Tag Archives: Foreign Investment Law

China Laws and Regulations Update in March 2019

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1.The Foreign Investment Law of the People’s Republic of China

Co-promulgated by the National People’s Congress

Promulgation date: 15 March 2019

Implementation date: 1 January 2020

This law will replace the Sino-Foreign Joint Venture Law, Foreign Funded Enterprise Law and Sino-Foreign Business Cooperation Law to be the legal basis for foreign investment in China. According to this law, organizational forms and structures of foreign funded businesses and their course of action should be governed by the Company Law, the Partnership Law and relevant laws, provided that foreign funded businesses set up before the implementation of this law may continue existing in their original organizational form. Foreign investment means direct or indirect investment made in China by natural people, businesses or other organizations in foreign countries, including establishment of a new business, merger and acquisition, creation of a new project and other forms of investment; Capital contributions, profits, capital gains, earnings relating to assets disposal, royalties from licensed use of intellectual property rights, legal redress or compensation, earnings relating to liquidation, etc. can be transferred in RMB into China or transferred in foreign currency out of China. The Chinese government protects intellectual property rights of foreign investors and foreign funded businesses and legal interests of people owning or relating to these intellectual property rights. The Chinese government implements the pre-establishment national treatment and negative list system for foreign investments and follows the principle of treating foreign and domestic investors equally when supervising and administering foreign investments. Foreign investments that will or may affect the national security will be inspected. (Source: Website of the National People’s Congress)

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China Laws and Regulations Update in February 2015

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  1. The New Foreign Investment Law(Draft) Published for Public Comments

On 19th of January 2015, the Ministry of Commerce of PRC published the Foreign Investment Law of PRC (Draft for Comments) (referred to as ‘draft FIL’ below). Opportunities to offer comments on the draft FIL will remain open to the public until 17th of February 2015.

Significantly, the draft FIL transforms the current foreign investment administration system by introducing the administration model combining pre-establishment national treatment policies and the Negative List and stipulating that foreigners intending to invest in one of the areas as specified in the Negative List shall apply for and obtain a foreign investment entry permit beforehand. Also, foreign investors throughout PRC shall perform the reporting obligation regardless of the Negative List. Under this new administrative system, foreign investment in most areas can be admitted to PRC without prior approval by relevant departments. In addition, the draft FIL includes provisions on China’s national security review system, the foreign investment promotion and protection system, supervision and inspection of investment and operational actions taken by foreign investors and foreign invested enterprises, strengthened in-process and after-the-fact administration.

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Will China New Foreign Investment Law Wipe Out VIE Structure?

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(By You Yunting) Abstract: The Foreign Investment Law (Draft for Comments) has shifted the standard of a company based upon the actual controller, instead of the shareholder of the company, and regulated that the domestic company must not engage in any industries where operation by foreign investors is prohibited. In case the Draft becomes law, it will cut off the survival basis of VIE structure, so that the VIE company controlled by foreign investors cannot be operated, that the overseas listed company controlled through the VIE structure by Chinese will lose its survival basis of oversea listing, and that the startup companies of VIE structure controlled by Chinese will be forced to abandon the VIE structure.

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