In a significant move to bolster foreign investment and streamline cross-border transactions, China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) unveiled a series of foreign exchange (FX) reforms in September 2025. These new rules, which took effect on September 15, 2025, have been met with a mixture of optimism and cautious analysis from the international business…
BEIJING – A seismic shift is underway in China’s cybersecurity landscape. As of November 1, 2025, a stringent new set of regulations will take effect, mandating that operators of critical information infrastructure (CII) report major cybersecurity incidents to authorities within a mere one-hour timeframe. This aggressive deadline, a stark departure from the more lenient reporting…
The September 2025 amendment to China’s Arbitration Law represents a significant step towards modernizing its dispute resolution framework and enhancing its appeal as an international arbitration hub. The reforms address several critical areas, aiming to align Chinese arbitration practices more closely with global standards. However, despite these advancements, certain challenges may persist, particularly for foreign…
A bank employee counts stacks of 100-yuan notes. China’s banking regulator is loosening lending constraints to make such capital more readily available for mergers and acquisitions, including deals by foreign investors. China’s National Financial Regulatory Administration (NFRA) released draft regulations in August 2025 that would significantly ease restrictions on merger and acquisition (M&A) loans. The proposed…
BEIJING – September 19, 2025: China is entering a new era of corporate compliance, marked by heightened scrutiny of data flows and a push for transparency in sustainability practices. In 2025, a series of regulatory developments have significantly tightened requirements for cross-border data transfers, personal information protection, and Environmental-Social-Governance (ESG) disclosures, forcing companies – domestic and foreign alike…
BEIJING – September 19, 2025: A notable drop in foreign direct investment (FDI) into China this year is spurring Beijing to introduce new incentives and regulatory reforms to lure overseas capital. In the first half of 2025, inbound FDI fell by double digits – official data show FDI inflows of ¥358.2 billion (~$50 billion) from January to May, down 13.2% year-on-yearreuters.com. This slide comes…
SHANGHAI – China’s Supreme People’s Court has issued a new judicial interpretation, effective September 1, 2025, that provides long-awaited clarity on the enforcement of post-employment non-compete clauses in labor disputeslittler.com. Under the new rules, non-compete agreements are only enforceable if the employee had actual access to the employer’s trade secrets or confidential informationlittler.com. This national interpretation (Judicial Interpretation…
New data from China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) confirm that economic momentum waned in August 2025. Industrial output and consumer spending grew at their weakest pace in nearly a year, missing market expectations and underscoring the persistent challenges facing the world’s second-largest economy. These disappointing figures have heightened expectations that Beijing will step up…
China has implemented significant regulatory changes affecting foreign law firms in August-September 2025, signaling both liberalization in select areas and enhanced compliance requirements. The most significant development is Shanghai’s groundbreaking foreign legal advisor pilot program, launched August 27, 2025, which allows Chinese domestic law firms to directly employ foreign lawyers for the first time. sh…