[vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern” css_animation=””][vc_column][vc_column_text]On June 10, 2021, PRC legislature passed the Anti-Foreign Sanction Law (the \u201cLaw\u201d) with immediate effect.<\/p>\n
I. Objective of the Law: China now has right to take countermeasures<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n The Law clarifies that \u201cChina has the right to counteract the countries which uses various pretexts or according to its own laws to contain and suppress China, adopts discriminatory restrictive measures against PRC citizens\/entities or interferes in China\u2019s internal affairs\u201d.1<\/a><\/sup><\/span><\/p>\n *<\/strong>\u00a0Comments<\/strong>: According to the press conference held on June 10, 2021, some foreign restrictive measures imposed on PRC citizens\/entities on the following China issues would be deemed as discriminatory, such as matters relating to Hong Kong SAR, Taiwan, Xinjiang province, Covid-19.2<\/a><\/sup><\/span><\/p>\n II. Responsible PRC Departments to take countermeasures<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n State Council and other relevant departments<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0have authority to decide a list of individuals and entities who directly or indirectly involve the restrictive measures against PRC citizen or entity (\u201cCountermeasure List<\/strong>\u201d).3<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0China will set up a coordination mechanism to overall manage the anti-foreign sanction works, and all the responsible departments shall fully cooperate with each other to perform their respective responsibilities and insist in information sharing.4<\/a><\/sup><\/span><\/p>\n *<\/strong>\u00a0Comments<\/strong>:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n (1) It is expected that the \u201cother relevant departments\u201d shall at least contain the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.<\/span><\/p>\n (2) From the text of laws, the responsible departments are granted wide discretion (no concrete criteria) to determine whether to add certain individuals\/entities to the Countermeasure List.<\/span><\/p>\n III. Countermeasure List: covered individuals\/entities<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Two categories of individuals\/entities would be added in the Countermeasure List:<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_single_image image=”40955″ img_size=”full” qode_css_animation=””][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]*<\/strong>\u00a0Comments<\/strong>: The \u201cindividual\u201d may refer to officials, politicians, entrepreneurs, scholars, etc.; while the \u201centity\u201d may refer to all kinds of business organization, non-profit organization, non-government organization, etc. It is inevitable that business community will be impacted since senior officers of a company or the company itself may be subject to the countermeasures. The Law also has created additional compliance obligations on multinationals with PRC subsidiary or doing business in\/with China.<\/span><\/p>\n IV. Countermeasure decisions and remedy<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n 1. Countermeasure decisions<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n PRC Responsible departments may adopt one or more of the following sanctions on the listed individuals and entities:<\/span><\/p>\n \u2022<\/strong>\u00a0denial of visa issuance, banning entry into China, invalidating visas, and deportation;<\/span><\/p>\n \u2022<\/strong>\u00a0sealing up, seizing and freezing movable, immovable and other types of property in China;<\/span><\/p>\n \u2022<\/strong>\u00a0prohibiting or restricting from conducting related transactions, cooperation or other activities with domestic entities or individuals;<\/span><\/p>\n \u2022<\/strong>\u00a0other necessary measures (catch-all).7<\/a><\/sup><\/span><\/p>\n *<\/strong>\u00a0Comments<\/strong>: The transaction & cooperation ban and catch-all clause may literally block all the business activities in China. The upcoming practices are waited to determine how far the sanction can reach.<\/span><\/p>\n 2. Remedy for countermeasure decisions<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Countermeasure decisions cannot be subject to any judicial appeal or administrative review as the decision made is final decision8<\/a><\/sup>, and the countermeasure decisions can only be suspended, altered, or canceled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, State Council, and other responsible departments.9<\/a><\/sup><\/span><\/p>\n *<\/strong>\u00a0Comments<\/strong>:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n (1) It indicates that the responsible departments are also granted discretion to remove, modify, or change the sanction or list.<\/span><\/p>\n (2) The wording of \u201cfinal decision\u201d produces a debate on whether one can file administrative reconsideration (government process) or administrative litigation (court process). The answer will show up only when any remedy is successfully taken in the future.<\/span><\/p>\n V. Compliance Obligations for Other Parties<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n 1. Implementation of countermeasures adopted by China<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Entities and individuals within the territory of China shall implement the countermeasures adopted by China, otherwise, sanctions would be granted.<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_single_image image=”40956″ img_size=”full” qode_css_animation=””][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]*<\/strong>\u00a0Comments<\/strong>:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n (1) The scope of \u201crelevant activity\u201d may cover the financial activity, consulting activity, legal services, etc. Therefore, the liability can be considered as suspension\/freeze on all the business activities carried by the violating party.<\/span><\/p>\n (2) It is worthy to note that \u201centities and individuals within the territory of China\u201d include foreign invested enterprises.<\/span><\/p>\n 2. Prohibition to implement foreign measures against PRC individuals\/entities<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Any organization and individual shall not implement or assist in the implementation of the discriminatory restrictive measures taken by any foreign country against any Chinese citizens\/organizations. The Chinese citizens\/organizations may file a lawsuit to the people’s court to request the cessation of infringement and compensation for any loss.<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_single_image image=”40957″ img_size=”full” qode_css_animation=””][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]*<\/strong>\u00a0Comments<\/strong>:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n (3) Legal community is discussing the practicability of \u201cfiling a lawsuit,\u201d such as, whether the party challenging the action has \u201cstanding,\u201d whether the court will accept the case (jurisdiction concern), whether the judgment can be enforced overseas, etc.<\/span><\/p>\n VI. Other Laws and Regulations:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n The Law clearly states that other laws, administrative regulations, and normative documents may be rolled out to counteract foreign unfair sanctions.12<\/a><\/sup><\/span><\/p>\n *<\/strong>\u00a0Comments<\/strong>:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n By now, three documents have been released:<\/span><\/p>\n (1) PRC Export Control Law (nature: law);\u00a013<\/a><\/sup><\/span><\/p>\n (2) PRC Blocking Rules (nature: normative document);14<\/a><\/sup><\/span><\/p>\n (3) PRC Unreliable Entity List (nature: normative document).\u00a015<\/a><\/sup><\/span><\/p>\n (http:\/\/www.npc.gov.cn\/npc\/c30834\/202106\/d4a714d5813c4ad2ac54a5f0f78a5270.shtml<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n http:\/\/www.npc.gov.cn\/npc\/kgfb\/202106\/90e92a915d5241468daa089a29cf08d3.shtml<\/a>)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 1.<\/a>\u00a0Article 3 of the Law<\/p>\n 2.<\/a>\u00a0http:\/\/www.gov.cn\/xinwen\/2021-06\/11\/content_5616932.htm<\/a><\/p>\n 3.<\/a>\u00a0Article 4 of the Law<\/p>\n 4.<\/a>\u00a0Article 10 of the Law<\/p>\n 5.<\/a>\u00a0Article 4 of the Law<\/p>\n 6.<\/a>\u00a0Article 5 of the Law<\/p>\n 7.<\/a>\u00a0Article 6 of the Law<\/p>\n 8.<\/a>\u00a0Article 7 of the Law<\/p>\n 9.<\/a>\u00a0Article 8, 9 of the Law<\/p>\n 10.<\/a>\u00a0Article 11 of the Law<\/p>\n 11.<\/a>\u00a0Article 12 of the Law<\/p>\n 12.<\/a>\u00a0Article 13 of the Law<\/p>\n 13.<\/a>\u00a0https:\/\/asiallians.com\/zh-hans\/legal-news-prc-adopted-export-control-law\/<\/a><\/p>\n 14.<\/a>\u00a0https:\/\/asiallians.com\/en\/legal-news-china-released-blocking-rules-counteract-us-long-arm-jurisdiction\/<\/a> 15.<\/a>\u00a0http:\/\/asiallians.com\/china-legal-update-blacklist-unreliable-foreign-entities-released-protect-chinese-companys-interest-us-china-trade-war\/<\/a>[\/vc_column_text][vc_separator type=”normal” color=”#000000″ up=”25″ down=”25″][vc_column_text]Should you have any inquiry about the above rule, please contact us at\u00a0asiallians@asiallians.com<\/a>. As always, Asiallians remains at your service and our teams are currently mobilized in all our offices in Mainland China, in Hong Kong and in Taipei.<\/em>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On November 11th, 2015, the sales volume of Taobao (a B2C platform owned by Alibaba Group) reached CNY 91.2 billion (around 14 billion USD), with around 680 million online deals completed and the packages delivered all across the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":40954,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[894],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
\nNormative document ranking inferior to law promulgated by legislature in the hierarchy of legal authority of Chinese laws and regulations.<\/p>\n