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By Xiong Jin  King & Wood Mallesons M&A Group

In recent years, China’s shale gas industry has attracted great interest from both domestic investors – state-owned or otherwise – and major offshore players, thanks to a broad range of initiatives and preferential policies promulgated by the central government with a view to encouraging investment.

Notwithstanding these encouraging developments, the regulatory regime for the shale gas industry is still in its early stages,and development has been slow. The regime also poses unique challenges for foreign investors. This article discusses regulatory developments, potential pitfalls and some structural options.
Continue Reading Before You Invest in China’s Shale Gas Assets

By King & Wood Mallesons’ Banking Group

The China Banking Regulatory Commission (“CBRC”) released the newly amended Administrative Measures for Financial Leasing Companies (Order of China Banking Regulatory Commission [2014] No. 3) (the “New Measures“) on March 13, 2014. Comparing with the amended version in 2007 (the “Old Measures”), the New Measures mainly revise the provisions concerning the market-entry requirements, business scope, operation rules, supervision and administration of financial leasing companies. The New Measures came into effect as of the date of promulgation while the Old Measures ceased to be effective on the same day.
Continue Reading The New Administrative Measures for Financial Leasing Companies Lower the Market-entry Barriers

By King & Wood Mallesons’ Banking Group

1. Overview

  • On 20 February 2014, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) issued the Measures Supporting the Expansion of Cross-border Use of Renminbi in the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone (《关于支持中国(上海)自由贸易试验区扩大人民币跨境使用的通知》)(PBOC Notice). The PBOC Notice provides various policy support in relation to the cross-border use of Renminbi (RMB) in the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone (FTZ), including: (1) cross-border RMB settlement for current account and direct investment; (2) individual RMB settlement account; (3) offshore RMB borrowings by FTZ entities; (4) two-way cross-border RMB cash pooling; (5) centralized current account RMB payments and collections; (6)RMB settlement for cross-border e-commerce; and (7) cross-border RMB trading.
    Continue Reading PBOC Issued Detailed Rules to Expand Cross-border Use of Renminbi in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone

By King & Wood Mallesons’ Healthcare Group

China’s National Health and Family Planning Commission(” NHFPC “) has recently stepped up its efforts to strengthen the administration of healthcare industry with a serial of regulations and actions, with a focus to crack down on and actions, with a focus to crack down on commercial bribery and illegal medical practice.
Continue Reading China’s NHFPC Further Strengthening its Scrutiny over Irregularities in the Healthcare Industry

By Susan Ning, Hazel Yin and Zheng Ziqing   King & Wood Mallesons’ Antitrust & Competition Group

On February 11, 2014, China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) published the long-awaited Interim Provisions on the Standards for Simple Cases of Concentrations of Operators (the Provisions), which came into effect on February 12, 2014.  The Provisions set forth the substantive criteria for determining which case may be treated as a simple case, yet the procedural rules are still missing.  This article provides an analysis of the standards, discusses how the Provisions will change the current review process and explores the reasons for the lack of procedural rules.
Continue Reading MOFCOM Takes a Major Step towards a Simplified Merger Control Procedure by Promulgating the Standards for Simple Cases

By King & Wood Mallesons Banking Group

On 13 February 2014, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange ( “SAFE”) published the Provisions on the Administration of Foreign Exchange for Cross-border Security (Draft for Comments) (“New Provisions”) on its website, soliciting public opinions. The New Provisions, if implemented, will further loosen the country’s foreign exchange capital control.

Compared to the existing regulations (“Existing Rules”) such as the Implementation Measures on the Administration of External Security Provided by Onshore Entities and the Circular of SAFE on Issues Concerning the Administration of External Security Provided by Onshore Entities (“Circular 39”), the main changes are:
Continue Reading The State Administration of Foreign Exchange Soliciting Public Opinion on the Provisions on the Administration of Foreign Exchange for Cross-border Security

By Jiang Junlu King & Wood Mallesons’ Labor & Employment Group

At the end of 2013, the Interim Regulation on Labor Dispatch was adopted in the ministerial conference of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security. This regulation was promulgated before the Lunar New Year and became effective on March 1, 2014, which is expected to prelude the readjustment of labor dispatch.
Continue Reading Back-to-Basics: Past and Present Life of Labor Dispatch

By Tony Dong and Daisy Duan   King & Wood Mallesons’ Taxation Group

http://www.kingandwood.com/lawyer.aspx?language=en&id=tony-dongThe invoice plays an indispensable role in economic activity and business operations in China. It also plays an important role in tax scrutiny when tax authorities are collecting taxes and combating tax evasion. It is reported that in 2013, the tax authorities investigated 91,000 cases of selling or producing false invoices or the illegal issuing of invoices  and 130 million illegal invoices were uncovered. Invoice-related non-compliance is found frequently in certain industries such as real estate, construction and installation, medicine and medical equipment, power generation and supply, catering and entertainment, and the education or training industry. The tax authorities have identified 89,000 entities that have illegal invoices issues, and they are pursuing taxes of more than RMB 13.8 billion.
Continue Reading Tax Issues on Receiving Falsely Issued Invoices in “Good Faith”

By Dina Yin King & Wood Mallesons’ Mergers & Acquisitions Group

MLR approval no longer required for exploration / exploitation of mineral resources in China in the form of a Sino-foreign joint venture

The State Council’s decision, made public on February 15, 2014, eliminates further administrative approvals in the domestic minerals industry and confers administrative powers to government authorities at a lower level (the “Decision”)(1). According to the Decision, certain items which previously required approval from ministerial level authorities now no longer require such approval.
Continue Reading MLR approval no longer required for Sino-foreign exploration / exploitation of mineral resources in China

By Xu Jing and Zhang Hairuo   King & Wood Mallesons’ IP Litigation Group

On April 22, 2013, the Supreme People’s Court of the People’s Republic of China (the “SPC”) released its Annual Press Release regarding Judicial Protection of Intellectual Property and Model Cases of 2012. The SPC therein unveiled the “Top Ten Innovative Intellectual Property Cases in China (2012)”, which included the “Leroy-Somer” trademark and company name infringement case (Case Number: [2012] Min Min Zhong Zi No. 819). As lawyers from King & Wood Mallesons’ IP Litigation Group, we represented the Plaintiffs, Leroy-Somer Societe Anonyme ( “LS”) and Leroy-Somer Electro-Technique (Fuzhou) Co., Ltd. (the “LSFZ”), against Lilaisenma Fujian Electrical Machinery Co., Ltd. (the “LLSM”) in this matter.
Continue Reading “Leroy-Somer” Trademark Infringement and Unfair Competition Case Named One of China’s Top 10 Innovative IP Cases of 2012