The China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) recently issued draft rules namely, Regulatory Measures on Offshore Investment of Insurance Assets, governing China's insurance companies' investment in their assets offshore and the appointment of foreign investment managers ...
The role that Asian banks will play in film financing in Asia is a challenging and necessary one as we continue to see the fast paced growth of the Asian film industries. Asia is, so far, an untapped resource of ideas, stories, shooting locations, skilled crew, talent and effective film making techniques ...
Film Services OfficeThe Film Guarantee Fund (FGF) : First established in April 2003, the FGF’s main objective is to assist local film production companies to obtain loans from financial lending institutions for the purpose of producing films and to help develop a film finance infrastructure in Hong Kong ...
In recent years, we have seen a surge in co-productions in Asia, whether in the form of co-productions between parties from different parts of Asia (which would normally involve both financial and production contribution from all parties), or co-productions between Western and Chinese parties ...
On 14 July 2006, the Hong Kong and Mainland Chinese Governments signed a ground-breaking agreement entitled “An Arrangement on Reciprocal Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters by the Courts of the Mainland and of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region pursuant to Choice of Court Agreements between Parties Concerned” (the “Arrangement”), under which they agreed to recognise and enforce judgments made in each others courts ...
In an effort to “rejuvenate the excitement of going to the movies”, The Drive-In became Hong Kong’s first drive-in cinema when its first of 4 screens opened to the public on December 6 2006. The second is tentatively to open by Christmas and the last two, by Chinese New Year 2007 . Situated in the West Kowloon Cultural District, the venture is owned by Sowell Resources Limited who also holds the lease to the site of The Drive-in ...
Another victim of the economic boom in Hong Kong is the Cine-Art Cinema which was officially closed in November 2006. The cinema was the only venue on Hong Kong Island that programmed independent, arthouse films. The only other arthouse cinema is Broadway Cinemateque in Kowloon. Due to rising property prices and a declining audience for several years, Cine-Art had no choice but to close ...
On 17 November 2006, the Beijing First Intermediate Court rejected the copyright infringement claim made by seven music companies, namely Sony BMG, Warner, EMI, Universal, Gold Label, Go East and Cinepoly, against NASDAQ-listed Baidu.com. The music companies which owned the copyright, alleged that the MP3 search service of Baidu.com allowed users to freely download 137 songs and sought an injunction as well as damages in the amount of RMB1,690,000 ...
The war between new DVD technologies, Blu-ray and HD DVD are reminiscent of the battle between the VHS and Betamax videocassette formats. Who will be the winner in this war is yet to be seen as these formats are now becoming available in retail outlets. Supported by Sony, Blu-ray is the next generation optical disc which was developed to store large amounts of data and to enable recording, rewriting and playback of high definition (HD) video ...
In M&A transactions, the principal terms negotiated by the parties are usually the structure, price, representations, warranties and undertakings and indemnities. Whereas in most jurisdictions parties are at liberty to agree on these terms, in China the outcome of the negotiations between Chinese and foreign parties may not be as final as hoped for ...
The Ministry of Commerce (“MOFCOM”), the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, the State Administration of Taxation, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (“CSRC”) and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange jointly issued the Regulations Regarding the Acquisition of Domestic Enterprises by Foreign Investors on 8 August 2006 ...
The Central Government of the People’s Republic of China (“Mainland”) and the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (“Hong Kong”) jointly issued the Arrangement between the Mainland and Hong Kong for the Avoidance of Double Taxation on Income and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion on 21 August 2006 ...
The Ministry of Commerce (“MOFCOM”) promulgated the Supplementary Regulations Regarding the Establishment of Holding Companies by Foreign Investors on 26 May 2006. The Supplementary Regulations amend and supplement the Regulations on the Investment in and Establishment of Holding Companies by Foreign Business Entities, which became effective on 17 December 2004 (the “Holding Company Regulations”) (as discussed in the 2004.4 issue of China Legal Update) ...
The Central Government of the People’s Republic of China (“Mainland”) and the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (“Hong Kong”) reached a further understanding regarding the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement between the Mainland and Hong Kong (“CEPA”) (as discussed in the July 2003 issue of China Legal Update) on 27 June 2006. This supplement, referred to as CEPA IV, further liberalises PRC market access for qualified Hong Kong service suppliers ...
The Government of Hong Kong and the Central Government of the People’s Republic of China (“Mainland”) signed An Arrangement on Reciprocal Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters by the Courts of the Mainland and of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region pursuant to Choice of Court Agreements between Parties Concerned on 14 July 2006 ...
The Ministry of Commerce issued the Notice on Further Improving the Work of Attracting Foreign Investment into the Logistics Sector on 20 April 2006. The Notice, which became effective on 31 March 2006, is the first major liberalisation in the PRC logistics sector since the 2002 Notice on Relevant Issues in the Work of Launching Pilot Projects for the Establishment of Logistics Enterprises with Foreign Investment (“Pilot Notice”) ...
The Ministry of Construction, Ministry of Commerce, National Development and Reform Commission, the People’s Bank of China, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange jointly issued the Opinions on Regulating the Entry into and the Administration of Foreign Investment in the Real Estate Market on 11 July 2006 ...
Amendment (6) to the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China was adopted at the 22nd Session of the Standing Committee of the 10th National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China on 19 June 2006 and promulgated by President Hu Jintao on 29 June 2006. The Amendment, which entered into effect on the date it was promulgated, introduces penalties for a range of economic crimes ...
The Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation jointly issued the Notice on Adjustment of the Scope of the Tax Refund Policies for the Purchase of Domestically Manufactured Equipment by Foreign Investment Projects on 10 May 2006. The Notice revises the value-added tax (“VAT”) refund policy for the purchase of domestically manufactured equipment (“domestic equipment”), which is available to certain foreign investment projects ...
The State Administration of Foreign Exchange ("SAFE") issued the Notice on Adjusting the Policies on Foreign Exchange Control for Current Account Items on 14 April 2006. The Notice, which became effective on 1 May 2006, further relaxes foreign exchange control over current account items ...
The Ministry of Finance and State Intellectual Property Office jointly issued the Notice of on Several Issues Concerning Strengthening the Administration on Asset Valuation in Connection with Intellectual Property Rights on 19 April 2006. Mandatory valuation The Notice clarifies the circumstances in which an assets valuation of intellectual property rights (“IP rights”) is to be conducted ...
