China Payment Terms Negotiating payment terms with Chinese companies is one of the trickiest aspects of doing business with China. Vague milestones, unpaid invoices, and last-minute changes are common complaints. This post provides key strategies to ensure your company gets paid in full and on time when working with Chinese companies. Whenever one of our attorneys is retained to represent a client providing goods or services to China, we start by asking about the payment terms. If the Chinese side is going to pay our client the full amount upfront, the contract provisions do not need to be too ..read more

China Trademark Registered? Here’s How to Keep it Working for You What happens when you register a China trademark? What follows is an example of the emails our China trademark lawyers send clients after their trademark is registered, with some additional notes in bold italics. Dear Roberta, I am pleased to enclose the registration certificate issued by the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) for the ABC trademark (No. 98765432), owned by ABC, Inc. A courtesy English translation accompanies the certificate. Please note that paper registration certificates are no long ..read more

Enforcing U.S. Judgments in China This post delves into recent developments that have transformed enforcing US monetary judgments in China. From Ambiguity to Reciprocity: A Turning Point Before 2018, enforcing US judgments in China relied heavily on the principle of reciprocity enshrined within Chinese domestic law. The problem? Reciprocity lacked a clear definition, leading to inconsistent interpretations by different Chinese courts. Traditionally, Chinese courts demanded a concrete example of a US court enforcing a Chinese judgment before it would recognize a US judgment. For example, if you ..read more

Balancing Between U.S. and China Regulations Companies that do business in or with both China and the United States must navigate the geopolitical tensions between these two countries  The escalating legal and regulatory conflicts between these superpowers have created a challenging “compliance dilemma.” In this post I explore the intricacies of this dilemma and what companies can do to maintain compliant operations amidst conflicting U.S. and China laws. The Compliance Labyrinth At the heart of the issue lies a fundamental question: how can a company comply with both U.S. and China regul ..read more

The Frustrating Reality of International Manufacturing Disputes (and How to Avoid Them) Hardly a week goes by at my law firm where one of our international litigation lawyers does not get a call or an e-mail from a company exploring its options for pursuing its overseas manufacturer (usually based in China, but not always) for a bad product shipment or for no shipment at all. Each time, we patiently explain the costs and the hassles of litigating in a foreign court (or any court, for that matter), and almost every time, the company that contacted us rightfully concludes that it does not m ..read more

China’s Business Landscape: Cautionary Tales and Key Strategies It is crucial to understand the unique risks and requirements for doing business in or with China. This post explores real-world China scenarios faced by foreign companies, highlighting the importance of due diligence to mitigate risks and ensure success. China’s Growing Risks China presents unique challenges for foreign companies. As foreign businesses adapt their strategies in the country, it’s important to be aware of the changing landscape. Any significant move by foreign companies draws close attention within China. Our firm ..read more

Why You Should Never Draft Your Own China Contract China Laws and Business Practices: A World Apart China laws and business practices are different from the West. On this there should be no dispute. There should also be no dispute on how it rarely (if ever) makes sense for companies to draft their own China contracts. Your Starting Point: Why DIY China Contracts Fail And yet, our China lawyers oftentimes get emails from companies telling us they drafted a contract for China and asking us whether we would revise that contract to “make it work for China.” Our response is usually to say yes,  ..read more

China NNN Agreements are Absolutely Necessary When your company does business with a Chinese company there is always a risk that your Chinese partner will use information you give it to compete against you. See It’s Perfectly Legal for Your Chinese Manufacturer to Copy Your Products. To prevent this scenario, a China Non-Disclosure, Non-Use, Non-Circumvention (NNN) Agreement is a crucial tool. These agreements go beyond standard NDAs to safeguard your intellectual property (IP) and business concepts when working with Chinese companies. See NDAs Do NOT Work for China but NNN Agreements Do China ..read more

Earlier this month, the U.S. House of representatives passed a bill that would require ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, to sell its stake in social media app or see it banned. Behind the move, is the U.S. Government’s concerns that the owner of TikTok’s connections to China poses a national security threat, which if left unchecked could place the data of its American users in the hands of an accepted adversary. They claim the app could be used to spy on Americans, or as a weapon to influence them. They point to a Chinese law that requires companies to turn over personal data if it is s ..read more

On April 3, 2024, antidumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) petitions were filed against imports of certain epoxy resins from China, India, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand.  The petitions were filed by the U.S. Epoxy Resin Producers Ad Hoc Coalition, consisting of two U.S. producers, Olin Corporation and Westlake Corporation. Epoxy resins are used in a wide range of applications, including protective coatings, paints, construction (flooring), composite materials, electrical and electronics laminates, and adhesives. South Korea and Taiwan account for over 60 percent of the total U.S ..read more