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By Lucy Lu Lexina Li  King & Wood Mallesons’ Labor Group

lu_lucyThere were increasing labor disputes arising from the termination of employment contract by the employer on the basis of material change of objective circumstance in recent time, which caused many controversies about how to apply this clause in practice. We reviewed the following case happened in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province and would like to discuss the application of this clause on the basis of the judgment of this case.
Continue Reading How to Understand “Material Change of Objective Circumstance”

By Xu Xiaodan  Zhang Jingjing, King & Wood Mallesons’ Labor Group

xu_xiaodanThe newly amended Safe Production Law has come into effect as of December 1, 2014. In general, the new legislation elaborated management personnel’s administration responsibilities towards safe production. In the meantime, it also increased penalties on violations of the law. This article will introduce management personnel’s obligations and possible liabilities under the new legislation.

1. Management Personnel’s Obligations

The Safe Production Law specifies management personnel’s statutory obligations, including:
Continue Reading How can Management Personnel Deal with the Newly Amended Safe Production Law?

By Linda Liang and Wen Qin, King & Wood Mallesons’ Labor Group

untitledMs. Li was first employed by Company A as Chief Financial Officer on November 29, 2012. The two parties had signed a three-year employment contract, the term of which is from November 29, 2012 to November 28, 2015, and the probation period is from November 29, 2012 to January 28, 2013. The Company and Ms. Li agreed in the Offer Letter that, the Company is entitled to extend the probation period based on Ms. Li’s performance during that period. On January 16, 2013, the Company conducted a performance evaluation on Ms. Li, and the result showed that the Company needed to extend Ms. Li’s probation period for another one month. Ms. Li had no objection to this decision and the Company extended her probation period to February 28, 2013. When the extended probation period was about to expire, the Company conducted another performance evaluation on Ms. Li, which showed that Ms. Li’s performance was unsatisfactory. Meanwhile, taking Ms. Li’s fake education credentials, frequent lateness and serious absenteeism into consideration, the Company terminated the employment relationship with Ms. Li on February 23, 2013 in accordance with Article 39 (1) of PRC Employment Contract Law. According to this Article 39 (1), if the employee is proved as having failed to meet the recruitment requirements during the probation period, the employer is entitled to dismiss him/her.
Continue Reading Extending the Probation Period?——Don’t Be So Capricious

By Huang Jianwen, King & Wood Mallesons’ Investment Group

huang_jianwenOn June 17, 2015, the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (“ChAFTA”) was officially signed by Australia’s Trade Minister Andrew Robb and China’s Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng. ChAFTA will benefit more than a dozen fields including goods, services, and investment. With respect to health services, ChAFTA increases foreign investors’ access to medical services and hospitals, enables certain qualified foreign physicians to offer services in China, permits the establishment of wholly foreign owned aged care institutions, and promotes cooperation in the field of Traditional Chinese Medicine (“TCM”) services. 
Continue Reading China-Australia FTA: Implications on the Chinese health industry

By Huang Jianwen  King & Wood Mallesons’ Investment Group

huang_jianwenBackground

Since 2010, the State Council has issued a series of policy documents promoting development of the healthcare industry by encouraging the inflow of social capital. As a result, non-public medical institutions have grown rapidly and their level of service has gradually improved. In general, however,…

By Chen Sheng, Shen Di   King & Wood Mallesons’ Dispute Resolution Group

Armstrong ChenBackground

On 22nd May, 2015, China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) officially signed a Memorandum of Regulatory Cooperation on the Mainland-Hong Kong Mutual Recognition of Funds Scheme (the Scheme) with Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), and at the same time issued the Interim Provisions for Recognised Hong Kong Funds (Interim Provisions). The Interim Provisions will be implemented since 1st July, 2015, and the initial investment quota is set at RMB 300 billion for funds flow between Hong Kong and mainland each way.
Continue Reading On the launch of Hong Kong domiciled funds in Mainland

By Minny Siu, Hayden Flinn and Cindy Shek, King & Wood Mallesons Hong Kong Office

Minny SiuHayden FlinnThe regulatory framework and application details for mutual recognition of publicly offered funds (MRF) between the Mainland and Hong Kong were finally released after almost 2 years of market expectation. The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) signed a Memorandum of Regulatory Cooperation concerning Mutual Recognition of Funds between the Mainland and Hong Kong (Memorandum) on 22 May 2015, confirming the launch of MRF on 1 July 2015.
Continue Reading Mutual recognition of funds between the Mainland and Hong Kong

By Richard W. Wigley  KingandWood Mallesons’ IP Group

wigley_richardThe framework for variants of class action-type litigation in the People’s Republic of China has been in place since the initial promulgation of the Civil Procedure Law of the P.R.C. (“CPL”) in 1991.   The recently amended CPL provides requirements for filing a “joint litigation” for suits where “the object of the action is of the same category and a party consists of numerous persons” and where the parties may choose to elect a representative.[1] Further to whether standing is afforded the plaintiff and the filing requirements for such litigation, the CPL provides that “[t]he plaintiff must be a citizen, legal person, or an organization having a direct interest with the case … there must be a specific defendant … [and] there must be a specific claim and a specific factual basis and grounds ….”[2] Though with certain differences, the CPL provides a framework which allows for joint litigation which has similarities to what is commonly referred to as a “class action lawsuit”.
Continue Reading Trends in Class Action-Type Public Interest Litigation in China

By King and Wood Mallesons

给娟娟Asia’s global law firm King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) is now officially open for business in Singapore, with the firm’s new office opening today in the Ocean Financial Centre.

Three KWM partners will lead the establishment of the office with an initial focus on International Funds, Energy and Resources and…