China needs revised traffic laws to push self-driving cars - Mark Schaub

Mark Schaub

When Baidu CEO Robin Li was arrested by Beijing police for sitting in a self-driving car, it was obvious the country needs an update of its traffic laws, just like the US, Australia and several European countries did have. Shanghai-based lawyer Mark Schaub gives at his firm's website an overview of what is needed to support the development of self-driving cars, including testing on public roads and setting standards.

Mark Schaub:

Automated driving road testing is key step to move automated driving vehicles from the theoreticals of the lab to the realities of the market. A number of jurisdictions are taking the lead in this regard. Although, China has made great advances in constructing closed test sites it has not kept pace with others in respect of regulatory rules or guidelines on road testing. 

China may wish to consider the approaches of other jurisdictions when formulating China’s automated driving test regulations in order to lay a good foundation to enable China to become a global leader in development of automated driving vehicles.

More at China Law Insight.

Mark Schaub is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

Are you looking for stories by Mark Schaub? Do check out this list.  

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New foreign investment law: long overdue - Mark Schaub/Xu Ping

Xu Ping

Mark Schaub

The draft foreign investment law (FIL) is replacing the regulations from 1979. China has changed, and so a major overhaul of the law is long overdue, write lawyers Mark Schaub and Xu Ping in China Law Insight. They give an overview of the shortcomings of the current law, and the new features of the FIL. And it might only be the beginning.

Mark Schaub and Xu Ping:

The Foreign Investment Law, if promulgated in its current draft form, will fundamentally change the current foreign investment regulatory landscape. As such its implementation will rely on the formulation of relevant implementation rules as well as other complementary guidance, such as the Negative List, the national security review guidance and information reporting rules. While the circulation of the Draft FIL is an important first step in the context of the landmark reform, there is still a very long way to go in the establishment of a new foreign investment regime and the full implementation of the Foreign Investment Law. According to the Legislative Work Plan for the State Council in 2014, the amendment of the Three FIE Laws falls within the ‘research projects’ of 2014. MOFCOM, as the department responsible for drafting the Foreign Investment Law, has started to circulate the Draft FIL for public comments at the very start of 2015. This demonstrates the determination of the Chinese government to carry out reform. Upon expiration of the period soliciting public comments (approximately 1 month), MOFCOM will revise the Draft FIL on the basis of comments gathered from the public, and submit the revised draft to the standing meeting of the State Council for deliberation and then circulate an updated draft for the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress to review. With the objective of establishing a “new open economy system” and along with the negotiation of Sino-US and Sino-EU bilateral investment agreements, we believe we are now at the dawn of the era of the new Foreign Investment Law.

More details on proposed institutional changes in China Law Insight.

Mark Schaub and Xu Ping are lawyers at King&Wood and Mallesons. They are also speakers at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need them at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers´ request form.

Managing risks in China is a major undertaking. Are you looking for experts on risk management at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check our list here.  

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Innovation: China needs it, Israel has it - Mark Schaub

Mark Schaub

Business between China and Israel is brisk, and that is partly caused by the fact that both economies complement each other. Where China needs innovation, Israel needs a sizable market to sell its innovations, a market it does not have among its hostile neighbors. Shanghai-based lawyer Mark Schaub just returned from his latest trip to Israel and made this overview. 

Mark Schaub:

Enter Israel: Production Pygmy but Innovation Giant 

Israel’s credentials for high-quality innovation are clear, it is global number one per capita in:

• Patent registrations
• R&D spending
• Number of start-ups

However, with a population of only 8 million and a … challenging … neighborhood Israel is constrained from becoming a major manufacturing center. Traditionally Israeli start ups have looked to the US and to a lesser degree Europe as a source of funding or as a potential acquirer. 

Start Up Nation Meet Buy Up Nation 

“Follow the Money” 

In recent years China outbound investment has accelerated exponentially. China is rapidly becoming the ‘buy-up nation’. China’s provincial level SOEs and private enterprises are increasingly interested in acquiring overseas technology. Israel has the technology China needs. 

“China is Enough” 

Interestingly, many Chinese enterprises are willing to buy or license technology exclusively for China rather than requiring global rights. With a population of 1.35 billion, the world’s second largest economy and a long “to do list” China as a market is large enough for the most ambitious of companies. 

Political Support 

The complimentary nature of China and Israel’s economies has not gone unnoticed by either side. Israel’s Chief Scientist stated that Israel is ‘good at innovation and technology transfer’ and China ‘can scale up manufacturing and beyond.’ The Third Plenum was a hot topic at Israel’s Business Conference on December 8 2013.

Israel and China’s political relationship has had its up and downs over the years. Israel recognized the People’s Republic of China all the way back on 9 January 1950 but China only formally established diplomatic relations in 1992. For many years (until the late 1980s) Israeli passport holders could not even visit China. Despite this there was co-operation on a variety of fronts (including military) in the background.

In recent times the political and economic relationships have never been better. The Chinese Government is actively taking actions to improve and boost economic relations. In 2013 China and Israel signed both export enhancement and trade agreements.

More in the King&Wood Mallesons´newsletter.

Mark Schaub is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers´request form.

Are you a media representative and do you want to talk to one of our speakers? Do drop us a line.

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Gaming companies can win now at Shanghai Free Trade Zone – Mark Schaub

+Mark Schaub 

Most attention has gone to the chances of the financial industry at the new Shanghai Free Trade Zone, but while those opportunities might occur in the long term, niche markets like gaming companies can already win today, argues lawyer Mark Schaub, Partner at King&Wood and Mallesons, in a legal note.  

Mark Schaub:

China has effectively blocked gaming consoles since 2000. To put this in perspective the PlayStation 2 was released way back in 2000.  In 2000 China banned the manufacture and sale of gaming consoles due to the possible adverse effects of violence and explicit content upon China’s youth. 

However, this fourteen year blanket ban is seeing a slight unraveling as the new FTZ will, uniquely for China, allow console manufacturers to produce games and consoles for China’s domestic consumption. Naturally enough, the game manufacturers have not been given a green light to produce anything they want as they will still have to submit products to regulators for approval. Accordingly, do not expect to see a Chinese version of Battlefield 4 coming out of Waigaoqiao but non-controversial games will be able to be sold directly to the China market from the FTZ. 

Further, the new regulations will allow for manufacturers in the FTZ to sell gaming consoles to Chinese consumers. Ironically, although gaming consoles have been produced in China for export for years, sales to the domestic market were banned. Microsoft entered into a $237 million joint venture with BesTV New Media in the FTZ at the end of 2013 to make home entertainment equipment, which could potentially include games and consoles. 

The FTZ lifting of the blanket ban will lead many optimists to posit a huge untapped market that gaming console operators like Microsoft and Sony will need to immediately enter. Revenue in the PRC gaming industry grew by 38 per cent year-on-year in 2013 to RMB 83.2 billion. However, this market has been dominated by online computer and smartphone games, with PC games claiming two-thirds of the market in 2013. Due to the ban, gaming consoles have not only been driven to the sidelines but are also comparatively expensive in China... 

The different threads of new FTZ policies come together to potentially allow for great opportunities to gaming companies. 

On the one hand the obvious opening is the ability for game console and game manufacturers established in the FTZ to sell their products into China. More subtly the liberalizing of restrictions in the VATS sector may provide far greater opportunity for video game distributors to access the China market. China often embraces new technologies quicker than the West and by putting games on the cloud, the game distributors will be able to better meet consumer demands and taste while also confronting the serious piracy problem as games are stored on the cloud rather than individual devices. 

Is this all too good to be true? Time will tell but at present it does seem that the video game sector may well have more to be happy about than many other, more heralded sectors.

You can read the full paper here. 

Mark Schaub is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers´request form.

Are you a media representative and do you want to talk to one of our speakers? Do drop us a line. 

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Bolstering consumer rights in China - Mark Schaub

+Mark Schaub 

China’s laws have not kept pace with its rapidly evolving retail sector. A major overhaul of consumer protection legislation is set to take effect on March 15, 2014. In short the Revision basically changes everything for consumers in China. As always, only time will tell as to how it is implemented but the intent is clear – consumers will be given greater protection, writes Mark Schaub, lawyer at King&Wood and Malleson.

Mark Schaub:

There any many reasons that reform was overdue as consumer privacy and safety have been routinely ignored by both Chinese regulators and multinational vendors.  Main changes include: 

Framework for E-commerce – China’s anti-Valentine day, November 11 2013 shattered all previous records with a whopping RMB 35 billion one day sales just for the Alibaba group. Curiously the law has not provided specific regulations for transactions made via internet, television, phone and mail. The major changes include: that consumers will have (subject to exceptions) a 7 day “no questions” asked return policy – crucially for vendors shipping expenses will be borne by the consumer; internet platforms will need to provide certain minimum information to  consumers; and granting a right to consumers to seek compensation from either a vendor or the internet platform. 

Privacy - Anyone bombarded unsolicited and unwelcome SMS, emails and phone calls will warmly welcome the new efforts to protect consumer personal information. In addition, business operators must first obtain a consumer’s consent and explain the intended use. 

Increased penalties – the new legislation provides regulators and courts with a bigger stick to drive business operators towards compliance. Higher compensation for consumers; heavier fines for business operators; possibility for punitive damages; and even opens the door for public interest (i.e. class action) litigation.

The full article can be found here.

Mark Schaub is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers´request form.

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