Legal

Foreign-invested partnerships have been around for two years and are starting to become more attractive as investors seek alternative vehicles. The structure is easy to set up and offers unparalleled tax benefits, but investors should be cautious of their liabilities

China has identified a group of strategic emerging industries that it believes can help drive innovation and growth over the next 10 years. Benjamin Bai and Cecily Zhang explain why foreign investors need to understand the implications of this initiative

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

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

The Measures have been revised to pave the way for seed funding requiring the size of the fund to be at least Rmb50 million and the number of fundholders to be at least 200.

Multinational pharmaceutical companies are facing strains on their revenues as many of their patents covering their biggest selling medicines are due to expire. But in China an SPC ruling on pen designs has shown that other IP rights could come to the rescue

The Employment Contract Law is under review and has generated much public debate over the use of labour dispatch workers, but are the amendments enough to alter China's labour market?

The new, unified Exit-entry Law clarifies illegal employment, contains a new visa category and should enable records to be managed centrally. But there are concerns that a Law intended to make managing immigration and foreign labour more efficient could deter foreigners from bringing their skills to the country

Gary J Gao and Y Q Richard Song of Duan & Duan Law Firm provide a guide to developments in China's capital markets, including the drive to increase transparency and recover from the Muddy Waters scandal