I was interviewed last year by as part of an ongoing interview series on strategy and innovation. The below is that interview [it is no longer online anywhere else]. Dan Harris is the founder of Harris Sliwoski, an international law firm with offices in Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles, Phoenix New York, Barcelona, Madrid and Beijing.
My law firm’s basic mantra about getting money out of China is that if you consistently follow China’s laws, it ought to be no problem. This though has not been true lately. In the last week or so, our China lawyers have probably received more “money problem” calls than in the entire year before that.
Knowledge of China’s tax system is helpful to foreign companies doing business in China Last month, China Law Blog’s own Steve Dickinson participated in a panel discussion on taxes in China and how they impact the Chinese economy and in turn, doing business in China. The discussion was ably moderated by Eric Chai, Executive Director
Hiring interns in China (like pretty much everything involving China employment laws) is complicated and local. And when I am tasked with figuring out how one of our clients may legally do that, I almost always have to review applicable national, provincial and local laws and regulations and engage in followup conversations with the relevant
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)
A China-centric written contract is an effective tool for doing business in or with China. A first step in creating this effective tool is to carefully follow the rules for execution. Chinese courts are bureaucratic and formalistic. Make use of that tendency so you can prevail. Don’t blunt the edge of your instrument with sloppy
Our China employment lawyers constantly hear misinformation about China employment contracts and double wage claims. In this post, I will try to set the record straight. China’s employment laws require full-time employees be employed pursuant to a written employment contract. But what happens with employees without a written employment contract? As with pretty much everything
The China lawyers at my law firm are big fans in using China distributors to market and sell products in China. Our thinking on this goes as follows: 1. We have seen too many Western companies spend too much time and money trying to sell their products into China. 2. We have seen too many
Contracting in China: The Old and the New It used to be common for OEM manufacturing in China to be done on a purchase order basis, with no underlying contract. Much service work done by foreigners for Chinese clients was based on an exchange of emails. Today, however, to be able to bring a plausible
With China ceaselessly increasing its tax crackdown on foreign companies operating improperly in China without a China entity (WFOE, Joint Venture or Rep Office), forming a China entity and starting a business in China is very much in vogue right now. Starting a business in China usually involves forming a Wholly Foreign Owned Entity or WFOE. Forming
