1. Interpretation of Several Issues Concerning the Application of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People’s Republic of China by the Supreme People’s Court
Promulgated by Supreme People’s Court
Promulgation date: 17 March 2022
Implementation date: 20 March 2022
Document number: L.I.[2022] 9
The Interpretation consists of 29 articles mainly to further clarify Article 2 of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law, counterfeits and confusion, false publicity, unfair competition on the internet, etc. under the amended Anti-Unfair Competition Law.
Since the implementation of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law, its General Provision (Article 2) has become one of the main legal basis on which people’s courts identify new types of unfair competition, but inconsistency in the judicial standard exists sometimes. Therefore, the Interpretation provides that where a business disrupts the market competition order and damages legitimate rights and interests of other businesses or consumers, without violating Chapter 2 of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law, the Patent Law, the Trademark Law, the Copyright Law, etc., people’s courts may apply the General Provision in decision making.
The focus of people’s courts in applying the General Provision to decide whether an act of market competition is justifiable is on the judgment whether the business violates business ethics. According to Article 3 of the Interpretation, “business ethics” in the Anti-Unfair Competition Law cannot be simply equated with daily moral standards, but should be a code of conduct generally followed and accepted in specific areas of business.
(Source: SPC Website)
https://www.court.gov.cn/zixun-xiangqing-351301.html
2. Regulations on Several Issues Concerning the Trial of Administrative Compensation Cases
Promulgated by Supreme People’s Court
Promulgation date: 21 March 2022
Implementation date: 1 May 2022
Document number: L.I.[2022] 10
Highlights of the Regulations are as follows. First, it sets out the scope of administrative compensation litigation, the coverage and elements of administrative compensation, the inversion of burden of proof and apportionment of liabilities arising from administrative compensation. Second, it reasonably defines “direct losses”, clarifies the standard of compensation for property damage, stipulates the amount of administrative compensation awarded by the court for expropriation no less than the legal amount of resettlement compensation and improves provisions relating to actions for mental damages. Third, it defines the plaintiff and the defendant to an administrative compensation action, improves the statutes of limitations for claiming or suing for administrative compensation, addresses procedural issues concerning administrative compensation actions brought together or separately, strengthens connections between compensation actions in public and private laws. Forth, it emphasizes the court’s duty of interpretation, regulatesthe court’s right of discretion for the amount of damages, and clarifies the adjudicative methods in administrative compensation cases, etc. Relevant reference cases are also attached in the Regulations.
(Source: SPC website)
https://www.court.gov.cn/fabu-xiangqing-351941.html
3. Regulations on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Cases Involving Disputes over Online Consumption (I)
Promulgated by Supreme People’s Court
Promulgation date: 2 March 2022
Implementation date: 15 March 2022
Document number: L.I.[2022] 8
The Regulations consists of 20 articles, mainly including provisions relating to rights and obligations under online consumption contracts, identification of responsible persons, civil responsibility for live streaming marketing, civil responsibility for takeaways, etc. The Regulations clarifies the responsibility of live streaming marketing platforms, including their responsibility for self-operated business, their responsibility to pay damages in advance when real information about the live streaming room operator is not available, their joint and several responsibility for failure to fulfill their obligation to check food business licenses and permits, and their joint and several responsibility in case that they know or should know the illegal acts. The Regulations further states that if the online catering service platform operator fails to, according to law, register the real information and check licenses and permits of the online catering service provider on the platform, or perform its obligations to report or stop providing online business platform services, etc., causing damage to customers’ legitimate rights and interests, the customers are entitled to claim that the online catering service platform operator and the online catering service provider on the platform should be jointly and severally responsible for the damage.
(Source: SPC website)
https://www.court.gov.cn/fabu-xiangqing-348031.html
4. Interpretation of Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Handling of Criminal Cases Involving Endangering Drug Safety
Promulgated by Supreme People’s Court and Supreme People’s Procuratorate
Promulgation date: 4 March2022
Implementation date: 6 March 2022
Document number: S.P.P.I.Z.[2022] 1
The Interpretation mainly deals with issues concerning severe legal punishment for crimes involving counterfeit and inferior drugs, obstructing drug management and illegally purchasing or selling drugs acquired by fraudulent use of medical insurance, noting that those who manufacture, sell or provide counterfeit and inferior drugs which are mainly used by pregnant women, children or seriously sick people or used for responding to emergencies such as natural disasters, accident disasters, public health or social safety incidents, or drug using entities and their staff members manufacturing or selling counterfeit or inferior drugs should be given severer punishment; those who manufacture, sell or provide counterfeit drugs, causing death or falling under other extremely serious circumstances should be sentenced to over ten years’ imprisonment or death; those who manufacture, sell or provide inferior drugs, causing extremely serious consequences should be sentenced to over ten years’ fixed-term imprisonment or life imprisonment.
(Source: SPP Website)
https://www.court.gov.cn/fabu-xiangqing-348451.html
5. E-cigarette Management Rules
Promulgated by State Tobacco Monopoly Administration
Promulgation date: 11 March 2022
Implementation date: 1 May 2022
Document number: No.1 State Tobacco Monopoly Administration Announcement in 2022
The Rules consists of six chapters, including forty five articles i.e. general provisions, production and quality management, sales management, import and export trade and foreign economic and technological cooperation, supervision and inspection and supplementary provisions, regulating activities relating to production, sales, transport, import, export and supervision of e-cigarette within the territory of the People’s Republic of China.
The main contents are: (i) definition of e-cigarette and object of supervision; (ii) licenses for e-cigarette production, wholesale and retail entities, only by adding corresponding entries to the license scope of tobacco monopoly production, wholesale and retail licenses, with no new types of administrative licenses; (iii) channel-based e-cigarette sales management, by establishing the e-cigarette transaction management platform and regulating the sales method of e-cigarette; (iv) overall management of e-cigarette product quality, by establishing technical review and tracking and traceability mechanism for e-cigarette product; and (v) legal supervision of e-cigarette transport and import and export.
(Source: STMA website)
http://www.tobacco.gov.cn/gjyc/tzgg/202203/ff793b5fb00e4308a28f4b8aa618e803.shtml
6. Negative List for Market Access (2022 Edition)
Promulgated by the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Commerce
Promulgation date: 25 March 2022
Document number: D.R.S.R.R.[2022] 397
The List consists of 117 items, including 6 prohibited items and 111 restricted items, 6 items less than the 2020 Edition. Items on the Negative List are classified into prohibited and restricted ones. There are no market access, no administrative approval and no procedures for prohibited items. Industries, fields and business which are not on the Negative List for Market Access are accessible for all kinds of market entities. The Announcement on the List requires strict implementation of the requirement of “one uniform list throughout the country”, earnest fulfillment of the government’s regulatory obligations, establishment of the system for gathering and reporting cases in violation of the Negative List for Market Access, etc.
(Source: NDRC website)
https://www.ndrc.gov.cn/xwdt/tzgg/202203/t20220325_1320233.html?code=&state=123
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