Bolstering High-Tech Development: China’s “Supply” and “Demand” Solutions

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Image: Mohamed Mahmoud Hassan, Got Talent, Skill, Assessment (Publicdomainpictures.net)

The sudden emergence of DeepSeek has awakened the world to China’s high-tech capabilities. In the coming years, the country is expected to continue strengthening its efforts to increase such capabilities and nurture the development of its high-tech industries. To this end, China needs to ensure a continuous supply of high-tech talent and a strong demand for high-tech products from its population, which includes segments with limited digital and scientific literacy that may have the opposite effect, i.e., weakening such demand. To address these needs, China recently introduced certain measures.Read this article

Rednote and a Foreign Artist’s “Half Victory” in China’s Courts

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Images: Andrea Stöckel, Vintage Art Music Cats;
Karen Arnold, Do Not Copy Stamp (Publicdomainpictures.net)

An appellate court in Beijing just delivered a victory to a Belgian artist in a five-year-long legal battle, upholding an earlier ruling of the Beijing Intellectual Property Court that his paintings have been plagiarized for years by a Chinese artist. A key step towards this victory was the Belgian artist’s success in keeping the case in the Beijing Intellectual Property Court. Artists around the world seeking to protect their copyrights should understand both the positive actions this court took in this case and the confusion that remains as a result of the court’s decision, as well as why they should leverage platforms such as Rednote to avoid ordeals like the one experienced by the Belgian artist.Read this article

China’s Health Care and Foreign Investment

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Image: George Hodan, Cardiogram Pulse Trace (Publicdomainpictures.net)

The World Health Organization has projected that, compared with 2018, nearly 360 million more people in China will enjoy improvements in health and wellbeing in 2025. To meet this target, among others, and to prepare for health care challenges arising from significant demographic changes occurring in China, the Chinese leadership has introduced various measures, including allowing the establishment of wholly foreign-owned hospitals in nine localities. These measures are welcome. However, a major problem lies in whether China is ready to amend legal rules to reduce the legal risks associated with medical practice as potential criminal consequences are likely to deter foreign medical professionals from practicing in China.Read this article

Guiding Case No. 235

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Image: George Hodan, Judge Gavel (Publicdomainpictures.net)

In November 2024, China’s Supreme People’s Court released Guiding Case No. 235 to illustrate its new, proactive approach to recognizing and enforcing foreign judgments.Read this article

China’s NEW Proactive Approach to Recognizing and Enforcing Foreign Judgments

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The coming into effect of China’s Foreign State Immunity Law at the beginning of 2024 has sparked concerns about how the Chinese judiciary will subject foreign states to the Chinese legal system because the law represents China’s transition from affording foreign states “absolute immunity” in Chinese courts to restricting the immunity to certain types of lawsuits. Amidst these concerns, the Supreme People’s Court just released a Guiding Case to illustrate its new, proactive approach to recognizing and enforcing foreign judgments. This approach not only evokes more optimism about the Chinese judiciary, but also increases the capacity of Chinese courts to help China revive its economy in 2025 and beyond by increasing the confidence of foreign parties in China’s willingness to recognize and enforce foreign judgments.Read this article

Law, Order, and China’s Global Leadership

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Image: Gerd Altmann, One Humanity (Publicdomainpictures.net)

China’s ongoing effort to amend its “mini-criminal law” has drawn praises because the latest draft amendment reflects the authorities’ positive responses to public comments. If key provisions that have aroused widespread concerns can be ultimately improved with clarity, China will be able to gain more support from the United Nations, which just completed its fourth-cycle Universal Periodic Review of China’s human rights record. Strong support from the United Nations—through which China has increased its influence with other member states in the past decade—is crucial to China’s development of its global leadership in an increasingly contentious world.Read this article

Musk, Space Technology, and U.S.-China Relations

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Image: O Sulvia, Futuristic Space Ship (Publicdomainpictures.net)

In July, immediately after China successfully retrieved lunar samples from the far side of the Moon, Dr. Mei Gechlik, Founder and CEO of SINOTALKS®, encouraged China to invite scientists from different countries, including the United States, to study these samples. According to Reuters, a few U.S. universities are now contributing their efforts to make such U.S.-China joint studies possible. Will this potential U.S.-China space collaboration open a door for Elon Musk to leverage his connections with Beijing and President-elect Donald Trump to create win-win opportunities for U.S. investment in China’s space-related industries? What types of space-related investments will likely survive rigorous regulatory reviews in China and the United States? The way in which China’s “wish list” for space-related investments evolves over the coming months, along with corresponding U.S. reactions, will help answer these questions.Read this article

Private Economy and China’s Credit System for Enterprises

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Image: Gerd Altmann, Business People (Publicdomainpictures.net)

China is seeking public comments on a draft law aimed at promoting the development of the country’s private enterprises. The draft law requires Chinese authorities to timely update a private enterprise’s records publicized on official “credit information platforms” after the enterprise no longer has irregularities undermining its credibility. Having clean records on these platforms is important as private enterprises’ business partners and clients are increasingly relying on these platforms to assess where these enterprises stand. However, these platforms have limitations, which, if not addressed properly, could compromise the development of Chinese private enterprises and, thereby, the country’s private economy.Read this article

Lunar Time and the BRICS’s Space Ambitions

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Image: Victoria Borodinova, Planet, Solar System, Comet, Space, Sky (Publicdomainpictures.net)

The U.S.-China race to set a standard lunar time has captured global attention. Standardizing lunar time is, however, only the first step. The real race lies in whether any time set by the United States or China can be applied effectively to space operations from which other countries can benefit. If other countries see results, this will ensure their sustained endorsement of the lunar time used in the operations benefiting them. Only with such solid support will the endorsed lunar time become the prevailing standard. China recently rolled out a three-stage plan to apply its timing system to a series of lunar operations. With its space ambitions, the expanding BRICS may be able to help China bring its three-stage plan to fruition and share the fruits of such success. When this happens, China’s lunar time has a good chance to prevail.Read this article

Arbitration and China’s Global Business

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Image: Linnaea Mallette, Shipping Port (Publicdomainpictures.net)

The growing importance of global business to China makes it crucial for the country to show its commitment to recognize and enforce foreign arbitral awards. Since 1987, China has been a contracting state of the New York Convention, which requires each contracting state to ensure that its judiciary recognizes and enforces an arbitral award made in another contracting state, unless such recognition or enforcement would be contrary to the contracting state’s “public policy”, among other exceptions. The convention does not interpret the “public policy” exception. How the Chinese judiciary interprets it directly influences foreign parties’ level of confidence in doing business with China. A recent court case in China sheds light on the interpretation of this exception.Read this article

China’s Education and Africa-East Asia Relations

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Images: Linnaea Mallette, Graduation Cap;
Dawn Hudson, Silver Map (Publicdomainpictures.net)

President XI Jinping recently outlined ten partnership actions for China and Africa to jointly take in the next three years. Focusing on advancing modernization, these actions will likely motivate young Africans to pursue education in China to acquire related knowledge and skills and to build strong China-Africa networks. Trends revealed by a recent study suggest that furthering education in China may produce additional results for young Africans: their interactions with growing East Asian student communities in China will also prepare them well to become effective intermediaries between Africa and East Asia, as the latter actively seeks to tap into Africa’s tremendous potential.Read this article

Key Talks in 1992, Court Cases in 2024, and “New Quality Productive Forces”

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Image: Mikhail Denishchenko, Production Technology (Publicdomainpictures.net)

Coined by President XI Jinping in 2023, the term “new quality productive forces” is of great significance because related reforms, with reference to various types of investment, have been identified by the Chinese leadership. Key talks given in 1992 by the late reformist leader DENG Xiaoping and select court cases recently released by China help illuminate the meaning of the term. Actions taken by the courts in these cases to support the development of “new quality productive forces” allow investors to better assess related opportunities.Read this article

The Olympics, Overseas Chinese, & Foreign Laws

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Image: Gerd Altmann, Hurry Up (Publicdomainpictures.net)

China’s impressive performance during the 2024 Summer Olympics has heightened many overseas Chinese’s interest in their own Chinese roots. This will likely boost their fascination with opportunities emerging from China, whose economy the IMF predicts will grow 5% in 2024. Beijing should, therefore, be motivated to step up its efforts to effectively engage overseas Chinese, who have been perceived by Beijing as important bridges connecting China with the rest of the world. Coincidentally, the Supreme People’s Court’s new initiative regarding the ascertainment of foreign laws can help engage overseas Chinese effectively.Read this article

China’s Third Plenary Session: Implications for Strengthening Deterrence of Accounting Violations

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“Strengthening the regulation of listed companies” and “improving the mechanism for protecting investors” are among the many reform tasks identified in the widely anticipated decision adopted at the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on July 18, 2024. While China’s newly amended Accounting Law may help accomplish these goals, a case decided by the Supreme People’s Court suggests that additional measures are required.Read this article

Hong Kong’s Land Leases & Asia’s Prosperity and Stability

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Images: Jean Beaufort, Travel Poster;
Yinan Chen, Hong Kong City Buildings (Publicdomainpictures.net)

In early July, a new Hong Kong law extended nearly 400 land leases in the formerly British-governed city for another 50 years, making the leases go beyond June 30, 2047—the critical date marking the potential expiry of the Beijing-approved governance system operating in the city since its handover to China in 1997. More leases are expected to be extended in the same manner. If the extension of these leases—which has broad implications—is handled well, Beijing will be able to significantly contribute to the prosperity and stability of not only Hong Kong, but also Asia.Read this article

China’s Promotion of Case-Based Legal Reasoning in the BRICS

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Images: George Hodan, Judge Gavel;
Maliz Ong, Black and White Brick Wall (Publicdomainpictures.net)

In 2018, I co-authored an article titled Propagation of a Case Culture in China and Potentially Beyond.  Based on an analysis of how 96 Guiding Cases, de facto binding cases released by China’s Supreme People’s Court available at the time, had been referenced in 1,281 subsequent cases decided by courts across the country, my co-authors and I drew this conclusion: “the preliminary success of [Guiding Cases] seems to have provided fertile ground for the propagation of a case culture in China and, given the country’s eagerness to increase its presence around the world, this culture may have a chance to be propagated elsewhere.”  Just such an opportunity for China to propagate a culture of applying case-based legal reasoning in the BRICS arose in mid-June.Read this article

India’s Election Results & Central China’s “Accelerated Rise”

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Images: Gerd Altmann, Colorful India;
Peter Griffin, Afternoon Lunch (Publicdomainpictures.net)

A key lesson from the failure of Prime Minister Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (“BJP”) to secure a majority in the lower house of India’s parliament and to sustain its popularity in traditionally pro-BJP states is the pressing need to solve the issue of economic inequality in India. Mr. Modi faces mounting pressure to deliver during his third term as India’s Prime Minister a strong economic performance to those who have not yet benefited from India’s progress. Similar challenges are being faced by Chinese leaders, who are rolling out new measures aimed at supporting the “accelerated rise” of Central China. Given India’s growing competition with China, how China plans to accomplish this goal should be of significant interest to India and its allies.Read this article

WeRide Zooms into the Global Autonomous Vehicle Industry

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Image: Petr Kratochvil, Busy Road Light Trails (Publicomainpictures.net)

After BYD announced that it has licenses to test Level-3 (i.e., “conditional automation”) autonomous driving on high-speed roads in China, the company’s ambition to move into the autonomous vehicle industry has become clear. However, BYD’s path to success in this industry is unlikely to be smooth because of competition from WeRide, a forerunner with a strong foundation in the industry. Equipped with Level-4 (i.e., “high driving automation”) technology, WeRide has put into operation multiple innovative products, including Robotaxis, Robobuses, and Robovans. What factors contribute to WeRide’s success? Drawing on her extensive experiences in studying Chinese companies, especially those in the technology industry, and her meetings with specialists who are familiar with the autonomous vehicle industry in China, Lin Liu shares her analysis in this article.Read this article

Tesla, Data Transfers, & China’s Digital Economy

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Image: Gerd Altmann, Binary Contacts (Publicdomainpictures.net)

In mid-May, the Lin-Gang Area of the Shanghai Free Trade Zone (“FTZ”) issued trial measures to allow eligible companies in the area—criteria used suggest that Tesla is eligible—to export certain data without going through China’s complicated approval system. Similar measures were adopted by Tianjin’s FTZ in early May, while other FTZs in China are expected to follow suit. These measures can benefit foreign investors in China significantly. Yet, the fundamental goal of their issuance is not a mere increase in domestic foreign investment, but rather the implementation of China’s plan to develop its digital economy globally.Read this article

The Moon, Artificial Intelligence, & U.S.-China Relations

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Image: Irina Pechkareva, A Space with the Moon (Publicdomainpictures.net)

China’s ongoing mission to collect rocks and soil from the far side of the Moon marks another milestone in the country’s space exploration despite its exclusion from U.S. space projects. This accomplishment should make U.S. policymakers ponder whether adopting a similar exclusionary approach will help or hurt the United States’s efforts to secure the lead in the U.S.-China AI race. More importantly, the potential catastrophic consequences of AI manipulation demand a better approach that focuses on generating benefits at a global level, rather than devolving into a simple win-lose race between two international powers.Read this article

China’s Courts Give NEW Guidelines on Capital Markets Some Teeth

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The U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Accountability is investigating whether the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (“PCAOB”) is “empowered to ensure meaningful oversight of auditors of [China]-based firms”. The Committee should welcome a document recently released by China’s State Council that aims at improving the country’s capital markets by strengthening information disclosure, among other measures. Interestingly, the Supreme People’s Court of China has taken steps that, if followed consistently by all courts in the country, can empower this document.Read this article

China’s Policy for Central Asia: Lessons from Southeast Asia & More

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The recent establishment of the Secretariat for the China-Central Asia Mechanism represents a key step taken by China as well as Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, to “comprehensively promote [their] cooperation”. China has expressed its wish to “bring more benefits to the people” of the five Central Asian nations. This wish is especially welcome amidst the world’s growing concerns that poverty and social marginalization might have contributed to the rise of terrorist activities in Central Asia. How can China turn this wish into reality? A recent survey showing Southeast Asians’ unprecedented level of support for China provides some useful lessons for reference.Read this article

China’s Top Court Frees “Several” Birds with One Key

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Image: Linnaea Mallette, Mountain Landscape Illustration (Publicdomainpictures.net)

A little-known Q&A tool used within China’s court system since 2023 was recently brought to the spotlight. With its promising performance, the tool allows China’s highest court to “free several birds with one key”. The far-reaching impact of the tool also lays a solid foundation for China to develop AI-assisted adjudication.Read this article

AI & Zambia Put Biden’s “No-Conflict Competition” with China to the Test

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Image: Victoria Borodinova, Chess, Chess Board, Chess Club (Publicdomainpictures.net)

In his State of the Union Address, President Joe Biden asserted that he “want[s] competition with China, not conflict”. With less than eight months before the next U.S. presidential election, President Biden needs to show that he deserves another presidential term to, among other tasks, solidify the country’s leadership in two critical areas: (1) the development and application of advanced technologies, and (2) the establishment of strong ties with foreign countries that are strategically important to the United States. Two recent developments are putting President Biden’s “no-conflict competition” with China to the test.Read this article

China’s NEW Law on Foreign State Immunity and Related U.S. Experiences

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Image: Gerd Altmann, Judge Gavel (Publicdomainpictures.net)

China’s enactment of the Foreign State Immunity Law marks the country’s formal transition from affording foreign states “absolute immunity” in Chinese courts to restricting the immunity to certain types of lawsuits. This transition is in line with the approach used in the United States, as codified in the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (“FSIA”). However, a comparison between China’s Foreign State Immunity Law and the FSIA and related U.S. jurisprudence——as discussed by Circuit Judge John M. Walker Jr. in an article published by SINOTALKS®——reveals key differences between the two countries’ approaches.Read this article

The United States Approach to Foreign Sovereign Immunity

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Written by Judge John M. Walker Jr., a senior judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, this article provides an overview of the U.S. approach to foreign sovereign immunity. First, it traces the doctrine’s origins in early American jurisprudence and recounts the development of the doctrine and its eventual codification in the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (“FSIA”) of 1976. The article then summarizes relevant provisions and certain judicial interpretations of the FSIA.Read this article