Technology Media and Telecom

China joins the WIPO treaty on protecting industrial designs; Hong Kong, mainland M&A hits record heights in 2021 despite regulatory headwinds; and e-CNY to be piloted in retail shops across Hong Kong

Overseas listings of data processors will be subject to cybersecurity reviews

Regulation of platform economy to focus on anti-trust, data security, and personal information protection; U.S. might ban import of rare earth metals from China for military use; new process to expedite application of certain trademarks

A mobile app distribution platform is required to authenticate the true identity information of app providers

Throughout 2021, China's legislative and enforcement authorities accelerated their all-encompassing regulation of the country's TMT sector, from anti-monopoly enforcement against internet platform giants to further crackdowns on cryptocurrencies, as well as tightening controls on the Internet content industry and online games. Casper Sek of Jingtian & Gongcheng discusses these challenges and the broader context of the regulators' continuing positive attitude towards new technology and overarching goal of safeguarding national security.

Fay Zhou and Arthur Peng of Linklaters review major developments in China's anti-trust regulations that aim to offer clearer guidance and more efficient enforcement actions that can impact on this area of law for the next decade. These developments include stronger deterrence, expanded substantive prohibitions, public interest litigation and a firmer stance against consolidation.

With the entrenchment of reciprocal US-China sanctions and export controls in the past year, counsel have helped clients enact fundamental changes to their approach to making deals, from contractual terms to due diligence

Kevin Yuan, Lucca Li and Jocelyn Chen of FenXun Partners discuss China's efforts to support continuous financial innovation in 2021 based on steady development including taking steps to protect the security of personal data in the midst of rapid developments in finance and technology, implementing detailed rules and new initiatives related to fintech innovation, and taking clear steps to open up the financial market to the outside world.

Chinese IPOs in the United States have slowed for several years now, but a raft of regulatory developments in the past year mainly driven by cybersecurity and national security concerns have likely rung the closing bell