China Law Blog

Published: August 13, 2016 Last Modified: March 28, 2023

Your China Factory is Your Toughest Competitor

Chinese factories are notorious for making their own-label products that bear a strong resemblance to the products they make for their foreign company manufacturing companies. And here's the thing: it is perfectly legal for your Chinese factory to copy your products unless you have a contract forbidding it. And it is also perfectly legal for them to use your brand name in China (or even to register it as their own trademark) if you have not registered your brand name as a China trademark.

Published: August 7, 2016 Last Modified: August 25, 2024

China Sucks at Basketball: What Does That Tell Us?

China basketball: Where is the Joy? I am convinced I can understand about 50% of a country by going into five of its grocery stores and by watching five basketball games of its best players. I have a friend who is a dancer, and she says she can understand a country by watching its people

Published: August 3, 2016

Beware the False Claims Act When Importing Products

The U.S. Government has been cracking the whip on products illegally transshipped from China. Chinese companies and U.S. importers of their products often tell me they are not concerned about U.S. Antidumping (“AD”) and Countervailing Duty (“CVD”) orders because they can “just get around those orders by transshipping our products to Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines, Sri

Published: August 1, 2016

Enforcing US Judgments in China

At least once a month, one of our international litigation lawyers will get a call or an email from a U.S. lawyer seeking our help in taking a U.S. judgment (usually a default judgment) to China to enforce. The thinking of the U.S. lawyer is that all we need to do is go to a

Published: July 21, 2016 Last Modified: April 10, 2024

United States Importer of Record Liability

The US Importer of Record is liable for antidumping and countervailing duties tied to the product imported. The Importer of Record is the company listed in Block 26 of the U.S. Customs 7501 form. Importer of Record must exercise reasonable care in importing products and in filling out Customs forms Under US Antidumping (AD), Countervailing

Published: July 18, 2016

China Labor Dispatch Rules

China permits only the following three categories of “dispatched” employees to be hired by a labor dispatch agency: Temporary employees with a term of no longer than 6 months. Auxiliary employees who provide supporting services that are not central to the employer’s core business. Substitute employees who perform tasks in replacement of permanent employees during

Published: May 16, 2016

China Hostage Situations With a New Twist

China Hostage Situations Our China lawyers regularly get contacted regarding China hostage situations. So often in fact that they have become relatively routine. I will set the typical hostage scene by harkening back to a 2009 article, entitled, China Hostage Situation. Now IS A Good Time To Pay Your Debts [link no longer exists]. That article

Published: April 25, 2016

Forming a China WFOE: Ten Things to Consider

By popular demand we are reprising our “Ten Things To Consider” series, starting anew with forming a China WFOE. Here goes. Make Sure Your Business Scope is Legal. Too many WFOEs never get past the starting line. A number of industries are restricted to foreign-invested companies, so before you sign a lease in Shanghai or

Published: April 13, 2016 Last Modified: February 20, 2023

China Employer Rules and Regulations and Why You Must Have One

China employers must have written labor contracts with each of their full-time employees. Not having a written labor contract exposes employers to penalties, administrative fines, and the risk of being deemed to have entered an open-term labor contract with the employees lacking the contract. Most companies now understand this, but many do not realize that

Published: April 12, 2016 Last Modified: June 17, 2024

Lost Your IP to China? First, Let’s Sue All the Lawyers

China’s Ever-Worsening IP Landscape China sees the decoupling/de-risking writing on the wall, and it is redoubling its efforts to steal IP now, before the door on its ability to do so closes. China assistance to Russia in its war against Ukraine is the latest thing to accelerate the closing of that door. If (or as