The China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone (PFTZ) officially launched on September 29th, granting 25 Chinese and overseas companies licenses to register in the PFTZ on its first day. The General Plan for the PFTZ was announced on September 27th, with implementation rules and specific regulations to come in October. It was first approved on August 22nd, 2013 by the State Council, promising favorable currency, tax, interest rate, and other policies that will promote business activity in Shanghai and Greater China, particularly in finance, shipping, trade, logistics, and real estate industries. The PFTZ covers a total of 28 km2, encompassing four existing bonded zones in Shanghai- Yangshan Free Trade Port, Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone, Waigaoqiao Bonded Logistics Zone and Pudong Airport Comprehensive Free Trade Zone.
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Global Trade
CIETAC’s New Arbitration Rules
By Sheppard Mullin on
Posted in Foreign Direct Investment, Global Trade
By Amin Amirkia
The China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (“CIETAC”) recently adopted revised arbitration rules (“Revised Rules”), to be effective on May 1, 2012. The Revised Rules replace the rules that became effective in 2005 (“2005 Rules”).…
China Updates Registration Rules for Representative Offices of Foreign Firms
By Sheppard Mullin on
Posted in Global Trade
On November 10, 2010, China’s State Council promulgated a regulation that updates registration and related rules for resident representative offices of foreign firms (the “Regulation”), which will become effective on March 1, 2011. Foreign firms include those based in Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan. The Regulation replaces the last set of registration rules, promulgated in 1983, to which representative offices were subject (the “Prior Regulation”). The Regulation supplemented the gaps of the Prior Regulation, but it changed a few substantive rules as well. The key updates are summarized below.…
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China Ends an Era of Special Tax Treatments for Foreign Companies and Individuals
By Sheppard Mullin on
Beginning December 1, 2010, foreign-invested enterprises, foreign enterprises, and foreign individuals are now required to pay the city maintenance and construction tax as well as the education surcharge, from which these entities and individuals were formerly exempt. Prior to this regulation, the PRC levied those taxes only on Chinese-owned and funded enterprises and Chinese citizens.…
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New Law Integrates China’s Scattered Private International Law Rules For Foreign-Related Civil Relationships
By Sheppard Mullin on
Posted in Global Trade
On October 28, 2010, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress promulgated the “Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Application of Law for Foreign-related Civil Relationships” (the “Law”). It will become effective on April 1, 2011. Until now, China’s civil code had buried its choice-of-law provisions within the substantive laws, causing uncertainty and confusion. The Law established a clearer standard of what the applicable law is in foreign-related civil relationships. The most significant provisions of the Law are summarized below.…
China Appeals WTO Ruling Against Chinese Import Restrictions on Publications and Entertainment Products
By Sheppard Mullin on
Posted in Global Trade, WTO
On September 22, 2009, China made its last-minute appeal of the August 12, 2009 World Trade Organization ("WTO") panel ruling on Chinese publication and entertainment distributions restrictions, invoking "public morals" as a defense. The case was brought to the WTO by the United States in April 2007, attracting extensive attention from both sides. The appeal again escalates the trade tensions between the two partners, following the United States’ imposition of tariffs on tires from China and appeal of another WTO ruling on China’s protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights.…