By Susan Ning, Jiang Liyong and Angie Ng, King & Wood’s Competition Practice

On 5 July 2010, the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) enacted regulations which set out the rules and procedures to do with divesting assets. These regulations are entitled “Interim Regulations on Implementing the Divestiture of Assets or Businesses in Concentration of Business Operators” (divestiture regulations). A copy of the divestiture regulations are located here.
 Continue Reading Regulations on Divesting Assets – Enacted

 By Susan Ning, Shan Lining and Angie Ng, King & Wood’s Competition Practice

On 12 August 2010, the PRC Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) hosted a “stocktake” briefing to mark the second anniversary of the Anti-Monopoly Law (AML).(1)  Director-General of the Anti-Monopoly Bureau Shang Ming chaired the briefing. MOFCOM’s transcript of this briefing is located here. The following were the salient points raised during the briefing.

Continue Reading Second Anniversary of China’s Anti-Monopoly Law – MOFCOM’s Stocktake

The Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China (“MOFCOM”) made the decision to prohibit the proposed acquisition of China Huiyuan Juice Group Limited by the Coca-Cola Company (the “Transaction”) under Article 28 of the Anti-Monopoly Law of People’s Republic of China (the “AML’). We believe the following three negative influences on competition were the primary considerations taken into account by MOFCOM:

Susan Ning, Partner, International Trade

Continue Reading In Defense of the Coke Haiyuan Decision

By Xu Ping & Mark Schaub   King & Wood’s Foreign Direct Investment Practice

China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) has recently issued a number of notices delegating approval competency to lower governmental levels. This delegation of approval competency to local authorities will greatly accelerate the approval process for foreign invested projects. Two prominent areas in this general policy of devolution are delegation of approval authority over (i) foreign invested holding companies and (ii) foreign invested venture capital enterprises (“FIVCEs”) as well as foreign invested venture capital management enterprises (“FIVCE Management Firm”).Continue Reading MOFCOM Devolves Approval Competency for Foreign Invested Holding Companies and Venture Capital Enterprises

By Mark Schaub, Feng Xin, Duncan Hwang   King & Wood’s Foreign Direct Investment Practice

A. General Devolution to Lower Levels

China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) has continued their trend of further delegating approval competency to lower governmental levels. This delegation of approval competency to local authorities will greatly accelerate the approval process for foreign

Huang Caihua, Associate, Foreign Direct Investment

Recently, the Chinese government issued a couple of new laws and regulations to curb overseas “hot” money and strengthen the administration of foreign exchange. On August 5, 2008, the State Council amended and promulgated the Regulations on Foreign Exchange Administration of the People’s Republic of China which requires that foreign exchange and the fund for settlement in a capital account should be used as approved by relevant approval authorities. On August 29, 2008, the Circular of Relevant Implementation Questions Concerning the Improvement of Administration of Payment and Settlement of Foreign Exchange Capital of Foreign Invested Enterprises (the “Circular”) was then issued by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (“SAFE”), according to which the RMB settled from the capital account of a foreign invested enterprise (“FIE”) should be used in accordance with the business scope approved by the governmental agencies and may not be used to make equity investments in China. This means foreign investors cannot directly make use of the foreign exchange in their capital account to invest in China, which is expected to have a major impact on domestic re-investment by FIEs.
Continue Reading Foreign Exchange Capital: Restrictions on Domestic Investment