Technology

Apple Loses iPad Trademark Case in China

By Vivian Ni

Dec. 13 – Apple has recently hit a roadblock in its key growth market China, as a local Chinese court rejected the company’s ownership claim of its iPad trademark. The giant California-based technology company may therefore be forced to either change the name of its tablet computer products in China, or pay a large sum as compensation to its Chinese rival.

Apple’s loss in the legal case – where the U.S. company sued the Hong Kong-listed Proview Technology (Shenzhen) for trademark infringement – has been the latest development in a series of back-and-forth lawsuits between the two parties since 2006. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Legal and Regulatory, South China, Technology | Tagged Apple Proview iPad Trademark Case, Apple Trademark Rights Infringement, China Due Diligence, China Intellectual Property Rights, China Trademark Rights, Huizhou, Shenzhen | 2 Comments

China to Offer Incentives to Its High-Tech, Cultural Industries

Dec. 12 – In a recent statement, China’s State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has vowed to offer more tax incentives to the country’s cultural industries, especially those emerging cultural industries essential to China’s advancement in technological innovation.

Favorable policies will mainly go to high-tech as well as emerging cultural industries, and nonprofit cultural organizations. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Culture and History, Finance, Tax and Accounting, Legal and Regulatory, Regulatory Update, Technology | Tagged China Animation, China Digital Cable TV, China Emerging Cultural Industries, China High-tech Industry, China Nonprofit Cultural Organization, China Research and Development, China Tax, China Tax Incentives, China Technological Development, China Technology Transfer, State Administration of Taxation | 1 Comment

U.S.-China Working on a Level Playing Field for Clean Energy Players

By Vivian Ni

Nov. 23 – China will still attach great importance to its strategic industries, but the country also pledged to provide equal market access to both domestic and foreign clean energy suppliers, according to the U.S. Commerce Secretary John Bryson, who just met Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan at the two-day meeting of the U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT) held in the southwestern city of Chengdu.

A series of agreements were signed by the two sides on Monday, covering areas that include energy cooperation and the trading of high-tech products. The agreements also included a memorandum of understanding on creating a “commercial matchmaking” program between the U.S. Department of Commerce (DoC) and a Chinese trade promotion association, according to a report by MarketWatch. Continue reading →

Posted in FDI and Foreign Trade, Technology | Tagged China Clean Energy, China Energy, China Intellectual Property Right, China Renewable Energy, China RMB Value, China Strategic Industries, China U.S. High-tech Trade, China U.S. Trade Disputes | Leave a comment

China’s SAT Details VAT Reform Issues in Shanghai

Nov. 18 – The value-added tax (VAT) reform projected to take place in Shanghai next year will be China’s first step towards resolving the issue of duplicate taxation on goods and services. While in the existing Chinese taxation system, most types of services (with the exception of processing, repair and replacement services) are subject to business tax (BT), the coming reform will make a larger amount of services – mostly provided in Shanghai’s transport sector and several modern service sectors – become VATable rather than BTable. The implementation details on the reform were recently specified in a circular co-issued by the State Administration of Taxation (SAT) and the Ministry of Finance (MoF).

The “Circular on Commencing the VAT Reform (Replacing BT Imposition with VAT Imposition) in Shanghai’s Transport Industry and Several Modern Service Sectors (caishui [2011] No.111)” released on November 16, explains multiple issues including services that become VATable, VAT rates, as well as calculation methods, taxpayer status and favorable VAT treatment to specific services. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, East China, Finance, Tax and Accounting, Legal and Regulatory, Regulatory Update, Shipping & Logistics, Technology | Tagged China Reform, China Regulatory, China Tax, China Value Added Tax, Ministry of Finance, Modern Services VAT, Shanghai, Shanghai VAT Reform, State Administration of Taxation, Transport Services VAT, VAT Exemption, VAT Refund | Leave a comment

China Telecom, China Unicom Face Anti-Monopoly Probe

By Vivian Ni

Nov. 10 – China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) is investigating China Telecom and China Unicom – two of the country’s major telecommunications operators – over suspected monopoly in the broadband internet market. The government’s unusual anti-monopoly probe into its state-owned enterprises may lead to support for bringing in more effective competition to the country’s telecommunications sector – one of the Chinese marketplaces still under tight government control.

Regulators believe both China Telecom and China Unicom are using their dominant market position – together occupying roughly two-thirds of the current market share – to charge their competitors higher fees for broadband access while offering lower prices to non-competitors, said Li Qing, deputy director of the NDRC’s Price Supervision and Antimonopoly Department, in an interview with China’s state-run China Central Television yesterday.

“According to the Anti-Monopoly Law (AML), we call such behavior price discrimination,” Li explained. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, FDI and Foreign Trade, Technology | Tagged China Anti-monopoly Law, China Antitrust Probe, China Bandwidth, China Broadband Market, China Fixed Line Market, China Mobile, China Telecom, China Telecommunications Industry, China Unicom, National Development and Reform Commission, SK Telecom, Telefonica, Vodafone | Leave a comment

Beijing to Inject RMB1.5 Bln into Zhongguancun’s Modern Service Industries

Nov. 10 – A massive scheme is currently being laid out to develop modern service industries in Zhongguancun – the technology hub situated in northwestern Beijing often referred to as “China’s Silicon Valley.” Following the central government’s promise to inject some RMB1.5 billion into the area’s modern service sectors within the next three to five years, Beijing’s local government recently announced the key service sectors that will likely enjoy the use of the government funds.

According to the “Management of the Pilot Supportive Fund for Modern Service Development in Zhongguancun National Independent Innovation Demonstration Zone (NIIDZ) (jingcaijingyi [2011] No.2352)” issued by the Finance Bureau of Beijing on November 2, the supportive fund – consisting of both the central government fund and Beijing’s matching local government fund – will mainly be utilized in the following service sectors: Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Finance, Tax and Accounting, Legal and Regulatory, Regulatory Update, Science and Tech, Technology | Tagged Beijing Zhongguancun, China Development Zones, China E-Commerce, China Information Technology, China Modern Logistics, China Modern Service Industry, China Private Equity Funds, China Subsidies, China Subsidized Loans, China Technology Services, China's Sillicon Valley, Finance Bureau of Beijing, Zhongguancun | Leave a comment

China’s Software Developers Can Enjoy VAT Refunds

Nov. 4 – Starting from January 1, 2011, enterprises which develop their own software products or redesign imported software products can have part of their value-added tax (VAT) refunded, said China’s State Administration of Taxation (SAT) and Ministry of Finance recently.

Nationwide VAT refund on software products
According to the “Circular on VAT Policies for Software Products (caishui [2011] No.100)” released on October 13, when VAT general taxpayers sell software products that are developed by themselves or imported and then redesigned for localization reasons, VAT shall be charged at the rate of 17 percent, but the part of VAT in excess of 3 percent of the taxpayers’ actual VAT burden shall be refunded upon collection. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Finance, Tax and Accounting, Legal and Regulatory, Regulatory Update, South China, Technology | Tagged China Intellectual Property Right, China Ministry of Finance, China Software, China Software Copyright, China Value Added Tax, China VAT Exemption, China VAT General Taxpayers, China VAT Refund, State Administration of Taxation | Leave a comment

China Renewable Energy Industry Report: Nov. 2

Nov. 2 – This is a regular series of relevant industry news from around China.

Solectria Renewables to open plants in China, India
U.S. photovoltaic inverter maker Solectria Renewables LLC has announced plans to open plants in China and India with capacity of 300 megawatts and 200 megawatts, respectively.

The company said that the expansion of its manufacturing activities into the two countries had been prompted by the significant growth opportunities they offer for commercial and utility photovoltaic projects.

Solectria Renewables’ president Phil Vyhanek stressed that no jobs would be shifted out of North America as a result of the plans and that the company continued to expand its manufacturing operations in Massachusetts and Ontario.

Chief executive James Worden noted that the company had lifted its North American capacity to 1 gigawatt in the current year and said that the expansion into India and China was a strategic move designed to put the company “at the forefront of the three most dynamic solar economies in the world.” Continue reading →