Chinese companies (especially SOEs) increasingly require their contracts with foreign companies provide for disputes to be resolved by arbitration in China. Our China lawyers are seeing mostly CIETAC and BAC arbitration clauses. Many of our American and European clients are uncomfortable with arbitrating against a Chinese company in China as they are convinced they cannot “get a fair
A lawyer friend of mine emailed me a link the other day that had been sent to him by one of his clients. The link was to an article written nearly two years ago, China Supplier Vetting, Part 1: Background Checks, and he wanted my opinion on it. I responded by telling my friend that
When it comes to company formations, China is from Mars and the Western world is from Venus. For most things related to doing business in China, I often stress the similarities. But when it comes to forming a China Wholly Foreign Owned Enterprises (WFOE) I make it a point to stress the differences. I do
Our China business lawyers see 5-10 China contracts a month written by others. We often are sent these from a potential or actual client who wants us to review and revise their contract or determine how it might fare were they to pursue a breach of contract claim. Other times, we get them simply because
China wants foreign technology and it understands it must pay for it. This is not to say China IP licensing deals are not without their own brand of major and minor pitfalls. Proposed China licensing deals that involve the foreign company One of the risky things our China licensing lawyers constantly see are proposed China
Companies often contact our China lawyers on “how to get money out of China”. These questions usually arise from a Chinese entity purchasing assets like real estate or stock and other securities and then failing to perform on its deal payment obligations. The Chinese side claims it wants to pay, but the Chinese government will
Developing self driving cars is the centerpiece of the Chinese government’s plan to redesign its manufacturing and technology sector. The Chinese have coined the term Intelligent and Connected Vehicles (ICV) (智能网联汽车）as their technical term for the China version of what is an international race towards a difficult technical goal. The ICV is an ideal goal
Our China trademark lawyers are often asked about the difference between the Nice Classification system for trademarks and China’s trademark subclass system. They are related, but quite different. The Nice Classification system is an international classification of goods and services that separates all possible goods and services into 45 classes: 34 classes for goods and
It is nearly always a good idea to have your Chinese counter-party “chop” or “seal” your China contracts with their official China company chop. There are many types of company chops. Which one should be used? How do you know if the company chop is real? What does a real China company chop look like?
With the launch of the US-China trade war, it should go without saying that China is tough on foreign internet companies doing business in China. Foreign SaaS (Software as a Service) companies are on the front lines of China’s internet and the legalities of their operating in China are complicated and generally unfavorable. Our China
