China is evolving and certain things that were “no big deal” five years ago are a big deal now. Dealing with China customs law is a prime example of that. My law firm does not generally handle routine customs matters, believing that they are better left to non-lawyers who specialize in that; it just usually… Continue Reading
Tag Archives: due diligence
The Reverse China Scam. Coming Soon To Your Hometown.
Posted in China BusinessI am constantly giving speeches on protecting intellectual property from China. I used to start that talk with something like the following: If you are doing business with or in China, you have to plan on someone in China making a play for your Intellectual Property. It’s not a matter of if, but when. It… Continue Reading
Doing Business In China Safely. The Due Diligence Basics.
Posted in China BusinessThe below comes from an article I wrote a couple years ago for a manufacturing magazine. I am reprising it today after having just communicated with a company that could sorely have stood to have read it. The point here is that it is possible to do business in China safely, simply by following some… Continue Reading
China Due Diligence. Cause You Aren’t In Kansas Anymore.
Posted in China BusinessOnce my law firm brought on a lawyer from Kansas (who loves to say that she followed the yellow brick road to the Emerald City), I felt compelled to stop with the “you aren’t in Kansas anymore” tropes. But I just couldn’t resist just this one time. A loyal reader emailed me a link the other… Continue Reading
A Checklist For International (China Too) Acquisitions
Posted in China BusinessEvery lawyer loves a great checklist, particularly those relating to company acquisitions, where checklists are so critical. Adam O. Emmerich, a leading M & A lawyer with super-firm Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz, recently wrote a Checklist for Successful Acquisitions in the U.S. for The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation (h/t to International… Continue Reading
Chinese Accounting Scandals. Simple Is As Simple Does.
Posted in China BusinessNo fewer than three people have sent me an article, entitled, “The Simplicity of Chinese Accounting Scandals.” All three people raved about the article, one going so far as to use the term “revelatory” in describing it. Wrong, wrong, wrong. There is absolutely nothing revelatory about it and that is the heart of the problem…. Continue Reading
Effective Due Diligence In China
Posted in China BusinessLast year a couple of people from the Risk Advisory Group’s Asia Group stopped by my office and we spent quite a bit of time discussing risks in China. Risk Advisory Group And of course we also discussed various ways of mitigating those risks and of course, conducting one’s due diligence figured prominently. One of the… Continue Reading
Selling In And Into China. Four Good Tips And Mine.
Posted in China BusinessThe New York Times has an excellent article on doing business in China. The article is entitled, “New Path for Trade: Selling in China,” and it is replete with good advice. Except mine. Let me explain. The article is on selling goods in or into China and it talks of the great opportunities there and… Continue Reading
China Business Scams And How To Avoid Them
Posted in Basics of China Business LawIt is becoming increasingly easy to blame the “victim” of China business disasters. In my experience, when bad things happen to good people who do business in China, it is nearly always the “good” person’s fault. Like many lawyers who work with China, I have a ready set of horror stories to illustrate this phenomenon:… Continue Reading
Batman vs. Spider-Man vs. China Film Group
Posted in China Film IndustryThis post is a guest post by Matthew Dresden, one of my firm’s China attorneys. Matthew is fluent in Chinese and also conversant in Thai. Before attending law school, Matthew spent eight years in Hollywood, as an independent filmmaker and as a production executive for Roger Corman’s Concorde-New Horizons Pictures. Matthew now mixes his China… Continue Reading
Faked In China: Even The Universities Aren’t Immune
Posted in China BusinessDanwei ran a story, “University Diploma Scandal in Jinan,” on a fake Chinese university. This story is directly relevant for those doing business in China. Let me explain. The story is from the Jinan times. Jinan is the capital of Shandong Province. I have been there a couple of times and it is no backwater. … Continue Reading
China Due Diligence. Review The Chinese Company Seal Cause It Matters.
Posted in China Business, Legal NewsNearly a year ago, we wrote about the importance of including “seal confirmation” in your China due diligence: One of our recurring themes is the need for due diligence when working on any business matters in China. Most foreign companies think of due diligence only when they are planning to make an investment. Most companies… Continue Reading
A China Factory Inspection Checklist
Posted in China BusinessClient sent this to me the other day because he liked it and I do too. The “this” is a China factory inspections checklist compiled by Carson Block (pre-Muddy Waters), for the Doing Business in China for Dummies book. The list is online here and it suggests that your on site factory due diligence consist… Continue Reading
China Due Diligence. Cause It Really Really Really Matters.
Posted in China BusinessAs you can tell, I am a big fan of The Rule of Threes. Back in September, 2011, I wrote a post regarding a China deal that appeared to have badly soured. The post was entitled, China FDI, Whatever Happened To Show Me? and it was on a China deal that went bad for the… Continue Reading
Seeking Genuine Apple Product From China? Go To Sanlitun.
Posted in China BusinessJust got my third email this week from someone who bought tens of thousands of dollars worth of “iPhones” from someone in China only to receive rank fakes. All three emailers were so blinded by the idea of buying iPhones at ridiculously low prices that they did nothing to make sure the sellers were legitimate,… Continue Reading
Investing In China. A Few Things To Consider.
Posted in China Business, Legal NewsI recently read an email from co-blogger Steve to one of our existing clients. Our client was seeking legal advice regarding a potential China joint venture investment. Steve responded with a very long email, some of which I can reveal here and some of which I cannot. I am running an excerpt from that email… Continue Reading
China Scam Week?
Posted in UncategorizedThough I am constantly getting calls from companies that have been scammed in their China dealings, it is rare that I learn of two (probably three) scams in one week (and it is only Wednesday) It is also rare that they are as interesting as the ones I will be describing. Add in this Reuters… Continue Reading
China Due Diligence. It Is Different.
Posted in China BusinessDanwei is just out with a fascinating post by Jeremy Goldkorn, entitled, “Business Travel magazine cheats on audit.” The post is on a letter sent out by BPA, “the global organization that audits the circulation of print publications.” The BPA letter discusses how “Business Travel magazine (商务旅行) has been kicked off BPA’s list of audited… Continue Reading
Selling Product And Services INTO China. It’s The Payment Stupid.
Posted in Legal NewsWith President Obama talking about doubling U.S. exports and with China’s economy booming, it seems appropriate to talk about what should go into a sales contract with China, when you, the foreign company, are the one doing the sale. The big thing — almost, but not quite the only thing — in such a transaction… Continue Reading
Giving China Due Diligence Its Due.
Posted in China BusinessEvery so often I get an absolutely terrific newsletter from the The Mintz Group, which bills itself as follows: The Mintz Group is an investigative services firm that gathers hidden business facts all over the world for corporations, law firms, financial institutions and non-profits. We connect the dots by finding the critical facts our clients… Continue Reading
Korea, Fake Degrees, Confucius, Due Diligence, And China Too
Posted in China BusinessBig scandal going on in Korea right now where many leading public figures are being forced to come clean for having lied about their degrees. Korea Law Blog just did a post, entitled, “More on the Fake Degree Scandal,” [link no longer exists] explaining why this is happening and what employers should be doing about… Continue Reading
Taking Judgments To China (And Korea), Let’s Not Sue Twice.
Posted in Legal NewsI often write on how American (and other companies) must not rush into suing Chinese companies in their home country because such lawsuits are usually of no value at all. See my posts on this here and here. Brendan Carr over at the Korea Law Blog just did a post, entitled, “Enforcement of Foreign Judgments… Continue Reading
Let Me Tell You About China Due Diligence
Posted in Legal NewsWorking on a case right now that should be of great relevance for any company that buys product from China or is doing business in China. Here are the facts (slightly changed because this is still a live matter). US company goes to China and meets with company there for manufacturing product. The two parties… Continue Reading
Diddy Does Not Know Diddly About China Business
Posted in Legal NewsI spent much of last weekend on an airplane going through stacks of documents I had been meaning to read for months. Among these was a big U.S. government Commercial Services print-out I had picked up at a seminar many moons ago. Darned but there was some good stuff in there and I was planning… Continue Reading
"...the widely respected China Law Blog"
"Clear and compelling"
