"Generally speaking, the scope of fixed asset investment projects with foreign investment that are subject to the verification requirement is broad. That is, those restricted under the Foreign Investment Catalogue are subject to the NDRC or local DRC's verification, depending on the total investment amount. Those not restricted under the Foreign Investment Catalogue but listed in the Verification Catalogue are subject to verification as well. Only fixed asset investment projects with foreign investment that are not listed in the Verification Catalogue and not prohibited in the Foreign Investment Catalogue are subject to the less rigorous record-filing procedure."

"The draft measures are a welcome elaboration of China's impending new cyber security review regime, but unfortunately they do little to fill in details of critical importance, such as how to determine the specific scope of products subject to review and the specific scope of companies subject to procurement restrictions. Furthermore, multinational investors and manufacturers remain concerned that security review will be implemented with a protectionist slant, impeding market access to foreign technology, or in an invasive way, forcing disclosure of sensitive intellectual property, to name just two of the many concerns raised by the proposed cyber security review process."

"Many of the provisions are likely to only be of interest to trade mark practitioners, but they do include important guidance on how the courts should examine cases where a disputed trade mark is alleged to infringe the prior rights of the party bringing the dispute. The provisions also provide guidance in terms of how to assess fame and on situations where bad faith can be inferred on the part of the owner of a disputed trade mark. They will not satisfy everyone, but as the examination standards of Chinese courts are generally quite opaque the provisions are to be welcomed for bringing increased clarity, particularly in terms of highlighting the types of evidence that courts should be looking for when examining a complainant's claims."

"In line with the Chinese government's recent policies of encouraging inbound investment and capital inflow, by issuing this notice SAFE aims to funnel proceeds raised from offshore bond issuance into China. In addition, the implementation of the notice will likely encourage more and more Chinese bond issuers to use a simple guarantee structure for their offshore bond issuance, and keepwell agreements, as a way to enhance a bond issuer's credit quality, will become much less popular in China."

"The principles embodied in the measures are very welcome. They contemplate easing foreign investment restrictions in a number of sectors that have previously been difficult for foreign investors, including banking, insurance and credit rating services. While the wording is vague, the measures also contemplate the "orderly opening" of the telecommunications sector, which is being well received by international internet and other technology companies whose businesses in China all too readily get entangled in telecommunications licensing challenges. Other measures that would create a more level playing field in regard to such things as access to China's equity markets and ability to participate in public tender processes will help with the competitiveness of foreign-invested companies in China."

"An area of tremendous uncertainty and risk for online merchants in China's burgeoning e-commerce sector is the broad right of consumers to return goods for a refund within seven days of purchase. These measures address some of the more challenging problems associated with this return right, qualifying this right in regard to certain types of goods. Online merchants will welcome the changes to the prior draft of the rules and also that the rules have now been issued in final form. They will not fully address issues with the right of return, which will likely continue to be a significant source of consumer claims."