In the News: NFTs Deemed Property; CISG Applies to Hong Kong; and China Launches First Private Pension Scheme

December 07, 2022 | BY

Brian Chan &Susan Mok

First Chinese court decision recognizes NFT as virtual property; international commercial law standards take effect in Hong Kong; and China's private pension sector set for rapid growth

Credit: nana/Adobe Stock

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Hangzhou Internet Court Rules on NFT

On November 29, the Hangzhou Internet Court said in a post on its official WeChat account that nonfungible tokens (NFTs) are virtual property. In the trial of an information network trading contract dispute over NFT digital collectibles, the Hangzhou court needed to confirm the legal attributes of the subject matters since they were not NFT rights certificates. Rather, they were NFT digital collectibles.

The court concluded that NFT digital collectibles have the object traits of "value, scarcity, controllability and tradability" of property and at the same time they have the special attributes of "network virtuality and technicality" of virtual property and thus NFT digital collectibles are network virtual property. The court further stated that the transaction in the case was conducted via internet information and NFT digital collectibles are virtual property, so the transaction is governed by the Electronic Commerce Law (电子商务法).

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