On 1 July 2015, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) issued the Interim Measures for Supervision and Administration over Internet Advertising (Draft) for public comment. The draft follows the recent government trend towards protecting consumer rights and broadly applies to all commercial presentations made through the internet (and mobile internet), including traditional advertising, as well as paid search results, emails, instant messaging and "we" media. The interim measures require online:

The interim measures also prohibit online advertising providers from engaging in unfair competition in the form of filtering, blocking or otherwise tampering with the advertisements of competitors.

For further coverage of this development, see Legal update, SAIC releases draft internet advertising measures for public comment.

On 1 July 2015, the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) issued the Implementing Rules for the Administrative Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Foreign-invested Banks, which take effect from 1 September 2015. The implementing rules complement two other major pieces of legislation governing the regulation of foreign-invested banks and replace rules of the same name issued in 2006. The implementing rules:

For further coverage of this development, see Legal update, CBRC issues implementing rules for regulations on foreign-invested banks.

On 15 July 2015, the Supreme People's Court issued the Reply on the Instruction Request by the Shanghai High People’s Court and Others for Issues Concerning the Cases of Judicial Review of the Arbitral Awards Rendered by the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission, Former Sub-Commissions Thereof and Other Arbitration Institutions. The reply instructs China's courts on how to handle jurisdictional disputes arising out of the CIETAC split. Under the reply, where the parties have agreed to submit their disputes to the CIETAC Shanghai sub-commission or the CIETAC South China sub-commission:

For further coverage of this development, see Legal update, SPC clarifies jurisdiction issues arising from CIETAC split.

On 23 July 2015, the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council circulated an amended version of the Regulations on the Administration of Investment Projects Subject to Government Verification and Approval and Investment Projects Subject to Government Record-filing (Draft), which was initially published by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) on 12 June 2015. The draft rules apply to the administration of project approvals for Chinese outbound investment projects and onshore fixed asset investment projects.

This round of amendments:

For further coverage of this development, see Legal update, State Council recirculates draft project approval rules for public comment.

For a general overview of the changes in the 2015 draft, see Article, GC Agenda China: June 2015: NDRC circulates new draft rules on project approval.

For guidance on the project approval process in force as of August 2015, see Practice note: Establishing a China business: project approval.

On 24 July 2015, the Copyright Protection Center of China issued the Notice on Further Standardizing the Processing of Software Registration Applications, which took effect from 17 August 2015. Under the notice, individuals filing applications to register software copyrights on behalf of third parties must verify their identity when submitting the application. Where an individual or corporate applicant designates a contact person as its representative for filing the application, the contact person must be identified in the application form. Likewise, when an applicant files through an IP agency, the agency and its contact person must be identified in the application form. In each case, the contact person must personally submit the application and provide a photocopy of his identification card (or other recognised form of identification, such as a passport or military ID).

For further coverage of this development, see Legal update, Copyright Protection Center introduces identity verification for software copyright registration.

On 27 July 2015 the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) issued the Notice on Popularising the Replicable Pilot Reform Experiences of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone on the Finance Leasing Industry (关于融资租赁行业推广中国（上海）自由贸易试验区可复制改革试点经验的通知). Under the notice, MOFCOM has extended nationwide a policy that finance leasing companies may engage in commercial factoring activities (that is, buy and sell accounts receivable such as book debts at a discount to face value) related to their core financing business.

MOFCOM has also exempted the subsidiaries of finance leasing companies (that is, special purpose vehicles set up to hold the leased assets) from the minimum capitalisation requirements that apply to finance leasing companies. In 2013, the State Council abolished minimum registered capitalisation requirements generally as part of a series of reforms to China's company law. However, capitalisation requirements imposed under other industry legislation, including that relating to the finance leasing industry, remain in force (see Practice note, Understanding the 2013 Company Law reforms: China: Company capitalisation: where old system will continue to exist).

For further coverage of this development, see Legal update, MOFCOM permits finance leasing companies to conduct commercial factoring.

On 3 August 2015, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC Standing Committee) amended the legislative plan for the 2013 to 2018 legislative session, which was originally published in October 2013. The adjusted plan increases the number of bills to be considered by legislators from 68 to 102. Of these 102 bills, 76 are scheduled for discussion within the 2013 to 2018 session and another 26 are set to be drafted and submitted for discussion subject to the fulfilment of certain conditions.

The 34 bills added to the plan include a number which have been classified as high priority (that is, are scheduled to be passed before the end of 2017). These high priority laws include the Property Tax Law, Continental Boundary Law, the Energy Law, the Environmental Protection Tax Law and a codification of China's Civil Law. Domestic commentary has focused on the introduction of the Property Tax Law, which has been anticipated for a number of years and has the potential to affect China's real estate market.

For further coverage of this development, see Legal update, NPC updates five-year legislative plan.

For more information about the legislative process in China, see Practice Note, Understanding Chinese legislation: Legislative planning process.

On 6 August 2015, the SPC issued the Provisions on Certain Issues concerning Application of Law in Trial of Cases involving Private Lending, a judicial interpretation which will take effect from 1 September 2015.

The provisions confirm the validity of onshore private lending activities by individuals and non-bank companies (that is, companies whose business scope does not include lending activities) that arise in the usual course of business. Previously, the court only recognised the validity of loans made by banking institutions approved by the China Banking Regulatory Commission. The provisions also regulate the interest rates applicable to such loans, impose default interest rates in certain situations, and limit the liability of P2P lending platforms where the platform operator acts only as an intermediary to facilitate crowd-funding activities.

For further coverage of this development, see Legal update, SPC upholds non-bank private lending.

On 7 August 2015 SAIC, together with five other government agencies, jointly issued the Notice on the Implementation of the State Council Opinions on Accelerating the Registration System Reform on "Combining the Three Certificates" (关于贯彻落实《国务院办公厅关于加快推进“三证合一”登记制度改革的意见》的通知). The notice directs local AICs to issue combined business licences, that is business licences that also function as a company's organisation code certificate and tax registration certificate and carry a uniform identification number (called the social credit code) from 1 October 2015. Before this date, the business licence, organisation code certificate and tax registration certificate, as well as any related amendments, will continue to be issued by three separate bureaux within each jurisdiction. The new combined business licences will be published on the SAIC's company information disclosure system.

Since 2013, the State Council has been carrying out company law reforms with the aim of making the business registration system more efficient for investors. The combined certificate move forms part of this reform process. For more information on the implications of the 2013 Company Law reforms (including the company information disclosure system), see Practice note, Understanding the 2013 Company Law reforms: China.

For further coverage of this development, see Legal update, SAIC pushes through company registration reform on "three in one" business licence.