Company News

With the aim to improve the country’s environmental risk management capabilities, China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) issued the “12th Five-Year Plan for Prevention and Control of Chemical Risks to the Environment (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Plan’)” on February 21, which is the country’s first plan to safeguard the environment against dangerous chemicals. In the Plan, the Chinese government has officially admitted the existence of “cancer villages” for the first time.

Jim Zimmerman, the China managing partner of U.S. law firm Sheppard Mullin, is a good friend of China Briefing and is also both the Chairman Emeritus of Amcham China and the author of the China Law Deskbook – considered by many to be the bible of China law. Jim has recently introduced a regular update service to the China Law Deskbook and has kindly given permission for China Briefing to host it here.

China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) and the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) jointly released the “Guiding Opinions on Carrying Out the Pilot Program on Compulsory Environmental Pollution Liability Insurance (huanfa [2013] No.10, hereinafter referred to as the ‘Guiding Opinions’)” on February 21, which forces heavily-polluting enterprises to join an environmental liability insurance system to ensure they can provide adequate compensation for any damages caused.

China’s State Intellectual Property Office officially released the “2013 Intellectual Property Work Plan for Strategic Emerging Industries (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Plan’)” on February 18, which has been jointly prepared by 10 departments, including the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Science and Technology.

China’s State Council released the “Decision on Revising the Regulation on Computer Software Protection (Order of the State Council No. 632)” on January 30, 2013, which increases the maximum fine imposed on certain copyright infringement actions from RMB50,000 to RMB200,000. Detailed information relating to the “Revised Computer Software Protection Regulation (hereinafter referred to as ‘Regulation’)” can be found below.

As part of China’s efforts to curb energy consumption and foster greener growth, the State Council released the “12th Five-Year Plan for Energy Development (guofa [2013] No. 2, hereinafter referred to as the ‘Plan’)” on January 1, 2013. The Plan summarizes China’s major achievements in energy development during the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006 to 2010) and sets out key development objectives for the industry during the 12th Five-Year Plan. Detailed information can be found below.

The Supreme People’s Court of China released its “Interpretation on Several Issues Regarding the Application of Law in the Trial of Cases Involving Labor Disputes (IV) (fashi [2013] No. 4, hereinafter referred to as the ‘Interpretation’)” on January 18, 2013, clarifying several issues concerning the application of laws when labor disputes are brought to trial. Detailed information can be found below.

China’s first national standard on personal information protection, namely the “Guideline on Information Security Technologies for the Protection of Personal Information in Public and Commercial Service Information Systems (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Guideline’),” came into effect on February 1, 2013. The Guideline, which was officially released last November, is the first of its kind in China.

To clarify issues regarding the determination of value-added tax (VAT) in direct selling, China’s State Administration of Taxation released the “Announcement on Issues Concerning the Determination of Value-Added Tax for Direct Selling Enterprises (Announcement [2013] No. 5, hereinafter referred to as ‘Announcement’)” on January 17, 2013. Detailed information can be found below.

The Shenzhen Qianhai Administration Bureau released the “Interim Measures on Individual Income Tax Subsidies for Overseas High-End Talent” on December 24, 2012, which provides that high caliber foreign professionals working in major industries in Qianhai will receive subsidies from the Shenzhen government.