In the News: Beijing Robotaxi Permits; China IP Criticism; and BlackRock Pensions Product

High reward: Podcast #6: Legal Issues Surrounding China's Self-Driving Cars

Foreign players: Provisions for the Administration of Investment in the Automotive Industry

US criticizes China for lax IP protection again

The United States government has once again put China on its annual blacklist for lax enforcement of intellectual property rights. On April 27, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) released its 2022 Special 301 Report on the adequacy and effectiveness of U.S. trading partners' enforcement of IP rights.

China and six other countries, including Russia, make the "priority watchlist" again—the same seven countries on the blacklist in last year's report. According to the report, China continues to be the largest origin economy for counterfeit and pirated goods, accounting for more than 85% of global seizures of counterfeit goods from 2017 to 2019, including Hong Kong.

The USTR announcement also noted that the U.S government is "closely monitoring" China's progress in implementing its commitments under the phase one trade agreement between the two countries. It also made reference to China's amendments to the PRC Patent Law (中华人民共和国专利法), PRC Copyright Law (中华人民共和国著作权法), and the PRC Criminal Law (中华人民共和国刑法), in addition to other measures improving IP protection and enforcement. However, the report notes that U.S. rights holders continue to raise concerns about the adequacy and implementation of these new measures, particularly in relation to "long-standing issues" like bad faith trademarks, counterfeiting, and online piracy. 

More from CLP:

Rights protection: PRC Patent Law (4th Revision) (中华人民共和国专利法 (第四次修正))

Patent agencies: Measures for the Administration of the Establishment of Resident Representative Offices in China by Foreign Patent Agencies

BlackRock looks to tap private pensions market with retirement product

BlackRock has launched the first private pension product involving a foreign asset manager in China. On April 25, BlackRock CCB Wealth Management, a joint venture between BlackRock and China Construction Bank, announced the launch of the retirement wealth management product in Guangzhou and Chengdu.

The product from BlackRock's majority-owned JV is available to investors until May 9 and is set to mature in 10 years. According to the firm, the underlying assets are mainly government and financial bonds backed by policy banks. The South China Morning Post reports that other financial institutions such as China Asset Management and Industrial Bank are also preparing new products to tap mainland China's expanding private pension market.

BlackRock CCB Wealth Management became the second foreign-controlled wealth management joint venture to be granted an operating license in China in May 2021, a year after foreign ownership limits in Chinese asset management businesses were scrapped. With its new product, it becomes the first foreign-controlled firm participating in China's nascent private pensions market. In late April, the State Council published the Opinions on Promoting the Development of Individual Pensions (关于推动个人养老金发展的意见), setting up a nationwide private pension system for the first time, with greater scope of financial products available.