/image%2F0511026%2F20140217%2Fob_516ef3_logo.jpg){kind=logo}
/image%2F0511026%2F201303%2Fob_2e5872430e649ceee9c8a3e0703c6d8c_nos-competences.JPG "The legal and business news in China")
Top posts
-
Major improvements for FIEs registration in PRC as from March 1st of 2014
The latest revision of the Chinese Company Law will come into effect on March the 1st of 2014. It is of particular importance since a communication of the State Administration of Industry and Commerce in November 2013 that confirmed that the Foreign Invested...
-
Step by step : company establishment in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone
The new Shanghai Free Trade Zone (FTZ) offers attractive opportunities for foreign investors to establish a company there. And according to the numbers, a lot of them already have. The lower requirements and less restrictive approval procedures played...
-
From Business Tax to VAT in the telecommunications sector
At the end of April, the Ministry of Finance and State Administration of Taxation jointly issued a circular that confirmed the replacement of the Business Tax (BT) by the Value-Added Tax (VAT) in the telecommunications sector. This transition has very...
-
Financing options and foreign currency settlement for FIEs in the FTZ
The Shanghai Branch of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange has issued a Circular with new measures to create a better environment for foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) of the Shanghai Free Trade Zone (FTZ) to conduct cross-border trading and...
-
Shanghai Free Trade Zone : Telecommunication & Shipping
One of the main objectives of the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone (FTZ) is the further opening up of the service sector to foreign investors. Let us look at two specific examples that could be of interest for foreign investors : telecommunication and shipping....
-
Exclusions from the summary procedure for concentration
The Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) recently released a set of Tentative Provisions, in order to detail the application of the new summary procedure for cases of concentration of business operators. The cases involving the following elements will be excluded...
-
Notice 87
At the beginning of the year, the Notice 87 (Notice on Issues Relating to Renminbi Foreign Direct Investment) took effect. It is an initiative from the Ministry of Commerce ("MOFCOM") and the People's Bank of China to vary the legitimate channels for...
-
Main features of the new China-France double tax avoidance agreement
The last PRC-France double tax avoidance agreement had been signed in 1984 ; and has now been replaced by the most recent one, dated from 26 November 2013. The agreement provides for lower levels of dividend withholding tax ; also provides more precise...
-
The right approach
Let us this time deal with general considerations, in order not to get wrong methods when you start doing business with China. First, assume that what you think you recognize here is similar only at first glance. The culture, even if it gives the impression...
-
Do not forget environmental laws
The environmental laws of China have been improving throughout the last years. Today, it has become a major element to take into account, and no foreign investor should underestimate the importance to comply with them when conducting their operations....
-
Circular 14 on mergers and acquisitions
Last month, the State Council issued the Circular 14, with many measures to boost merger and acquisition (M&A) operations, in order to encourage enterprises to get bigger and stronger through M&A. As such, new tax measures related to M&A have been implemented....
-
Due diligence outlines
For a merger and acquisition operation (M&A), the due diligence process is one of the most important parts, if not the most important. In the timeline of an M&A operation, this step comes after the signing of the letter of intent, and should be conducted...
-
Adoption of a simplified merger review procedure
The Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) released new Guiding Opinions concerning the “Simplified Merger Review Procedure”, aiming at accelerating the review process. Although the provisions are still not very clear on the procedural issues, they set out the...
-
VAT invoices updates
A new announcement of the State Administration of Taxation has recently taken effect. It simplifies the procedures related to value-added tax (VAT) invoices, including the procedure for the approval or loss of special VAT invoices. The former method of...
-
Inbound and Outbound Investment News in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone
The New Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone (FTZ) brings out a significant number of improvements in the field of cross-border investment. Historically heavily regulated in China, cross-border investments know an important deregulation effort in the FTZ. Let...
-
Continuation on changes in China's company registration system
We will hereby go over some of the recent changes made to the Registration Administration System of Foreign Invested Enterprises. First, let me state that this article is complementary to the previous article “Major improvements for FIEs registration...
-
Cultural differences in contract negotiation
Sometimes, cultural differences bring difficulties in doing business in China. One of the big differences out there is the approach to contract. As this is a basis of any business relation let us explain how Western and Chinese visions of a contract differ,...
-
New tax measures as of March 2014
Today, let us have a look at the main new features in Tax Law as of March 2014 First, the list of services which are subject to VAT at 0% because of the policy of VAT refund to tax payers for exportation of certain services has been expanded. International...
-
Pilot Mechanism for Mutual Connection of Transactions in Shanghai and Hong Kong Stock Markets
The latest improvement in Mainland and Hong-Kong relations was an announcement by the “China Securities Regulatory Commission” and the “Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong” to approve the initiation of the “Pilot Mechanism for Mutual Connection...
-
The significant changes in Environmental Protection Law in 2014
At the end of April, the Chinese government approved changes to the Environment Protection Law of the People's Republic of China, for the first time in 25 years. The new version of this law will come into force on the 1st of January 2015. The firsts aftermaths...
-
China Compulsory Certification
The China Compulsory Certification (CCC) is a Chinese system of product safety accreditation. It is compulsory for some 159 product types in 23 categories. For this products or categories, the rules say that the products must have the certification mark...
-
The new "One Window Service" for FIEs in Pudong
In March, the authorities initiated a Pilot project for the Pudong area in Shanghai, the “One Window Service”, concerning the Establishment and Change of Registration of Foreign Invested Enterprises (FIEs). This initiative applies to FIEs in the “encouraged”...
-
A per day fine system for environmental protection ?
The environmental pollution situation in China is now calling for severe penalties for heavily polluting companies. The solution that the Chinese authorities seem to be looking at is the “per day fine” system. First, let us have a look at what the “per...
-
Opening a retail store in China for foreigners
To set up a retail store in China, foreign investors must first, or concurrently, register a foreign-invested commercial enterprise (FICE). To do so, regulations require first that the applicant has a good reputation; has not committed any acts in violation...
-
The opportunity for companies to be listed on the OTC market of China
The Shanghai Stock Exchange Center published the new standards to meet the financing needs of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). These standards are related to the listing on the OTC market, which was created to help the development of these enterprises....