Payment from China

How to Get Paid from China

Our China lawyers have seen a spike in queries from foreign companies not getting paid by private Chinese companies without affiliates or assets abroad. The Chinese company’s excuse for not paying is often “that the rules have recently changed so foreign payments are no longer possible.” Another one is that the Chinese company is simply

Negotiating with Chinese companies

Antidotes to Chinese Negotiating Tactics

We have been drafting an increasing number of contracts for foreign companies licensing their concept or technology for use in China. In the old days, this type of licensing was primarily in the industrial sector. These days, much of our work has involved licensing agreements for companies that want to capture China business without having

China scam fraud

Faked in China: Even the Universities Are Not Immune

Danwei ran a story, University Diploma Scandal in Jinan [link no longer exists], on a fake Chinese university. This story is directly relevant for those doing business in China. Let me explain. The story is from the Jinan Times. Jinan is the capital of Shandong Province. I have been there a couple of times and

International due diligence checklist

What you Need to Know to Sell Your Product into China

ABC News just did a video news story. on American Products Selling in China. Though it is the proverbial three minute puff piece, it is right in pointing out the huge opportunities to sell American products in China. It starts out noting how “the Chinese spent $104 billion in U.S. exports last year — up

China visas

Navigating U.S. Visa Challenges for Chinese Nationals: Tips & Insights

One of our clients recently asked for our help “making sure” it could get a U.S. visa for one of its China-based Chinese managers. The client wanted this manager to come to the United States for two months of training. Our client had heard from a friend in a similar situation that it was “getting

China employee non-compete

China’s “Living Wage”

Just read a CNN article, When will workers share in Apple’s wealth? This article was written by Scott Nova, executive director of the Worker Rights Consortium, a “labor rights-monitoring organization that investigates working conditions in factories around the world.” Nova attacks Apple on many fronts in his article, but it is the following that really

Learning Chinese for business

The Pros and Cons of Learning Chinese for Business

The following is a guest post by Jonathan Poston. Though learning Chinese is obviously helpful for doing business in or with China, actually accomplishing this can be so difficult that many give up or just ponder whether it is worth it. I asked Jonathan to write a post on the pros and cons of learning

Chinese students at American colleges

Chinese Students in America: It’s Bad Out There

Much has been written about Chinese students coming to American colleges. An article out today, Chinese applications to U.S. schools skyrocket, [link no longer exists] quotes a Chinese high schooler contemplating attending the University of Washington: I know this [ambition] is pretty high,” said the 17-year old Beijing native.  “But I think I can give

China football

China Sucks at Soccer: What Does That Tell Us?

I can understand a great deal about a country by going into a few of its grocery stores and by watching five basketball games with its best players. I have a friend who is a dancer and she says she can understand a country by watching its people dance. I know basketball and I know

New York City construction lawyers

China’s Real Estate Crash: A Hard Rain is Gonna Fall

There are two types of real estate investors in China. The first are pure speculators who treat residential real estate as a source of value, far removed from its original residential use. These investors purchase multiple properties without bothering even to remodel their units for actual use. They are responsible for the empty condo buildings