June 2009

Often within my usual work I have to review some Partnership Agreements and Cooperation Agreements between my Chinese clients and their foreign investors. A reoccurring problem that worries my clients and their foreign investors, which results in me having to explain the Chinese regulations, is that in their Partnership Agreement the foreign investors want to send their personnel to assume positions at the Chinese Insurance Company they have invested in. In my personnel opinion, it is not an extreme request for them to administrate or manage the insurance institution to some extent. This said, it still has to be made clear that there are some limitations and qualification requirements, imposed by (CIRC), for the personnel to hold certain positions in Insurance Institutions. In relation to this problem, there are some provisions promulgated by CIRC for reference, such as the Administration of Appointment Qualification for Directors and Senior Management Personnel of Insurance Companies Provisions, the Administration of Appointment Qualification for Senior Management Personnel of Insurance Companies Provisions, and some Amendment Decisions.Continue Reading The Appointment Qualification for the Senior Management Personnel in Insurance Institutions

Last week, Rio Tinto, a resource giant of Australia, withdrew its proposed transaction with China’s Chinalco, and announced that it will set up a joint venture with another rival miner, BHP Billiton. If the Rio Tinto – BHP Billiton deal is finished, as analysts estimated, there will be a great concert effect, because they will be able to share their ports and railroads in Western Australia, which considerably cuts costs for both parties.Continue Reading The Extraterritorial Enforcement of China Anti-monopoly Law

On June 05, 2009, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC), one of the three enforcement agencies for China’s Anti-Monopoly Law (AML), released two sets of provisions on the procedures to be followed by the agency and its delegates when enforcing the AML. They are: Procedural Provisions on Stopping the Use of Administrative Power to Exclude or Restrict Competition and Procedural Provisions for Investigating Monopoly Agreement and Abuse of Dominant Position Matters. These two provisions will come into effect on July 01, 2009. On June 08, 2009, SAIC published a Set of Questions and Answers about the Two Procedural Provisions on its website, which provides answers and explanations to some of the more pressing issues.Continue Reading Comments on the Recent Procedural Provisions Promulgated by SAIC

Recently, for the purpose of coordinating with the Medical System Reform in China, China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) issued the Opinions on Implementing the Medical Reform and Actively Engaging in Establishment of the Multilayer Medical Guarantee System (hereinafter referred to as Opinions) on June 11, 2009. For the first time this has stipulated eight requirements for the commercial insurance institutions that are engaged in various medical guarantees administrative services.Continue Reading CIRC’s New Opinion Speed Up the Medical System Reform

The new insurance product: consumption credit insurance for individuals will be issued first time in Beijing.

Based on individual credit, clients will be granted small amount of loan from banks in 3 to 4 days without any guarantors and mortgages. Ping An Insurance Limited has received the permission to issue this consumption credit insurance in over 20 areas, such as Beijing, Tianjin and Zhejiang Province.Continue Reading Consumption Credit Insurance: now in Beijing