Authored by Dr. Zhan Hao (zhanhao@anjielaw.com) & Xia Yibin (xiayibin@anjielaw.com) at Anjie Law Firm

Recently, the Interpretation of the Supreme People’s Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of the Insurance Law of the People’s Republic of China (III) (hereinafter referred to as “the 3rd Judicial Interpretation of Insurance Law” or the “Draft”) has promulgated to solicit advice from public. The Draft regulates in detail several commonly occurring issues in judicial practice with respect to life insurance contract, which would be helpful to adjudicate disputes in this regard and have important significance on protecting the parties’ legitimate rights and interests.

The Insurance Law has been amended twice since being enacted in 1995. In 2002, in order to fulfil our country’s commitment for joining the World Trade Organization, the standing committee of the National People’s Congress revised part of the Insurance Law. In 2009, the standing committee of the National People’s Congress revised the Insurance Law again, and significantly altered the provisions relating to insurance industry and insurance contract, especially the part of insurance contract.

Continue Reading The 3rd Judicial Interpretation of Insurance Law on Life Insurance has issued to Solicit Advice from Public

Authored by REN Gulong(rengulong@anjielaw.com) at AnJie Law Firm 

The State Council, China’s cabinet, released on 18 November 2014 a List of Investments That Requires Governmental Approval (2014 version) dated 31 October 2014 (“2014 List”).  The 2014 List provides a much shorter list of investments projects needing government approval.

 

In the 2014 List, except for investments in sensitive countries or regions or investments in sensitive industries, which are still subject to approval by National Development and Reform Commission (“NDRC”), no governmental approval will be required for any outbound investment (“ODI”) by Chinese investors. Filing with NDRC will be required for any outbound investment above US$ 300 million

Continue Reading China Loosens Outbound Investment Control

Authored by  Michael Gu (michaelgu@anjielaw.com) at AnJie Law Firm

Background

The automotive industry has undergone a new round of “antitrust crackdowns”. On 11 September 2014, Hubei Price Bureau released its decisions to impose penalties arising from a price monopoly on FAW-Volkswagen Sales Co., Ltd (“FAW-Volkswagen”) of RMB248.58 million (USD40.52) and eight Audi dealers in Hubei Province amounting to RMB29.96 million [1]. Two Audi dealers, i.e. Hubei Aoze and Wuhan Aojia, were exempted from the penalty. On the same day, Shanghai’s municipal price authority imposed a fine of RMB31.68 million (USD5.16 million) on Chrysler (China) Automotive Sales Co., Ltd (“Chrysler”) and a combined RMB2.14 million fine on its three dealers in Shanghai for price monopoly [2]. It is worth noting that this is the first time that both horizontal and vertical monopolies were found in the same case. Both FAW-Volkswagen and Chrysler reached vertical agreements with their respective dealers to restrict the resale price of the car and after-sale services. Furthermore, their respective dealers reached and implemented horizontal agreements to fix the relevant price.

Continue Reading FAW-Volkswagen, Chrysler and Related Dealers Fined Nearly RMB280 Million for Monopolistic Conduct

Authored by He Jing (hejing@anjielaw.com) at AnJie Law Firm

In August 2014, China Supreme People’s Court (“SPC”) released its proposal for public comments titled “Interpretations of the Supreme People’s Court on Certain Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Patent Infringement Cases II” (“Part II”).  It is a further development of SPC’s judicial interpretation on the trial of patent infringement cases. The first part of the interpretation has been implemented since January 1st 2010, and has been an important source of authority for lower courts to deal with patent infringement cases.  This second part covers more aspects of the patent litigations and would likely produce significant impacts on patent litigation practice. 

Continue Reading The Draft Supreme Court Patent Trial Judicial Interpretation Expected to Streamline the Patent Litigation Procedures

Authored by He Jing (hejing@anjielaw.com) at AnJie Law Firm

On October 14th, the Supreme People’s Court (SPC) issued a draft judicial interpretation (JI) for public comment regarding judiciary review of decisions related to trademark examination and invalidation procedures.  The deadline for submitting comments is November 15th.

The draft JI will be a fundamental piece to the new China trademark system as the new trademark law has been in effect as of May 2014.  The draft JI intends to provide consistent standards of conducting judiciary reviews of decisions made by the China Trademark Office (CTMO) and the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board (TRAB) on trademark examination, invalidation, cancellation and other review procedures.  The Beijing courts and CTMO/TRAB often have different opinions on some key trademark issues, such as how to deal with bad faith trademarks.  Even the courts themselves are often seen to come up self-contradicting decisions.

Continue Reading A Significant Step Made by the Supreme People’s Court Through the Draft Trademark Law Judicial Interpretation

Authored by He Jing (hejing@anjielaw.com) at AnJie Law Firm

The Beijing court authorities published 18 judge candidates for the newly established Beijing IP Court.  This indicates a significant step towards the official launch of the new court.  A week ago, the names of the president and two vice presidents of the new court were also published.  People widely believe a strong judge leadership is in place for the Beijing specialized IP court.

After an expedited legislative process over the last nine months, China’s legislature passed a bill on August 31 announcing that three specialised IP courts are to open in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.  The new courts are scheduled to open by the end of 2014.  Now with the appointment of the new judges, Beijing IP Court will officially take cases as early as November 6, 2014.

 

Continue Reading The Launch of Specialized IP Court Indicates Significant Progress in IPR Enforcement

Authored by Ren Gulong (rengulong@anjielaw.com) at AnJie Law Firm

After several months’ consultation, State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) released a Foreign Exchange Rules On Administration Of Cross-border Security (the “Cross-border Security Rules”) on 19 May, which will become effective on 1 June 2014.  The Cross-border Security Rules will dramatically relax regulations on Cross-border Security by removing all up-front approvals to the effect that FX/RMB will be fully convertible in respect of Cross-border Security.

Continue Reading Reforms of Foreign Exchange Rules on Cross-border Security

Authored by Ren Gulong (rengulong@anjielaw.com) at AnJie Law Firm

On 29 October 2014, the State Council decided to open the bank-card clearing business to both domestic and foreign investors in an effort to expand the opening up in financial sector, to promote payment innovation and to optimize consumption environment.

Continue Reading China Will Open Up Bank Cards Clearing Markets

Authored by Ren Gulong (rengulong@anjielaw.com) at AnJie Law Firm

On October 11, 2014, The International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) announced that 18 major global banks have agreed to sign a new ISDA Resolution Stay Protocol (the “Protocol”). The Protocol has been developed in coordination with the Financial Stability Board to support cross-border resolution and reduce systemic risk.

 

Continue Reading New ISDA Protocol – Action to Facilitate Cross-Border Resolution Efforts

Authored by Arthur Dong (dongxiao@anjielaw.com) at AnJie Law Firm

The Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (“HKIAC”) has recently revised its Model Arbitration Clause to include a choice of law provision.

"Any dispute, controversy, difference or claim arising out of or relating to this contract, including the existence, validity, interpretation, performance, breach or termination thereof or any dispute regarding non-contractual obligations arising out of or relating to it shall be referred to and finally resolved by arbitration administered by the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC) under the HKIAC Administered Arbitration Rules in force when the Notice of Arbitration is submitted.

The law of this arbitration clause shall be … (Hong Kong law).

The seat of arbitration shall be …(Hong Kong).

The number of arbitrators shall be … (one or three). The arbitration proceedings shall be conducted in …(insert language)."

It’s understood that this change is aimed at advancing the efficiency and to avoid unnecessary twists and turns of arbitration proceedings. From the perspective of a Chinese practitioner, this addition is a highly sophisticated development.

Continue Reading Reflections on HKIAC’s Revised Model Arbitration Clause and Its Impact on Chinese Practice