Foreign Direct Investment

2023 was a significant year for the development of legislation and case law on intellectual property rights in China, as explored by Aggie Liu, Partner, and Hao Meng, Associate, from FenXun, which operates a joint legal platform with Baker McKenzie in China

Entities doing business in the U.S. must report information about their beneficial ownership to FinCEN; China bans researchers for listing AI-generated content as a co-author of their papers; and Italian Generali conducts first-ever foreign insurance acquisition in China

SPC clarifies application of international practice in foreign-related civil and commercial cases

Current sanctions, the risk of future sanctions, and foreign investment controls are some of the increasingly prominent challenges facing merger & acquisition (M&A) deals involving Chinese parties this year. While there is no universal solution for each transaction, there are still ways parties and lawyers can minimize the risk of problems arising.

Thousands of cross-border data export applications await CAC approval; China continues to crack down on the use of cryptocurrency in foreign exchange transactions while Hong Kong proposes licensing them; and China again allows net-selling of stocks for mutual funds.

Casper Sek of Jingtian & Gongcheng examines new implementation guidelines for data transfers and explains how these fit into the wider context of cooperation within the Greater Bay Area, as well as how companies will benefit

The U.S. issues renewed national security legislation focusing on defense contracts with Chinese military companies; China amends its Company Law to strengthen the rights of shareholders; and China's top court set up a case database to standardize adjudication across the country.

Former China COO of Morgan Stanley compares the challenges of being a senior executive at a boutique private equity firm against that of a bulge bracket investment bank

Wei Huang, Wendy Zhou and Lujia Yu, antitrust specialists at Beijing Tian Yuan Law Firm, examine the landmark Supreme People's Court judgment in re Yangtze River Pharma et al. v HIPI Pharma et al