Tomorrow, November 1, I will be attending the second annual US-China Film Co-Production Summit in Los Angeles. Not only will I be there, but two of my firm colleagues, Mathew Alderson and Matthew Dresden, will be there as well. Mathew Alderson is here from Beijing, where he handles the bulk of our China film, media… Continue Reading
Monthly Archives: October 2011
China Contracts. Why Even Bother?
Posted in Basics of China Business Law, Legal NewsI am often asked usually right after I quote our fee) whether a China contract I am proposing to write “is even enforceable in China.” I always give the same answer, which is more or less the following. There are three reasons why it makes sense to have a contract with your Chinese counter-party, and… Continue Reading
To VIE Or Not To VIE (in China). Answers Will Come Via Web Discussion This Tuesday.
Posted in China Business, Events, Legal NewsFor the last couple of years, there has been massive discussion regarding Variable Interest Entities (VIEs) in China. We at China Law Blog have taken a strong stand on them and our position has always been that we will not do them because we do do not think they hold up to legal scrutiny. Or… Continue Reading
China Banquets. A How To/Must Do.
Posted in China BusinessIt’s been years since I’ve written about the etiquette at Chinese banquets, but just saw a really good post (with really good comments) on the subject, so i cannot resist. The post is at Seeing Red in China and it is entitled, “Banquet etiquette for gaining face.” Nothing new or unusual there, but very nicely lays… Continue Reading
China Polyester Writ Large.
Posted in China BusinessJust read an excellent article describing what is happening with China’s textile industry, in light of China’s most recent (and quite recent) Five Year Plan. The article is entitled, “Five-Year Plan launches China textiles on a new course,” but before any of you non-textile people flee this post, let me tell you: DON’T. This post… Continue Reading
Your China Product Supplier. Trust All You Want, But Systematize.
Posted in China BusinessInteresting post over at the All Roads Lead to China Blog. The post is called “Developing Trust in China by Building Trustworthy Systems,” and it starts out talking of a client who “just want[ed] to get our Chinese suppliers to the point where I can trust them. That they will do the work without constant… Continue Reading
China. Smells Like 2008, Gloom And Doom Edition.
Posted in China BusinessI know nobody wants to hear this and I know this is going to cause me to get hate mail from those whose livelihoods are tied in to China’s continuing to boom, but I am seeing all sorts of bad news on the horizon with respect to China’s economy. A client meeting yesterday was the… Continue Reading
Who Should Own Your China IP? Maybe Not You.
Posted in Legal NewsWe have been handling way more than the usual number of disputes between our clients and Chinese companies. In a number of these cases, our clients paid money to Chinese factories with whom they had been doing business for years and the Chinese factories simply refused to send over any product. These Chinese companies claimed… Continue Reading
China Film Law Q And A.
Posted in China Business, China Film Industry, Legal NewsChina Media Monitor Intelligence (CMM-I), based in Beijing, is the leading independent business to business intelligence resource for the Chinese media industries. CMM-I analyzes China’s media industry, with a strong focus on content across film, TV and New Media platforms. CMM-I recently interviewed our own Mathew Alderson for CMM-I’s sector report, “Feature Film Co-production in… Continue Reading
Simply China (The Book). Simply Beautiful.
Posted in China Travel, Recommended ReadingOne of the perks of writing this blog is that we get countless review copies of books, most of which we never review. We especially get countless travel/journal type books on China and I do not recall us ever reviewing any of those. Simply China is a China photo book too beautiful not to plug… Continue Reading
An ABC To Losing Your China IP
Posted in China Business, Legal NewsFascinating article up on the Wall Street Journal, written by Geoff Nairn and entitled, “Patents are a Virtue,” and subtitled, “China is a land of opportunity for business, but it is also a land of counterfeiting and intellectual property theft.” The article is on counterfeiting in China and the various innovative ways companies act to… Continue Reading
China FDI In Iceland. Soft Power Done Hardly Well At All.
Posted in China Business, China TravelThe following is a guest post from one of our readers in Iceland, Neil Holdsworth. Neil has been updating me via email regarding a Chinese investor who is seeking to purchase a massive amount of land in Iceland and the controversies that have been attendant to that. When he asked me why I don’t write… Continue Reading
Chinese Commercial Law Books In English. An Update.
Posted in Legal News, Recommended ReadingNearly every week, I get an email from someone (usually a law student or an in-China company manager) asking what books they should be reading to better understand China’s laws and legal systems. About six months ago, I did a post, entitled, Chinese Commercial Law Books in English, setting out four excellent such books. I… Continue Reading
Registering Video Game Copyrights In China
Posted in Legal NewsIn both the United States and in China, one need not actually register one’s copyright to have one. This oftentimes leads companies not to bother registering their copyrights. The problem with not registering your copyright in China is that it is nearly impossible to prevail in a copyright lawsuit unless and until your copyright has… Continue Reading
How To Buy Product From China Without Losing Your Shirt
Posted in UncategorizedDespite the media having proclaimed China dead for product outsourcing, I seem to be getting many new clients doing exactly that. Interestingly, many of these new clients have been outsourcing for years from China and they are contacting us now because they want to tighten up their relationships with existing supplier or because they are… Continue Reading
Thoughtful China
Posted in Recommended ReadingThose of you in the marketing, advertising, and media community should check out and tune into Thoughtful China, an online talk show put on by the Thoughtful Media Group. Shot in a studio in Shanghai and produced by Normandy Madden (formerly Managing Director of AdAge China), the show explores a different marketing- or media-related theme… Continue Reading
China And The WTO. Hopkins China Forum, Beijing, October 16, 2011
Posted in China Business, EventsCLB’s own Steve Dickinson will be one half of a two person discussion this Sunday, October 16, at 3:00 p.m., on China and the WTO. The event is part of the Hopkins China Forum, which describes itself as “a quarterly speakers series that brings together counterparts from the United States and China in China’s capital… Continue Reading
Updated China Blogroll
Posted in Recommended ReadingWe just updated our blogroll (over there on the right) for the first time in a while. This update consists of the following changes: OUT: AsiaBizBlog China Economics Blog China Solved These are (were) excellent blogs, but two had not posted since May and one had not posted since mid-July. IN: China Accounting Blog China… Continue Reading
China VIEs. The End Of A Flawed Strategy. An Update/Rebuttal.
Posted in China Business, Legal NewsYesterday, co-blogger Steve Dickinson wrote a post essentially excoriating VIEs. That post went live early this morning. A few hours before our post went live, Bill Bishop (who knows as much about China’s tech industry as any human being alive) wrote a post essentially saying that those who are trashing VIEs are engaging in scare… Continue Reading
VIEs In China. The End Of A Flawed Strategy.
Posted in China Business, Legal NewsBy: Steve Dickinson China continues to bar foreigners from ownership those sectors of the economy China considers particularly sensitive from the standpoint of national security. The Internet is one such sector where direct foreign ownership is prohibited. Yet it is well known that virtually the entire Internet sector has been funded by foreign IPOs, making… Continue Reading
Everything You Want To Know About China. The Ten Minute Video Version.
Posted in China Business, China Travel, Recommended ReadingJust watched a video on Shanghaiist, entitled, Everything You Need to Know About China in Ten Minutes. I love stuff like this and before anyone leaves a comment pointing out the shortcomings of this video, let me state that I realize it is not an encyclopedia. But if you are about to get on a… Continue Reading
The Third Stage Of China Business. Chinese Investment In YOUR Company.
Posted in China Business, Legal NewsI love it when I read something that tells me what I already knew, but simply had not realized. That happened to me today when I read a post on the Asia Healthcare Blog by my friend and fellow-Seattleite, Benjamin Shobert, entitled, “Life Sciences Companies Go to China to Raise Capital.” Ben sets out the… Continue Reading
Registering Trademarks In China. What’s In Your (Chinese) Name?
Posted in Legal NewsIt should go without saying that the applications to register trademarks in China are 100% in Chinese. The applications themselves are entirely in Chinese, as are everything oen puts on the application to complete them for filing. I always find it strange when clients and potential clients express surprise at this and I usually respond… Continue Reading
Buying Shell China WFOEs. I Ain’t Seeing It.
Posted in China Business, Legal NewsThe other day we wrote about how to shut down a China WFOE. One of the solutions I suggested was to just let the company slowly wither on the vine, without formally shutting it down. The advantages of this solution are that there is no large cost for getting squared away with the government and… Continue Reading
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