Ever since the Arbitration Law of the People’s Republic of China (the “Chinese Arbitration Law”) was enacted in 1994, the landscape of Chinese commercial arbitration has gone through a profound change. At the end of 2017, there were 251 arbitration institutions in China. With experience gained over the past two decades, some institutions, such as the Beijing Arbitration Commission/ Beijing International Arbitration Center (the “BAC/BIAC”), have won a reputation for high quality within the international arbitration community and have become popular for cross-border dispute resolution among both Chinese and foreign parties. Parties who intend to settle cross-border disputes by arbitration in China are well-advised to learn more about this important option.

Most agreements between investors and the founders of companies or projects contain valuation-adjustment mechanisms or repurchase arrangements to protect investors from the potential failure of the investments or failure of the founders to fulfill their commitments. However, investors may nonetheless fail to get their money back if the founders have few assets, or none. One way to solve this is to go after the founders’ spouses by claiming that the commitments or debts of the founders constitutes matrimonial community debt, requiring reimbursement from the spouses. Matrimonial community debt is set out in the Marriage Law of the People’s Republic of China (“Marriage Law”), and in recent years China\s Supreme People’s Court (SPC) has changed its position on how to recognize matrimonial community debt.

With the ongoing commitment to reform and opening to the outside world and the steady implementation of the Belt and Road initiative, the percentage of China’s entire trade regime accounted for by international technology is growing larger and larger. International technology licenses are among the major forms of technology trade between countries. Due to the differences in legal systems, legal regimes, and legal cultures of the various trade participants, lawyers are highly encouraged to pay particular attention to the following issues when drafting and reviewing international technology agreements.

The future is coming. Soon, people will order a car to send kids to school without the need for a driver. When you get out of a car at the main entrance of a busy shopping mall, it will park itself. Although those scenarios sound too good to be true, the automotive industry is predicting that automated driving will arrive within the next five to ten years.

China, with its huge market, comprehensive industry chain, and rapidly rising scientific and technological strength, is increasingly favored by international investors. According to the Foreign Investment Department of China’s Ministry of Commerce, from January to December 2017, there were 25,652 newly approved foreign-invested enterprises – an increase of 27.8% from the year before – and the actual total of foreign investment reached RMB 877.56 billion (approximately USD 131.04 billion), up 7.9% from 2016.

In 2017, the reorganization of Chongqing Iron and Steel Company sensationalized the steel industry as well as the reorganization market in China. This steel titan, listed on both the mainland and Hong Kong stock exchanges, managed to emerge from bankruptcy only six months after the court accepted its reorganization application. During this period, the sophisticated reorganization plan, which provided more than CNY 10 billion cash in debt payment to the company’s creditors, was formulated, accepted, approved, and fully implemented. Such reorganization is a microcosm of the thriving reorganization market in China. Since reorganization was introduced by the current Enterprise Bankruptcy Law in 2006, the emerging reorganization market has grown rapidly, especially after 2015 when the central government formulated the policy to deleverage, reduce inventory, and address overcapacity. Professionals and investors are pouring into this promising, developing, and challenging market. And China’s market for non-performing assets disposal is undergoing a transition from enforcement-focused to reorganization-oriented.

Chinese investors and developers are expanding their footprints in Europe, focusing often on green technology and opportunities in the solar, hi-tech, and automation industries, as well as highly-publicized infrastructure development tenders. Over the years, the amount of Chinese investment has increased, as has the number of Chinese professionals settling in CEE to facilitate Europe-China relations and bridge differences in culture, expectations, and styles. In September, 2018, CEE Legal Matters sat down at the Dentons office in Budapest with three Chinese lawyers to learn about their experiences working on the ground in CEE.

The Prague-based European Centre for Career Education focuses on providing students a practical and complimentary education, focusing on kinds of practical experience and inspiration they rarely receive in their university studies. After they complete the program, ECCE helps participants obtain useful internships with companies such as Siemens, Unicredit, Exxon Mobile, T-Mobile, and Lego, and with law firms including DLA Piper, Clifford Chance, Allen & Overy, and Dentons.

Czech and Slovak lawyers turn to what’s really important: Basketball