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By Stephan Cerni and Andy Wu  King& Wood Mallesons

The world’s population is projected to reach 8.5 billion by 2030 and, according to the OECD, China and India will represent roughly two thirds of the global middle class population. This exponential rate of growth is staggering when compared against the rest of the world (as illustrated in Figure 1 below).

The rising middle class growth in Asia will bring about new and increasing demands for products and funds for investment. With its close geographical proximity and reputation for high-quality good and services, Northern Australia is well positioned to meet these demands but it must act fast to leverage this advantage.Continue Reading Opportunities for NAIF in Asia’s emerging middle-class

By Max Bonnell and Ruimin Gao  King & Wood Mallesons’ Sydney office

bonnell_mThe Australian Government recently announced that it would not proceed with the ratification of the Treaty on Extradition between Australia and The People’s Republic of China (Australia-China Extradition Treaty) at the present time.

We take a closer look below at Australia’s extradition law and the key provisions in the Australia-China Extradition Treaty, which is now approaching its ten-year anniversary since it was first signed under the Howard Government.
Continue Reading Close, but no cigar: the Australia-China Extradition Treaty

By Richard Mazzochi and Minny Siu King & Wood Mallesons’ Hong Kong office.

mazzochi_rsiu_mWhat does the FSDC report recommend?

The Financial Services Development Council (“FSDC”) has just released its review of Hong Kong’s listed structured products market. The FSDC published its report on 18 April 2017. The report sets out the FSDC’s key findings following its comprehensive review of the listed structured products market, particularly in comparison to European markets.

King & Wood Mallesons, represented by Richard Mazzochi and Minny Siu, partners of KWM’s banking and finance department in Hong Kong, advised the FSDC working group on its report. “We are honoured to be invited by the FSDC to work alongside other industry members on this timely initiative by the FSDC. Hong Kong is a leading global structured products market. This review and its recommendations will assist Hong Kong maintain its position as a leading global structured products market and wealth management and investment centre in Asia.” said Richard Mazzochi and Minny Siu.
Continue Reading KWM assists the FSDC on its recent report on “Optimising Hong Kong’s Listed Structured Products Market”

BY Lucy Lu,Li Xin and Hang Ying. King & Wood Mallesons’ Commercial & Regulatory group.

陆慧文According to the PRC labor laws, an employer is obliged to ensure employee’s right to stipulated medical treatment period if an employee is suffering from illness.  In practice, when an employee goes to the hospital and seeks professional advice from a doctor, the doctor will take account of all factors concerning illness and health risks of the employee and then issue official medical certificate, with which the employee may apply for sick leave with the employer.  Accordingly, under this general sick leave application practice, if an ill-meaning employee is well acquainted with some doctors from the hospital who provides him or her with fake or improper medical certificate, the employee may apply for sick leave with the employer, an act deemed as unreasonable application for sick leave. What measures can an employer prepare to prevent the abovementioned situations from happening? And what measures can an employer take against the employee who has already enjoyed unreasonable sick leave? Below we recommend several tricks to employers for dealing with such occasions.
Continue Reading How to deal with Employees’ Unreasonable Application for Sick Leave

By Yin Juquan, Zhang and Yuanhao. King & Wood Mallesons’ Commercial & Regulatory group.

yin_juquanReduction of an employee’s salary is often a consequence of the employer’s decision to demote the employee for some reason. However, the employer should refrain from meting out a pay cut arbitrarily. Usually, lawful pay cuts occur in two circumstances – when both employer and employee agree on it, or when the employer enforces it by law.

Pay cut agreement between employer and employee

Remuneration is a necessary clause of an employment contract. Article 35 of the Labor Contract Law provides that the terms and conditions of an employment contract may be modified if employer and employee agree so, and any modification must be made in writing. A pay cut derived from consultation and confirmed in writing is of course in accordance with legal requirements.
Continue Reading Employers: Be Cautious with Pay Cuts

By LUO Ai and TANG Xiaojing  King & Wood Mallesons’ Commercial & Regulatory group.

luo_aiOn November 28, 2016, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (“MHRSS”) issued the Notice on Several Issues in the Transfer and Continuation of Basic Pension Insurance of Urban Enterprise Employees (the “Notice”) clarifying several issues arising from the implementation of the Interim Measures for the Transfer and Continuation of Basic Pension Insurance of Urban Enterprise Employees(the “Interim Measures”) since 2010.

Regulations on Urban Employees’ Basic Pension Transfer and Continuation

Under the Social Insurance Law of the People’s Republic of China enacted in 2010, the basic pension fund should gradually be pooled at a nationwide level, and other social insurance funds gradually be put under provincial pooling. Currently, however, the basic pension fund is provincially pooled.
Continue Reading New Rules for Basic Pension Transfer and Continuation

By Martyn Huckerby and Intan Eow  King & Wood Mallesons

huckerby_martynOver the last 12 months a number of Australian corporates have suffered unexpected business disruption in China. For some affected entities, this has caused serious crisis at home, including the risk of class action alleging failure to adequately disclose risk and changing circumstances to the investment community. These developments have highlighted the importance of directors of Australian corporates with extensive business in China in understanding emerging regulatory and political issues in China and monitoring risks.
Continue Reading Reading the Tea Leaves – Managing Regulatory Risks in China

by Li Zhongsheng, King & Wood Mallesons’ IP group

li_zhongshengOn behalf of Qualcomm Incorporated, King & Wood Mallesons (“KWM”) recently asserted several standard essential patents (SEPs) against Meizu, a Zhuhai-based handset manufacturer. Meizu concluded a license agreement with Qualcomm on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms, in settlement of the royalty dispute after it was threatened with an injunction.. Article 24 of the Supreme People’s Court Interpretation of Issues of Application of Laws in the Handling of Patent Infringement Disputes (II) (“Judicial Interpretation II”) was the legal basis on which Qualcomm accused Meizu of patent infringement. This essay is a preliminary consideration of that article.

Article 24 of Judicial Interpretation II (“Article 24”) consists of four paragraphs.
Continue Reading Patent Disputes and Article 24 of Judicial Interpretation II

By Meg Utterback King & Wood Mallesons’ Dispute Resolution group.

utterback_mIn China, settlement negotiations may not arise until the parties have filed their case in court or arbitration and each side has presented evidence and argument.  At that point, the judge or arbitrator may offer the parties an opportunity to discuss settlement.  Sometimes the introduction of settlement talks is the product of one party or the other suggesting to the arbitration institution secretary or the judge that settlement is a good option for the case.  In most cases, Chinese parties seem to be reluctant to settle early lest it show a fear that the party lacks confidence in the strength of its case.

American counterparties are different.  US arbitration and litigation proceedings are expensive propositions and many companies seek to dispense with litigation early if at all possible.  Settlement is considered even where one may have a relatively strong case if the cost of settlement may be less than the costs of litigation time and fees.  Also, parties recognize the uncertainty of dispute resolution in any forum and so settlement allows certainty.  Thus, we hear the expression, “A bad settlement is better than a good trial.”

As a result, a Chinese party may end up i
Continue Reading Negotiating a Settlement with a Foreign Party

By Susan Ning, WU Han, YANG Nan and LI Huihui  King & Wood Mallesons’ Commercial & Regulatory groupning_susanBackgroundThe Cybersecurity Law of the People’s Republic of China (the “Cybersecurity Law”), adopted by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on November 7th, 2016, will take effect on June 1st, 2017. In order to ensure its implementation, the Cybersecurity Law set targets for construction of key areas of the system and for authorities to formulate specific implementation measures.
Continue Reading Does Your Data Need “a Visa” to Travel Abroad?