China Law News

Set to be fully implemented in 2020, China's corporate social credit system will monitor all aspects of a company's operations and seek to shape their behavior through blacklistings and joint punishments. Lawyers and experts alike suggest foreign companies take advantage of the system when conducting due diligence and localize their compliance programs.

Commercial banks engaging in insurance agency business receive new rules, housing loans face new rate standards and norms are provided for cyber ecosystem.

China scraps QFII quotas on foreign investment in capital markets; China and U.S. exchange goodwill gestures ahead of trade talks; CBIRC tightens regulation surrounding affiliate transactions in insurance sector; and surge in pork prices spark government scramble to increase production with subsidies

The State Administration for Market Regulation prohibits bad faith trademark registrations while the China National Intellectual Property Administration would conduct an overall review of a portfolio of patent applications. On the other hand, affiliated transactions of insurance companies face stricter scrutiny.

China grants full debt underwriting licenses to two foreign banks; U.S. imposes anti-dumping duties on Chinese structural steel imports; and China issues first white paper on nuclear safety as talks wind down with France on fuel reprocessing project

Collective land may directly enter the market for commercial land use purposes, registration procedures for foreign-invested for-profit non-curricular language training institutions are clarified and parallel import of automobiles is further relaxed.

China announces six new FTZs targeting poorer regions and Belt and Road cooperation; central bank unveils three-year fintech development plan to accelerate innovation while curbing risks; new report warns foreign companies about corporate social credit's potential impact; and SAFE relaxes foreign currency conversion requirements across Shenzhen

The State Council has announced six new free trade zones and the penalty for import of a small amount of unauthorized pharmaceuticals may be exempted.

China-U.S. trade war further escalates with latest retaliatory tariff hikes from both sides; Chinese outbound M&A continues downward spiral amid trade war and heightened regulatory scrutiny; Goldman Sachs set to take majority control of Chinese securities JV; and Beijing to trial foreign investment in VPN services by the end of the year