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Image: Video Girl, Car Traffic Accident Damage
(Publicdomainpictures.net)

China recently took an unprecedented step to issue permits allowing two models of vehicles equipped with “conditional autonomous driving” functions to operate on select roads. This creates a pressing need for unambiguous legal rules to regulate the liability issues that will arise from road safety violations. A new Guiding Case, a new piece of local legislation, and a set of draft national standards currently available for public comments all shed light on this important topic. Chinese automakers and their potential investors should seize the opportunity to provide their comments on the draft national standards, as any failure to comply with these standards, once adopted, will have significant legal implications.

Image: Freddy Dendoktoor, Cargo Ship, Ship, Painting
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The crisis in the Middle East and China’s 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development (2026–2030) have dominated news headlines, while two changes to China’s Foreign Trade Law seem to have gone unnoticed. These changes are small but significant, as China’s application of these new provisions will reveal whether the trade powerhouse can adhere to objective standards and, thereby, create more certainty amidst growing trade uncertainty around the world.

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.