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By Mia Qu   Hannah Sun  King & Wood Mallesons’ Dispute Resolution group

qu_miaoWith the boom of the data industry in China, data has been widely recognized as a form of asset, and data transactions are thriving nowadays. Correspondingly, various data transaction contracts emerge as legal support for such transactions. As the property attribute of data is not clearly defined and rules on data ownership are yet to be enacted, however, problems relating to the validity and legal nature of data transaction contracts and applicable laws are unavoidable. Dealings in data represent a seemingly endless value chain ranging from data input, collection, maintenance, classification, verification, processing, to exchange, reprocessing, analysis and mining. This article focuses on the contracts that set out terms of data transfer and transaction under Chinese law. Contracts that deal primarily with the processing of data will be discussed in subsequent articles. 
Continue Reading Data Transaction Contracts and Related Legal Issues

By King & Wood Mallesons

The Managing Intellectual Property (MIP), one of the most authoritative media in the world’s intellectual property (IP) sector, recently announced its 2017 patent and trademark firm rankings, in which, King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) was consecutively recognized as a Tier 1 firm in patent prosecution, patent contentious, trade mark prosecution and trade mark contentious in China based on the firm’s comprehensive leading strength in such areas. This result makes KWM again the only Chinese firm ranked as Tier 1 in the four categories since 2016.
Continue Reading King and Wood Mallesons once again become the only Tier 1 Chinese firm in MIP’s four ranking categories

By TIAN Wenjing ZHANG Chen Xu Yue

tian_wen-jingAccording to statistics released by the National Bureau of Statistics, outbound direct investment from China to Russia was USD 2.961 bn in 2015, up by 367.3% year on year. By the end of 2015, the total amount of Chinese FDI in Russia was USD 14.02 bn, second among all 64 “One Belt, One Road” countries by value. As shown by the “Belt and Road Initiative Big Data Report (2016)” compiled by the Leading Group Office for Promoting “Belt and Road” Construction, Russia tops the list of “One Belt, One Road” countries in terms of cooperation-worthiness. With its vast domestic market, stable political environment, complete infrastructural network and friendliness towards investment from China, Russia is obviously a big magnet for Chinese investment and shows enormous potential.
Continue Reading Investing in Russia? – Lessons learnt from the Yukos and Sanum Cases

By Mark Schaub, Chen Bing and Martyn Huckerby  King & Wood Mallesons’ Corporate & Securities group

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International health food companies and infant formula food suppliers rejoiced on March 17, 2017, when the China Ministry of Commerce (“MOFCOM”) confirmed that the current supervision model will likely be adjusted for cross border e-commerce retail imports (“CBEC”). The announcement advised that the new model, which will take effect from January 1, 2018, will apply to 15 pilot zones.

The mood was markedly different back in April 2016, when several PRC authorities officially issued new policies regulating cross border e-commerce. The most concerning aspect of the April 2016 measures was that a range of products, including health food, infant formula, cosmetics and medical devices, would need to be registered or filed with the PRC authorities. These  polices caused panic in the market and resulted in a sharp drop (almost one third) of CBEC business revenue. A later notice in May 2016 granted a grace period for the implementation of registration and filing requirements until May 2017, which was extended by MOFCOM in November until the end of 2017.
Continue Reading Respite or False Dawn: MOFCOM Hints at Softening of Tough PRC E-commerce Policies

By Susan Ning, Han Wu, Yangdi Zhao   King & Wood Mallesons’ Commercial & Regulatory group.

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China’s national legislature on March 15, 2017 passed the General Provisions of the Civil Law (the “General Provisions”), the opening chapter of a civil code planned to be enacted in 2020.  The General Provisions were adopted at the closing meeting of the annual session of the National People’s Congress (NPC), with 2,782 of the 2,838 deputies present voting in favor.  It takes effect on Oct 1, 2017.

Article 111 of the General Provisions[1] stipulates the rules for the protection of personal data, which is believed to be one of the highlights of the General Provisions.  The protection of personal data was first included in Article 109 of the Second Draft of the General Provisions of the Civil Law (the “Second Draft”)[2] on October 31, 2016, aiming to curb the prevalent illegal collection, processing and trading of personal data in the Internet era.  Article 109 of the Second Draft provides that “[T]he personal data of individuals is protected by law.  Entities and individuals are prohibited from collecting, utilizing, processing, transmitting personal data illegally or supplying, making public or selling personal data illegally.”
Continue Reading China’s Step Forward to Personal Data Protection

By Chen Yun, Wang Rong, Liang Yixuan King & Wood Malleosns’ Finance & Capital Markets grop

chen_yunOn March 10, 2017, the General Office of the China Banking Regulatory Commission (“CBRC“) promulgated the Circular on Carrying on Certain Businesses by Foreign Invested Banks (Yin Jian Ban Fa [2017] No.12, the “Circular“), clarifying certain business areas foreign invested banks may be allowed to engage in.  In the previous regulatory regime, it is unclear whether foreign invested banks may undertake businesses in such areas.  This Circular is intended to encourage foreign invested banks to explore the advantages of their global service networks and to provide comprehensive financial services to those Chinese enterprises in their endeavors to expand their businesses globally.
Continue Reading Foreign Invested Banks: Opportunity or Challenge?

By King & Wood Mallesons

King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) has advised  Xinhu (BVI) Holding Company Limited as its US and PRC counsel on its US$700 million 6.00% guaranteed senior notes issuance due 2020, which is guaranteed by Xinhu Zhongbao Co., Ltd (Xinhu Zhongbao). The transaction marks the largest initial issuance of a high yield bond by a PRC company since January 2013, according to the Bloomberg database.
Continue Reading King & Wood Mallesons advises Xinhu Zhongbao on China’s first and largest high yield bond issuance since January 2013

By King & Wood Mallesons

On March 20th, 2017, Xu Ping, partner at King & Wood Mallesons (KWM), was named one of the Top 10 M&A Lawyers in China for 2017 by Asian Legal Business (ALB) for her exceptional work in cross-border M&A transactions and the high praise and recognition she received from her clients. The list was compiled on the basis of various factors, including the significance of the M&A deals such candidate has advised on (as lead counsel) in the past 12 months, the representative and influential clients for whom such candidate represented, and the accolades and recognitions such candidate has received from the market, etc.
Continue Reading Xu Ping, partner at King & Wood Mallesons, nominated as the Top 10 M&A Lawyers in China for 2017

By Liu Ting  and Zhang Menglei , King & Wood Mallesons’Commercial and Regulatory group

liu_tingOn February 8, 2017, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a guidance document entitled Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs (“the Evaluation”), which was immediately noticed by compliance practitioners in many countries. The Evaluation highlights the importance that the DOJ attaches to the thoroughness and flexibility of corporate compliance programs. A compliance program may satisfy DOJ’s requirements only if it encourages a company’s long-term compliance, addresses the particular risks faced by the company in its sector, and evolves with practical needs over time. This is in line with the principles and general spirit of A Resource Guide to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (the FCPA Guide).
Continue Reading Bracing for an Era of Compliance in China

By Bill Ye , Jessie Yu and Mona Lan  King & Wood Mallesons’ Commercial & Regulatonry group

ye_billIn February, the Measures on the Due Diligence of Non-resident Financial Account Information in Tax Matters (draft for comment) (hereinafter referred to as “the Measures”) issued by the State Administration of Taxation (“SAT”) has attracted the attention of many high net worth individuals in China. This series of articles will canvas interpretation of the Measures in a systematic way and potential responses.

In the first place, it should be remembered that this is a tax matter in nature. Along with the development of an international economy and trade as well as increasing globalization, more and more taxpayers conduct cross-border transactions by using offshore financial accounts and these accounts have become important information sources for tax regulation. However, it is usually impracticable for tax authorities to collect information about such accounts.Continue Reading When Banks Meet Tax Authorities — Key Issues that Lawyers Should Know About Tax Administration in the New Finance Era (I)