Sept. 12 - Sources close to China’s Public Security Bureau have told Dezan Shira & Associates that China will relax its current strict visa issuance policies for business visas following the national holiday in October.

Beginning in the second week of October, China will start issuing one year multi-entry F visas, making it far more convenient for those traveling to China on business to enter the country. The new measures will assist with the various trade shows, such as the Canton Trade Fair, that China traditionally holds during the Autumn. (more…)

Sept. 11- China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has released a notice on its website immediately banning converting coal to liquid fuels (CTL) projects except those by Shenhua, the country’s largest coal producer and a joint venture between Shenhua and South Africa’s Sasol.

As far back as 2006, the agency had already issued a warning against investing in large CTL projects.

CTL is a profitable investment because of high petroleum prices compared to cheaper coal although the process wastes vast amounts of water and releases more carbon dioxide.

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Sept. 10 – Beginning this month, a new regulation will require developers to reclaim land from the local arable land reserve or pay local land authorities for the amount of land they reclaim.

It will also allow reclaimed land to be primarily reserved for farmers. The regulation calls for local governments to expand their land reserve bank by reclaiming more land or adjusting the existing land market.

Regions who fail to meet their land reclamation quota will be subject to a cut in construction land quota the following year.

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Sept. 3 - Arbitration on contracts involving a Chinese party is a concern for international counsel and overseas-based lawyers. Chinese parties will usually insist upon the clause in contracts, which can be a good thing, as no one wants to see disputes end up in courts if there is another way to resolve matters.

Moreover, arbitration is advantageous regarding the possibility for the parties to choose a judicial body with trusted arbitrators. The dispute can be solved by a simplified procedure on which the parties have influence. The chosen arbitrators can be experts, a competence ordinary courts sometimes lack. Arbitration is also less time consuming than court procedures and cases are normally resolved within 6 to 9 months.

An arbitration award once issued is considered final. It becomes enforceable and stable; subject to recourse only by court action. Arbitration is not restricted to national jurisdictions and gives the parties the possibility to avoid the disadvantages and expenses of going abroad.

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Sept. 2 – The State Council’s Office of Legislative Affairs has released the latest draft of administrative measures for representative offices in China.

The measures are posted in Chinese on their web site found here. The public is invited to comment on the proposed amendments until September 25, either through the web site or by sending an e-mail.

The proposed measures define set-up procedures, characteristics, scope of operations, legal rights and responsibilities for representative offices.

Sept. 1 – The Ministry of Public Security will implement new regulations beginning January 1, 2009 allowing foreign drivers to be under the same jurisdiction as local Chinese drivers.

This means that local police will have the right to detain and incarcerate foreigners suspected of being responsible for road accidents until their cases are closed. This is in compliance with national legislation that prohibits foreigners from leaving the country while involved with criminal or civil cases.

In addition, the new law will allow guilty drivers to be imprisoned for up to three years and up to seven years for those who flee the scene of a fatal accident.

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Dialogue with other governments’ admin procedures urgently needed

By Chris Devonshire-Ellis

Aug. 29 - With the recent problems over the issuance of visas to China both before and now following the Olympics, it has become increasingly apparent that China’s national administration infrastructure is both subject to regional interpretations and a lack of international dialogue over the processing of information. Indeed, an assumption that all other countries follow the same administrative procedures as China is overwhelmingly obvious. It’s a cycle that needs to be changed.

China’s problem is two fold. Firstly, it is not unreasonable for China to start to clamp down on the issuance of visas, when for so long the process has been abused by foreign nationals. That abuse, which led in the main to foreign nationals effectively working in China without declaring taxes or obtaining proper documentation, has also led to a rash of fraud, embezzlement and security concerns. (more…)

Aug. 28 - Public Security Bureau sources close to Dezan Shira & Associates have indicated that additional requirements for the issuing of working visas in China have been put in place. These could include a certification of “no criminal record” to be issued by immigration agencies of foreign governments, on which an official statement must be obtained certifying the visa applicant has no prior criminal convictions in his home country. Details to the extent of this documentation, applicable levels of criminal offense, or how it applies to long term residents of other countries, have yet to be worked out.

While China is expected to relax business visa issuance shortly after the completion of the Paralympics, the issuing of work visas will become even more more stringent, according to the source, while the length of time foreign visitors stayed in China on business visas and on tourist visas in the country will be more closely monitored for abuse. (more…)

Aug. 15 - Our new Technical Guide to China IPR has just been published and is available now, priced US$25 plus p&p from sales@china-briefing.com or via our online bookstore.

The book, the seventh and latest addition to our expanding and highly popular series on China legal and tax matters, was produced in association with Austria Wirschaftsservice—the Austrian Federal Bank—whose specialist, Shanghai-based IPR unit combines investigation, patent attorneys and other legal professionals in China to assist their client’s IPR needs. That knowledge, gained over decades of work on the mainland, has now been condensed into a six chapter, English language work with the following sections:

An introduction to IPR in China
Importance of IPR in China
Historical development
Recent trends in China IPR policy

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Aug. 6 – The State Council has released the first set of specific guidelines for the new Anti-Monopoly Law which took effect August 1.

The regulation requires mergers and acquisitions with a total global revenue of more than RMB10 billion or a China revenue of RMB2 billion to report to authorities.

The law also covers deals made by two or more companies each reporting more than RMB400 million of China revenue in the past year.

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