China

Regulations on Retirement Administration in Shanghai   Retirement policy is of vital interest to almost everyone. In China, retirement policy may vary in some respects in different cities. There is a summary of retirement regulations in Shanghai as following (there is no distinction between household registrations in the following regulations except for the standard of minimum payment years for claiming pension):   Regulations on Retirement   (1)     Retirement age   Gender Identity Statutory Retirement Age Male Cadre/worker 60 Female Cadre 55 Worker 50 Flexible Employment 55   (2)     Identity   The identity standard of a retiree is based on the information in the last labor contract signed with the employer. The retiree shall be identified as cadre if the contract shows “management position”.   (3)  The minimum payment years for claiming pension   Household Registrations Years of Payment Shanghai Residence   a.            The pension insurance has been paid in […]

Hong Kong and Macao Lawyers Allowed to Practice in 9 Cities of Chinese Mainland   On 22 October 2020, the General Office of the State Council of the PRC released a circular on the launch of a pilot scheme to allow Hong Kong and Macao lawyers to practice law in nine mainland cities of the Guangdong‑Hong Kong‑Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), i.e. Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Huizhou, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Jiangmen, Zhaoqing. Eligible Hong Kong and Macao practicing lawyers that have passed the lawyer’s practice examination of GBA and obtained the mainland practice qualification may engage in a certain range of mainland legal affairs. The foregoing pilot scheme will be implemented for 3 years starting from 5 October 2020. The main contents of the pilot scheme are as follows:   Conditions for Participation in the Lawyer’s Practice Examination of GBA   (1)  Chinese citizens who are permanent residents of the Hong […]

China Enhances Protection of Patent Rights The 22nd session of the 13th Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of the PRC adopted the decision on amending the Patent Law of the PRC on 17 October 2020. The revised Patent Law will come into force on 1 June 2021. The key amendments to the Patent Law are as follows:   Increase Compensations for Patent Infringement   According to the new Patent Law, the statutory damage is raised to a range of RMB30,000 to RMB5 million when the loss suffered by the patentees, the benefits gained by the infringers or the patent license fees is hard to be calculated. The current range is from RMB10,000 to RMB1 million.   Introduce Punitive Damages   According to the new Patent Law, the court may determine the amount of damage within one to five times the amount calculated based on the loss suffered by […]

China to Cancel MIIT Approval for Foreign Investment in Telecom Services   The State Council of the PRC released a circular on 21 September 2020, which announced that China will cancel requirement for government review on 29 items and delegate power on 4 items.   According to the circular, the first item of government review to be cancelled is the approval for foreign investment in telecom services. In the past, foreign investors shall apply for an approval for foreign investment in telecom services from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the PRC (MIIT) before they are allowed to set up a foreign invested telecom company. The cancellation of this approval will greatly simplify and shorten the process to establish a foreign-invested telecom company. It is really good news to foreign investors who are planning to set up foreign-invested telecom companies in China.   Although the above pre-approval has […]

OT Payment During 2020 Chinese National Day Holidays   According to the circular of holiday arrangements for the year of 2020 issued by the General Office of the State Council of the PRC, the National Day holidays and Mid-Autumn Festival will start from 1 October to 8 October 2020. The National Day overlaps with the Mid-Autumn Festival on 1 October 2020. How to calculate and pay the overtime wages if an employer arranges overtime work for its employees during the period from 1 October to 8 October?   The General Office of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security of the PRC has issued a circular on 18 September2020, which has clearly clarified the calculation and payment of overtime wages during the period from 1 October to 8 October. The detailed rules are as follows:   The employer shall pay overtime wages at the rate of no less than […]

Liabilities for Breach of Precontract in China   Precontract is a contract whereby the parties agree to conclude a contract within a certain period of time in the future. Precontract is quite common in practice. However, it is not stipulated in the General Principles of the Civil Law of the PRC and the Contract Law of the PRC. The provision of precontract has been formally included in the Civil Code of the PRC (hereinafter referred to as the Civil Code), which will come into force on 1 January 2021.   According to Article 495 of the Civil Code, if the parties agree to conclude a subscription contract, subscription order, reservation order and so on within a certain period of time in the future, such contracts shall constitute precontracts. Where one party fails to perform the obligation to conclude a precontract as agreed, the other party may request it to bear […]

Accelerated Expiry of Shareholders’ Capital Contribution in China   The shareholders of a China company are allowed to freely agree on the amount of the subscribed capital and term of capital contribution under the subscribed registered capital system as stipulated in the Company Law of the PRC. If the term of capital contribution of the shareholders has not expired, is it possible for the company creditors to ask for the accelerated expiry of shareholders’ capital contribution obligation so as to realize their creditor rights?   In judicial practice, the Chinese courts generally do not uphold the claim made by a creditor of the company for accelerated expiry of shareholders’ capital contribution obligation. However, under special circumstances such as the bankruptcy, dissolution of the company or the shareholders maliciously extend the term of capital contribution to avoid fulfilling the capital contribution obligation, the court may consider to uphold the claim for […]

Mainland China and Macau Arrangements on Avoiding Double Taxation and Preventing Tax Evasion Protocol with Respect to Taxes on Income The Fourth Protocol The fourth protocol to the “Arrangement between the Mainland of China and the Macau Special Administrative Region for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with Respect to Taxes on Income” (hereinafter referred to as “The Fourth Protocol”) was signed in Macao on November 28, 2019 and effective from May 14, 2020.   The Mainland China and Macao have completed the required domestic legal procedures for the entry into force of The Fourth Protocol. The Fourth Protocol has entered into force on May 14, 2020, but the provisions of Article 6 shall apply to income obtained on or after May 14, 2020, and the provisions of other articles shall apply to the income obtained on or after January 1, 2021.   For the […]

Guide to Application for Mainland China-Hong Kong Cross-border License Plate   With the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the number of ports between Guangdong province and Hong Kong increases a lot. The relevant government authorities of the two places have launched administration measures on the quotas for cross- boundary private cars accordingly. Kaizen hereby summarizes the latest regulations for the application of quota for Hong Kong and Guangdong cross-boundary private cars as follow for your easy reference.   HK Cross-boundary Private Cars not using HK-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge   (1)  Requirements for Investors of foreign Invested Enterprises   Foreign investors, investors from Hong Kong and Macao, whose total amount of tax paid in Guangdong province in the previous year meet the following conditions, may apply for quota for Hong Kong cross-boundary private cars:   (a)  may apply for the first quota if the total amount of tax paid in […]