By Xuhua Huang Haibo Mo King&Wood Mallesons
Since China’s ambitious ‘One Belt, One Road’ initiative (“Initiative”) was first introduced in October 2013 by President Xi Jinping, the rest of the world has been playing close attention to how this major pillar of China’s economic policy will impact its integration with the global economy.
By Xuhua Huang and Ouou Bao King&Wood Mallesons
Since 1995, the PRC government has published catalogues for the guidance of foreign investment industries (Catalogues) once every three to four years. Each Catalogue has reflected the direction of China’s economic development and foreign investment industries.
On 10 March 2015, the National Development and Reform
By John Sullivan Guo Sun Lee and Jerry Choi King&Wood Mallesons’ Singapore Office
As recent figures have shown, after a two-year slump, Asia Pacific’s private equity (PE) sector registered its best-ever performance in 2014, with both deal values and exit activity soaring to a new record of US$81 billion and US$111 billion, respectively (Bain &
By Suzanne Gibson John Sullivan King&Wood Mallesons’ Singapore Office
There has recently been a wave of global regulatory reforms which affect fundraising. These changes are far-reaching and can impact how fund managers structure funds, their proposed investor base, how and where funds are marketed, the remuneration that may be received, registrations that may be required
By Michael Lawson King&Wood Mallesons’ Singapore Office
S
ince the middle of 2014, the Asian LNG market has seen oil prices tumble, an increase in supply courtesy of new projects coming on stream in Papua New Guinea and Australia’s east coast in particular (albeit partially offset by curtailment of supply from certain established sources), and
By Huang Jianwen King & Wood Mallesons’ Investment Group
Although China has experienced rapid growth in the numbers of foreign non-governmental organizations (“NGOs”) carrying out activities within its borders in the past 10 years, foreign NGOs have remained loosely and ambiguously regulated in China. For example, as for the establishment of representative offices by foreign NGOs in China, currently only the Regulation for the Administration of Foundations provides the legal basis for foreign foundations to establish representative offices in China. There are no unified laws and regulations at the national level governing the establishment of representative offices or carrying out activities by the other foreign NGOs except for foreign foundations. This brings doubt and difficulty for many foreign NGOs carrying out activities in China.
The latest draft of the Foreign NGO Management Law (Second Draft) (the “Foreign NGO Draft Law”) can be seen as a preliminary attempt by PRC regulators to introduce more transparency and regulatory oversight to the often nebulous world of international NGOs operating in China. The Legal Affairs Committee of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress opened the Foreign NGO Draft Law to public comments, including those from foreign NGOs, on May 5, 2015.
Continue Reading Highlights of the Foreign NGO Management Law (Second Draft)
By Ramón García-Gallardo, Xiao Jin, King & Wood Mallesons
More than five years after the United States (“U.S.”) and China agreed to start negotiations of a bilateral investment treaty (“BIT”), the launch of the negotiations between the European Union (“E.U.”) and China towards a BIT was announced at the Sixteenth China-E.U. Summit held in Beijing on 21 November 2013.
Continue Reading The E.U.—China bilateral investment treaty
By Joshua Cole, Sharon Henrick, Michael Robert-Smith King&Wood Mallesons
In this article we explore the First Conduct Rule in Hong Kong’s Competition Ordinance, focusing on its significance for companies preparing for implementation of the Ordinance.
Overview of the First Conduct Rule
The First Conduct Rule targets anti-competitive agreements, including serious or ‘hardcore’ coordination between competitors such as price-fixing, market allocation, output restriction or bid-rigging.
Hong Kong’s Competition Commission has indicated that it will be particularly focused on this type of conduct. The Chairperson of the Commission, Ms Anna Wu, has singled out price-fixing cartels as initial targets, stating that she is determined to tackle the “Big Tigers” of Hong Kong.
Continue Reading Hong Kong Competition Ordinance: First Conduct Rule
By Xia Dongxia Yang Ting King & Wood Mallesons’ Dispute Resolution Group
In November, 2012, the Supreme People’s Court entered into the decision of retrial for HaiFu Investment Co., Ltd. v. ShiHeng Non-ferrous Recourses Recycling Co., Ltd. (hereafter referred to as the “HaiFu Investment Case”). This judgment made a distinction between signing a valuation adjustment mechanism (hereafter referred to as “VAM”) agreement with the target company and signing a VAM agreement with the shareholder. In essence, it confirms that a VAM Agreement between the investor and the shareholder is valid, whereas a VAM Agreement between the investor and the target company is invalid because such agreement would harm the interests of the company and its creditors. After that, the Supreme People’s Court, various people’s courts at the local level, and arbitration institutions dealt with a number of cases related to issues of VAM agreement under the Private Equity (hereafter referred to as “PE”) framework. A select number of such typical cases are summarized below:
Continue Reading Typical Cases Re Valuation Adjustment Mechanism Agreements post HaiFu Investment Co., Ltd. v. Shiheng Non-ferrous Recourses Recycling Co., Ltd.
By Sun Mingfei and Gui Hongxia King&Wood Mallesons’ Dispute Resolution Group
Often the first battle that parties face in an intellectual property infringement dispute is determining which court has jurisdiction to hear the dispute. For many reasons, the plaintiff will usually wish to initiate proceedings at the court where the plaintiff has its domicile or at a court relatively experienced in intellectual property disputes. A plaintiff will generally try to avoid initiating proceedings at the court where the defendant has its domicile. When determining jurisdiction, the parties and the court should seek to determine the places with the most significant connection to the dispute. Apart from where the defendant has its domicile, the other place that will have a connection with the dispute will be the place of infringement. In an online environment, there have been many cases that have considered whether the place of receipt in an online transaction can be considered as the place of infringement. However, no uniform understanding has yet been reached in judicial practice. As a result, there have been a large number of jurisdictional challenges.
Continue Reading Do courts at the place of receipt in an online transaction have jurisdiction over patent infringement cases?
