Company News

In recent years, the leaking of private information to third-parties has aroused nationwide concern in China. It has been reported that organizations such as Internet companies and telecommunications operators have been selling their clients’ personal information for profit, contributing to the plethora of junk mails and spam messages that frustrate users on a daily basis.

China’s Supreme People’s Court released the “Decision on Revising Several Provisions Concerning the Application of Law in Hearing Patent Dispute Cases (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Decision’)” on April 14, which states that the Supreme People’s Court may, depending on actual circumstances, designate grass-roots people’s courts to exercise jurisdiction over first-instance trials of patent dispute cases. The Decision came to effect on April 15, 2013.

In China, importers and exporters are required to make a complete and accurate declaration of goods through the customs authorities within a designated time, including the correct Harmonized System (HS) code. The customs authorities will then review such declarations and make sure the correct HS codes have been declared. In practice, tariff mis-classification may lead to the seizure of goods, interruptions in the supply chain, monetary fines, or even criminal penalties.

The Shenzhen Municipal Government released the “Measures on Special Funds Management for the Pilot Development of the Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone (shencaijian [2013] No.28, hereinafter referred to as the ‘Measures’)” on March 28, which specifies that the Chinese central government and Shenzhen local government will jointly allocate special funds to support the development of four major industries in Qianhai.

With a view to boost domestic demand and promote industrial upgradation across the country, China’s Ministry of Finance, together with three other central departments, released the “Circular on Adjusting the Catalogs Relating to Import Duties for Major Technical Equipment (Caiguanshui [2013] No.14, hereinafter referred to as ‘Circular’)” on March 25, 2013, which scraps import duties and import-related value-added taxes on a range of technical equipment from April 1, 2013.

In an effort to rein in the country’s soaring property prices, China’s State Council released the “Circular on Effectively Regulating the Real Estate Market (guobanfa [2013] No.17, hereinafter referred to as ‘Circular’)’ on March 1, 2013. The Circular has rolled out an array of property cooling measures, including a 20 percent capital gains tax on property sales in cities where housing prices are believed to be rising too quickly.

With the view to promote the development of the software industry in China, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), together with three other central departments, released the “Administrative Measures for Software Enterprise Recognition (gongxinbulianruan [2013] No. 64, hereinafter referred to as ‘Measures’)” on February 6, which lists out the requirements for software enterprise recognition in China.

China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOC) released the “Guiding Opinions on Attracting Foreign Investment in 2013 (shangzifa [2013] No. 82, hereinafter referred to as ‘Opinions’)” on March 14, 2013, which sets out measures for China to attract foreign investment in 2013.

China’s State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) released the “Promotion Plan for the Implementation of 2013 National Intellectual Property Strategy (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Plan’)” on March 21, 2013. The Plan provides a total of 84 measures in eight key areas relating to China’s intellectual property (IP) development in 2013.

With the aim to better facilitate the implementation of the pilot program for domestic securities investments by RMB qualified foreign institutional investors (RQFII Pilot Program), China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) released the “Circular on Issues Concerning the RQFII Pilot Program (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Circular’)” on March 11, 2013, which specifies the lock-up period for the investment principal.