SINOTALKS.COM

Image: Kai Stachowiak, Background Wallpaper
(Publicdomainpictures.net)

October 1, 2026 marks the 77th anniversary of the establishment of the People’s Republic of China and the coming into effect of the country’s revised National Defense Mobilization Law. This is the first revision of this law since it was promulgated in 2010. In response to concerns that the revision may be a signal of China’s preparation for “a long-term, large-scale war”, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of National Defense urged concerned parties not to “overinterpret” the revision. This response, however, is unlikely to put foreign investors’ minds at ease. The revised law now authorizes the Chinese government to expropriate “civilian resources” under broadly defined circumstances. This change brings the “expropriation” provisions under China’s Foreign Investment Law into the spotlight. It is now incumbent upon Chinese authorities to provide detailed explanations of these provisions in order to boost foreign investors’ confidence.

Images: Circe Denyer, Computer Chip Board Art;
Basudev Shrestha, Communist Flag
(Publicdomainpictures.net)

DeepSeek’s plan to utilize Huawei’s advanced AI chips at its massive data center in Inner Mongolia and Malaysia’s evaluation of similar chips from Huawei to support its AI initiative are two recent examples showing the importance of China’s production of homegrown chips. Such production determines not only China’s level of self-reliance but also the country’s potential role in the international AI ecosystem. Since Huawei announced its new approach to building chips in May, China has stepped up regulatory measures to accelerate the development of chips. Notably, China published technical specifications for chips that “relevant AI chip development entities, testing and assessment agencies, and end-users” in China are expected to follow. The response of foreign governments to chips developed in line with these technical specifications should be observed closely.

Image: Mohamed Mahmoud Hassan, Installment, Car, Bank, Percentage
(Publicomainpictures.net)

Judicial protection of intellectual property (“IP”) rights in China has been perceived to be limited because, among other problems, the amounts of damages awarded by Chinese courts in IP infringement cases have historically been small. However, this state of affairs may be changing, as China’s Supreme People’s Court (“SPC”) rendered a landmark judgment in a case involving large-scale infringement of trade secrets, allowing the victims to receive an amount equivalent to almost USD 90 million as compensation. As analyzed by Nathan Harpainter and David Zhao, Co-Managing Editors of SINOTALKS®, the innovative approach taken by the SPC to calculate the damages in the landmark case is essentially based on the concept of “unjust enrichment”. The steps followed by the SPC to do the calculation are helpful but inadequate. To help China develop its jurisprudence in this important area, the two co-authors discuss related U.S. experiences.

Image: Petr Kratochvil, American Flag And City Buildings (Publicdomainpictures.net)

On March 6, 2025, Dr. Mei Gechlik, Founder & CEO of SINOTALKS^® gave a talk about China’s Guiding Cases and related topics to a group of attorneys at the U.S. Department of Commerce to deepen their understanding of China’s court system and latest developments.