International manufacturing lawyers

China Plant Tours: Nine Reasons Why You Should Go See For Yourself.

China Sourcing Blog recently did a post, China Plant Tours: Why You Have to See for Yourself, [link no longere exists] calling for visiting the overseas plant from which you will buy your product, “before you place an order.” China Sourcing calls for this for the following reasons: 1. It makes sense to meet the

Ending foreign kickbacks

Did a Pure Fabrication Move The Yuan Market?

The internet is abuzz with news that Chris Devonshire-Ellis of China Briefing may have influenced movement in the Yuan-Dollar conversion rate by what is being described by Chinese governmental authorities  as a “pure fabrication.” To summarize, China Briefing Magazine did a post claiming to have interviewed a Chinese governmental official who talked of the Yuan

china law blog

WTO China Piracy Ruling: It Ain’t Worth a Thing….

Forbes Magazine has a new and interesting article out, entitled, U.S. Talks Up WTO Piracy Ruling, But It’s All Wind and subtitled, “Washington claims the trade body took its side in a suit against China, yet the decision will not halt intellectual property theft.” The article talks about how the United States government has been

International dispute resolution attorneys lawyers

Depositions in China: No Can Do

You are a litigator preparing a case in the United States. Your case is now in the discovery phase and you want to depose a key witness who is located in the PRC. This witness is either unable or unwilling to come to the United States and so their deposition must be taken in China.

China manufacturing

China Melamine is Getting Mighty Fishy

Most of you probably already know more about melamine than you ever expected. Melamine refers to both a chemical and to a resin produced from it. Human ingestion of melamine “may lead to reproductive damage, or bladder or kidney stones, which can lead to bladder cancer.” Unfortunately, its high nitrogen content allows it to mimic

The China price

Chinese Companies and Pots of Cash

I rarely have revelations, but after being knocked over the head countless times over the years, I finally got one regarding how Chinese businesspeople tend to view their businesses differently from how Western businesspeople tend to view theirs. The other day, a deal my law firm had been working on for a US company fell

The China price

The Perils of Chasing Cheap Labor

I once ended up on the same Qingdao-Seoul-Seattle flight as a long-time client and friend of mine whose company, among other things, had been hugely successful in China in an industry where just about every other foreign company had failed. The long flights gave us a great opportunity to talk and we talked a lot

China shipping

China as Downturn Neophyte. If I Stick My Head in the Sand….

CLB’s own Steve Dickinson has just returned from the annual China Maritime Law Conference, made up mostly of Asian international maritime lawyers. This year’s conference was in Wuhan. Steve reports as follows after the first day: I just finished the morning session of the first day of the All China Maritime Law Conference being held

Blawgs

Blawg Review #162

“I hear that sometimes Satan comes as a man of peace.” Bob Dylan, Man of Peace “I am a man of peace.” Kwai Chang Caine, Kung Fu, Episode 8 “Peace lies not in the world…but in the man who walks the path.” Master Po, Kung Fu, Episode 8 When I took on this task of

international manufacturing lawyers

China Manufacturing Protections: My Elevator Speech

Many years ago, my old law firm brought in a “legal marketing expert” to lead a marketing seminar for the firm. I do not remember a single thing from that session beyond that the expert forced each of us to describe our practice as though we had just been asked to do so by someone