了该票乙烯胶粉的样品送检，经海关化验中心出具的化验鉴定书显示，该批货物为以醋酸乙烯为主要成分的聚合物，归类参考意见为HS编码：39052900。同时，经海关调查A公司此前曾以同样方式进口乙烯胶粉合计三票。最终海关认定A公司的行为构成申报不实，根据相关规定对A公司给予行政处罚。

案例二：据有关媒体报道，某知名外资企业（“B公司”）的采购人员在审查本公司向海关申报进口原料的有关文件时，发现了国外供应商提供的商业发票中HS编码为1302开头，这一编码当时对应的税率为20%，而B公司进口时向海关申报所用的HS编码为3302开头，该编码当时对应税率为15%。据海关认定，虽然采购人员知道以1302开头的HS编码才是B公司实际进口货物的正确编码，但B公司仍继续使用原来的商品编码向海关伪报这批货物，并在此后的近30个月的时间里沿用了这一错报HS编码。最终，查获该行为的海关缉私部门认定B公司偷逃应缴税款总计100多万元，涉嫌构成走私普通货物罪，并由检察院向法院提起公诉。

Continue Reading 因报关商品归类错误可能引起的法律责任

By Susan Ning, Sun Yiming, Liu Jia and Yin Ranran

On December 13, it was reported that the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) asked China Telecom to submit more detailed "rectification proposal" in relation to its pledge for suspension of antitrust probe1.   Earlier on December 2, China Telecom and China Unicom announced that they have applied to the NDRC for suspension of its antitrust investigation into their internet access pricing practices, by promising to adjust the internet access prices and overhaul their broadband services (see our article entitled "China Telecom and China Unicom Seek to Settle Antitrust Probe").

Continue Reading NDRC Demands More Concrete Pledges from China Telecom

By King & Wood’s Labor & Employment Group

The State Administration of Work Safety passed the Decision on the Amendment to the Interim Punishment Rules for the Regulations on Reporting and Investigating Work Safety Accidents (hereinafter the "Decision") on August 29th, 2011. The Decision will be effective as of November 1st, 2011.

Continue Reading Penalty for Lying about or Concealing Work Safety Accidents Up to RMB 5 Million

By Susan Ning, Ding Liang, Liu Jia and Sun Yiming

On November 14, the National Development and Reform Commission ("NDRC") announced its decision to fine two private pharmaceutical companies nearly RMB 7 million for violating the Anti-monopoly Law ("AML")1. The penalty decision was released right after the NDRC publicly confirmed its investigation over China Telecom and China Union for alleged abuse of dominance in the broadband market. It seemed that the NDRC could not wait to show its determination to enforce the AML with another striking case.

Continue Reading NDRC Fined Two Pharmaceutical Companies for Abusive Conducts

By Susan Ning, Sun Yiming, Liu Jia and Yin Ranran

On 2 December 2011, China Telecom and China Unicom announced that they have applied to the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) for suspension of its antitrust investigation into their internet access pricing practices, by promising to adjust the internet access prices and overhaul their broadband services.

According to their announcements 1, China Telecom and China Unicom stated that they have proactively cooperated with the NDRC’s investigation and have engaged in "self-evaluation" of the challenged pricing practices.  Both companies acknowledged "room for improvement" for their interconnection services and pricing practices.

Continue Reading China Telecom and China Unicom Seek to Settle Antitrust Probe

作者：金杜律师事务所外商投资组

对于讨论日久的PE监管问题，中国发改委在日前给出了说法，发改委于12月8日发布《关于促进股权投资企业规范发展的通知》（“《通知》”）。《通知》是我国首个全国性股权投资企业管理规则，规定股权投资企业的资本只能以私募方式募集。《通知》规范了股权投资企业的设立、资本募集与投资领域，要求股权投资企业遵照《公司法》和《合伙企业法》有关规定设立。资本只能以私募方式，向特定的具有风险识别能力和风险承受能力的合格投资者募集，资本募集人须向投资者充分揭示投资风险，不得承诺固定回报。股权投资企业的所有投资者只能以合法的自有货币资金认缴出资。资本缴付可以采取承诺制，即投资者在股权投资企业资本募集阶段签署认缴承诺书，在股权投资企业投资运作实施阶段，根据股权投资企业的公司章程或者合伙协议的约定分期缴付出资。

Continue Reading 发改委：股权投资企业资本只能以私募方式募集

By Susan Ning, Sun Yiming and Liu Jia

On December 7, the Provisional Measures on Investigating and Penalizing Violation of Notification Obligations for Concentrations between Business Operators (Provisional Measures) were reviewed and discussed at the No. 57th Ministerial Affairs Meeting of the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) and were passed in principle.1  

It was discussed at the meeting that currently companies frequently ignore their merger control notification obligations under the Anti-Monopoly Law which has caused negative social impact.  Under such circumstances, the Provisional Measures are expected to strengthen MOFCOM’s enforcement in relation to investigation and punishment for those companies who fail to honor their notification obligations.

Continue Reading MOFCOM Passed Provisional Rule on Failure to Notify on Concentration

作者：胡梅 刘海涛 北京金杜律师事务所争议解决组

近几个月来，为数不少的中国企业被指控违反美国证券法和上市公司准则，并因此受到了相关调查和法院诉讼。这些问题的曝光通常源于公司聘请的会计师事务所对公司财务信息真实性的怀疑，或是出于外界对公司某些不正当交易的指责。这些公司在被内部审计委员会、美国证监会和相关证交所调查的同时，也面临受害股东提起的法律诉讼。大多数这类中国公司根本没有预想到会面临这些诉讼和调查，也没有料想到其强度和因此会产生的高额费用。这一切都对公司及其董事、管理人员和员工形成了巨大的压力。公司为配合调查或应诉需要调集大量的人力和资金，相关的开支动辄上千万美元，同时还不可避免地殃及公司的日常运作和员工的士气。

为了合规以及应对在美诉讼都要付出高昂的资金成本，外加股价的低迷和交易量的骤减，对于中国企业来说，美国资本市场的吸引力已不如往日。这些因素正促使一些中国公司重新考虑是否要继续保留其美国上市公司的资格。这类公司有多种退出机制可供选择。公司可以先退市，再通过私募收购实现私有化。公司也可选择退市后作场外交易，或者作为粉单上市公司。退市的成本一般会很高昂，因此在决定退市前公司需要先作慎重周密的考虑。

 

Continue Reading 中国公司在美国上市的法律风险和成本方面的考量

King & Wood’s Trademark Group

After a three-year trial, the case of Kirin Kyowa Foods Co., Ltd. vs. Chen and Wang over a trademark assignment contract has currently been decided by the first instance. Kirin Kyowa Foods Co., Ltd. (the "Plaintiff"), as the proprietor of the trademark "可得然", appointed Shanghai Aucane Enterprise Co., Ltd. ("Aucane") as its sales agent for gelatine bearing the "可得然" trademark. In March 2006, Chen (the "Defendant"), the legal representative of Aucane, preemptively filed an application for registration of "CURDLAN", which is the English equivalent of the "可得然" trademark at the China Trademark Office (the "TMO"). In 2007, both parties signed a Trademark Assignment Contract (the "Contract"), requiring the Defendant to assign the trademark "CURDLAN" to the Plaintiff at the price of US$2,000. In May 2008, the TMO took office action on the grounds that "the assignor’s signature is evidently inconsistent with the one filed with the TMO in the past", and required the Plaintiff to provide a copy of the assignor’s ID card and its notarized statement of agreement on the said trademark assignment. However, the Defendant failed to provide any of the above materials, causing the TMO to refuse the assignment of "CURDLAN", and thus the Plaintiff appealed to the court.

 

Continue Reading Trademark Assignment Dispute Over “CURDLAN” — Kirin Kyowa Foods Co., Ltd. vs. Chen and Wang

King & Wood’s Trademark Group

On November 9, 2011, the China Trademark Office (the "TMO") has partially adjusted its official website for the purpose of facilitating the public in browsing and searching information about recordal of pledges of exclusive rights to registered trademarks. The adjustments are in respect of the place of the information, the means of disclosure and the items of disclosure.

Thanks to such adjustments, the public may directly search whether the exclusive right of a registered trademark is pledged in the column "Use of Trademark Rights" on the TMO website, including name of the pledgor, name of the pledgee, the registration number of the pledged trademark, and validity period of the pledge. Moreover, the pledge information in e-charts has changed to web links below which the public may find a collection of information of pledges as of November 2009.

Continue Reading China Trademark Office Adjusts Means of Disclosure for Pledge of Exclusive Rights