China Law News

Last night China Law & Practice hosted its sixth annual Awards ceremony in Beijing. Jun He and Freshfields took home the prestigious Firm of the Year prizes. Here is the full list of winners including deals, teams and firms of the year

The China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission has suspended the hearing of cases at its Shenzhen and Shanghai sub-commissions

The variable interest equity (VIE) structure has long been used by foreign investors wishing to invest in China's prohibited or restricted industries, but an investigation into New Oriental Group has highlighted issues with the structure and led to calls to fully-open foreign investment

New Measures from SIPO could see invention patents granted in a year, but questions remain over how many applications examiners can push through that quickly

A new Announcement has lowered withholding tax in China, but foreign companies still need to comply with strict regulations from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange

The NDRC has proposed raising the threshold at which foreign-invested projects need approval, while Shanghai has introduced a subsidy for multinationals that set up their headquarters in the city and awarded tax breaks for R&D work

The Social Insurance Law received a mixed reception from foreigners worried about increased tax burdens. Many provinces have yet to issue implementing regulations, but new international agreements to end double contributions could change that

Shanghai was the first city to release details of its pilot carbon trading market as part of a national policy to encourage a low carbon economy, but questions remain over how the NDRC will regulate the trading platforms

Chinese outbound investment has grown exponentially in the past two years, but as domestic companies become more ambitious, does Hong Kong still have a role to play?