With the last quarter of the year approaching and with China increasing its scrutiny of foreign businesses operating in China, now seems like the right time to talk about what foreign businesses (WFOEs, joint ventures, representative offices) should be doing to protect themselves on the China compliance front. If you have familiarized yourself with applicable
Generally speaking, China employees must be employed under a written employment contract. Such a contract may be for a fixed or an indefinite term. When it comes to unilaterally terminating an employment contract, China employment law does not treat the employee and the employer as equal parties; the employee has much more power than the
It goes without saying you should choose good business partners abroad. The kind of partner that doesn't like getting sued ... and hence doesn't give you reason to sue them. Partners that won't steal your IP. But just how can you know a partner is reliable before you do business with them and put them to the acid test?
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
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
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
China has become adept at spotting and hunting down foreign companies doing business in China without a required Chinese entity. What exactly constitutes doing business in China at a level requiring a Chinese corporate entity ? That is far too complicated to answer in a blog post, but suffice it to say that the Chinese
On March 10, 2016, the PRC government will impose new rules to govern online publishing in China. Under these new rules, all entities that intend to publish online in China must first obtain an Online Publishing Service Permit from SAPPRFT. The OPS Rules set out the conditions for obtaining the required permit. The Chinese government strictly
Many years ago, Dan Harris of my law firm wrote a Forbes Magazine article (China’s Hourly Work Week: Think Locally) on how China’s employment laws had become so localized. Dan started that article with the following explanation: I have avoided writing on China employment law because it is so complicated and so localized. My fear
When making a WFOE (Wholly Foreign Owned Enterprise) or JV (Joint Venture) investment in China, an investor must consider who or what will be the shareholder(s) in the PRC entity. Will the investor invest directly, or will they create a special purpose subsidiary company (an SPV or Special Purpose Vehicle/a/k/a SPE or Special Purpose Entity)
