Laws and Regulations

 

National

 

1. China to Roll Out Centralized Cross-Border Fund Operations in RMB and Foreign Currencies for Multinational Companies Nationwide

[Keywords: Multinational companies, Cash pooling]

 

Recently, the Notice of the People’s Bank of China (PBC) and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on Matters Concerning Centralized Cross-Border Fund Operations in RMB and Foreign Currencies for Multinational Companies was released. The document aims to further facilitate the pooling and use of group funds by multinational companies, deepen high-standard financial opening-up, and support high-quality development of the real economy. The document will take effect on September 14, 2026.

 

Source: PBC

https://www.pbc.gov.cn/tiaofasi/144941/3581332/2026081411081241742/index.html

 

2. Supreme People’s Court Revises Judicial Interpretation on Copyright Civil Disputes

[Keywords: Copyright, Civil disputes]

 

Recently, the Supreme People’s Court issued the Decision on Amending the Interpretation of the Supreme People’s Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Copyright Civil Dispute Cases. The document further clarifies the criteria for determining whether a work has been “made available to the public”, refines the rules on the application of fair use, and specifies the scope of application of statutory licensing for the reprinting of works in newspapers and periodicals. The document will take effect on September 1, 2026.

 

Source: Supreme People’s Court

 

3. Two More Countries Added to China’s 240-Hour Visa-Free Transit and Hainan’s 30-Day Visa-Free Entry Policies

[Keywords: Kyrgyzstan, Vietnam, Visa-free entry]

 

Recently, the National Immigration Administration (NIA) announced that, starting August 20, 2026, citizens of Kyrgyzstan and Vietnam are eligible for China’s 240-hour visa-free transit policy and Hainan’s 30-day visa-free entry policy. The number of countries eligible for the 240-hour visa-free transit policy has increased to 57, while the number eligible for Hainan’s 30-day visa-free entry policy has increased to 61.

 

Source: NIA

 

Shanghai

 

1. Shanghai Releases 15th Five-Year Plan for the Development of “Digital Shanghai”

[Keywords: Digital Shanghai]

 

Recently, the General Office of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government issued the 15th Five-Year Plan for the Development of “Digital Shanghai”. The document sets out the overall goals and major indicators for the development of “Digital Shanghai” during the 15th Five-Year Plan period and identifies five key tasks, including strengthening scenario-driven development and consolidating the citywide digital and intelligent foundation, as well as advancing openness and coordination and fostering a strong digital and intelligent environment for international cooperation.

 

Source: Shanghai Municipal People’s Government

https://www.shanghai.gov.cn/nw12344/20260819/6cf80b0875f1465c94886f0b1a4a4f35.html

 

2. Shanghai Upgrades Logistics System to Build a Global Supply Chain Management Hub

[Keyword: Logistics]

 

Recently, the General Office of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government issued the 15th Five-Year Plan for the Development of Modern Logistics in Shanghai. The document sets six indicative development targets and states that by 2030, Shanghai will strive to become a core node in global logistics and supply chain networks, an international logistics hub, and a global supply chain management center.

 

Source: Shanghai Municipal People’s Government

https://www.shanghai.gov.cn/nw12344/20260818/4579a177ce9d44e5b6405a0677a00650.html

 

3. Shanghai Financial Court Issues Judicial Safeguards and Typical Cases to Enhance Shanghai’s Competitiveness and Influence as an International Financial Center

[Keywords: Shanghai, International Financial Center]

 

Recently, the Shanghai Financial Court issued the Opinions on Providing Judicial Safeguards to Enhance the Competitiveness and Influence of Shanghai as an International Financial Center, together with typical cases involving foreign-related financial disputes and financial disputes involving Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. These cases cover representative legal issues arising in typical cross-border financial scenarios, including independent guarantees, cross-border guarantees, cross-border securities offerings, and cross-border business operations.

 

Source: Shanghai Financial Court

 

Q&A

 

An official from the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) answers questions from the press on the implementation of the Measures for Cyber Data Security Risk Assessment.

 

Q1

How can an organization apply for certification of cyber data security risk assessment services?

A1

Article 8 of the Measures for Cyber Data Security Risk Assessment provides: “Relevant assessment institutions are encouraged to obtain certification. Certification of assessment institutions shall be conducted in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Certification and Accreditation.”

Certification bodies including the Data and Technology Support Center of the CAC, the Third Research Institute of the Ministry of Public Security, and TL Certification Center Co., Ltd. have filed the Certification Rules for Data Security Risk Assessment Services with the Certification and Accreditation Administration of China. The relevant certification bodies will carry out certification in accordance with the certification rules and relevant standards and specifications. Assessment institutions may apply to the above certification bodies for service certification.

 

Q2

How should important data processors submit cyber data security risk assessment reports?

A2

Article 16 of the Measures for Cyber Data Security Risk Assessment provides: “Important data processors shall, within 20 working days after completing the annual risk assessment, submit the risk assessment report to the relevant competent authority as required. Where the competent authority is unclear, the report shall be submitted to the provincial-level cyberspace administration or the national cyberspace administration.”

 

Source: CAC

 

Expert Perspective

 

From “Market Access” to “Business Operations”: The Institutional Logic and Cross-Border Investment Implications of the Action Plan for Stabilizing Foreign Investment and Improving Quality (Part III)

 

By LAN Jie, XU He, GUO Huarong, and ZHAO Wenjia [Haiwen& Partners]

 

[Continued from last issue]

[Article Overview]

This article examines policy arrangements under the Action Plan for Stabilizing Foreign Investment and Improving Quality to support key foreign-invested enterprises in raising funds through domestic listings and promote domestic reinvestment by foreign investors. The article notes that enhanced pre-filing communication services for listing applications signal efforts to bring eligible foreign-invested enterprises into market-oriented financing channels and provide them with more targeted support and proactive services. However, wholly foreign-owned enterprises still need to address listing-related issues such as independence and related-party transactions. Meanwhile, policies on domestic reinvestment continue to be relaxed. Further optimization of registration and fund transfer procedures for reinvestment using foreign exchange capital and profits will help reduce corporate funding costs and exchange rate risks and make it more convenient for foreign investors to expand reinvestment in China.

[Article Details]

III. Supporting Key Foreign-Invested Enterprises in Raising Funds Through Domestic Listings: A Signal of Further Capital Market Opening

For the first time at the national level, the Action Plan explicitly calls for “optimizing pre-filing communication services for stock exchange listing applications and supporting eligible key foreign-invested enterprises in raising funds through domestic listings.” Although the wording is brief, it sends a noteworthy policy signal.

(I) Policy Background and Significance

For a long time, wholly foreign-owned enterprises (WFOEs) have faced considerable institutional barriers to domestic listings. Although there is no explicit legal prohibition on WFOEs going public in China, in practice, foreign-invested enterprises face compatibility issues with domestic listing rules in areas such as organizational form, corporate governance structure, foreign exchange administration, and review of related-party transactions. Most foreign-invested enterprises currently listed on the A-share market take the form of Sino-foreign joint ventures or foreign-controlled enterprises, while cases of pure WFOEs listing on the A-share market remain extremely rare.

The Action Plan calls for “supporting eligible key foreign-invested enterprises in raising funds through domestic listings”, conveying at least three policy signals. First, at the policy level, listings by foreign-invested enterprises are no longer treated as “exceptional cases” but are incorporated into regular market-oriented financing channels. Second, the reference to “key foreign-invested enterprises” suggests that a classified support mechanism may be established, with priority support given to foreign-invested enterprises that align with national strategic priorities, have relatively large operations, and maintain sound governance. Third, “optimizing pre-filing communication services” reflects a shift in regulatory approach, from the previous emphasis on prudent review to more proactive services.

(II) Practical Challenges and Outlook

Of course, many practical issues still need to be addressed before these policy signals can be translated into concrete implementation. Taking WFOEs as an example, their close ties with overseas headquarters in legal affairs, human resources, finance, and business operations may raise concerns over their independence, making it more difficult to pass listing reviews relating to related-party transactions and horizontal competition. How to strike a balance between maintaining unified group management and meeting listing independence requirements will be a key legal issue for foreign-invested enterprises seeking domestic listings.

In addition, the support measures introduced under the new policy offer an interesting contrast to the regulatory trend governing overseas listings by domestic enterprises. Since the Trial Administrative Measures of Overseas Securities Offering and Listing by Domestic Companies took effect in March 2023, overseas listings by domestic enterprises through small red-chip structures and H-share structures have been fully brought under the filing-based regulatory regime. Following the inclusion of overseas listings through red-chip structures in the filing regime, the use of such structures has declined significantly. Against this backdrop, opening the domestic listing channel for WFOEs means that companies utilizing small red-chip structures could be spared the heavy burden of unwinding their offshore structures, allowing the WFOE within a small red-chip structure to act directly as the issuer for a domestic listing. This could, on the one hand, broaden domestic financing channels for foreign-invested enterprises and, on the other hand, create incentives for foreign-invested enterprises that have established offshore structures or even completed overseas listings to return to the domestic market, potentially serving as a policy tool to direct high-quality assets back to China’s capital markets.

IV. Promoting Domestic Reinvestment by Foreign Investors

Article 1(6) of the Action Plan calls for “implementing tax incentive policies for direct investment by overseas investors using distributed profits and ensuring that policy benefits are delivered precisely” and “including more reinvestment projects by foreign-invested enterprises in the list of major and key foreign-invested projects”. This provision continues the overall direction of the policies adopted in 2025 to stabilize foreign investment. Compared with previous policies, the Action Plan places greater emphasis on the “precision” of policy implementation and the “expansion” of project support.

(I) Evolution of Policies on Domestic Reinvestment by Foreign Investors

Domestic reinvestment by foreign investors mainly takes two forms: domestic reinvestment using foreign exchange capital and reinvestment using distributed profits. A review of policy developments in recent years reveals a clear trend toward easing restrictions.

For domestic reinvestment using foreign exchange capital, the Notice on Implementing Several Measures to Encourage Domestic Reinvestment by Foreign-Invested Enterprises (FagaiWaizi [2025] No. 928), issued by the National Development and Reform Commission and other departments in July 2025, stipulated for the first time that where a foreign-invested enterprise makes domestic reinvestment using its foreign exchange capital or RMB funds converted from such capital, the investee enterprise or equity transferor is not required to complete registration procedures for receiving domestic reinvestment. In September of the same year, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange further clarified in the Notice on Matters Concerning Further Reform of Foreign Exchange Administration for Cross-Border Investment and Financing (Huifa [2025] No. 43) that, provided the special administrative measures for foreign investment access are not violated and the domestic investment project is genuine and compliant, domestic reinvestment funds may be transferred directly to the relevant account. This means that foreign-invested enterprises using their foreign exchange capital for domestic reinvestment will no longer be required to complete foreign exchange registration procedures for reinvestment as in the past.

For domestic reinvestment using distributed profits, FagaiWaizi [2025] No. 928 and Huifa [2025] No. 43 clarified the fund transfer arrangements for domestic reinvestment using foreign exchange profits. Where a foreign-invested enterprise uses lawfully generated foreign exchange profits, or an overseas investor uses foreign exchange profits lawfully obtained in China, for domestic reinvestment, the relevant foreign exchange funds may be transferred domestically in accordance with applicable regulations. This means that foreign exchange profits of foreign-invested enterprises may be transferred directly within China for reinvestment, without going through the process of foreign exchange settlement followed by repurchase, significantly reducing funding costs and exchange rate risks.

 

[To be continued]

 

One Week in Shanghai

 

Latest News

 

1. Shanghai Launches First “Hu Xiaoyou” Service Center to Promote Integrated Consumption Across Culture, Commerce, Tourism, Sports and Exhibitions

[Keywords: “Hu Xiaoyou” Service Center]

 

Recently, the launch ceremony for the “Hu Xiaoyou” Service Center, a micro-hub integrating culture, commerce, tourism, sports, and exhibitions, was held in Shanghai. At the newly launched integrated micro-hub, the “Hu Xiaoyou” intelligent agent serves as the digital foundation for “AI + culture and tourism”, providing core capabilities such as AI-powered Q&A, precise LBS-based positioning, multilingual interaction, and personalized itinerary recommendations. Meanwhile, the “Meet China” international bank card payment terminal, serving as a national demonstration platform for inbound tourism consumption, provides overseas visitors with convenient payment services without requiring downloads, registration, or card linking.

 

Source: Shanghai Tourism

 

2. Shanghai Issues Guidelines on Authenticity Rules for Commodity Trading

[Keyword: Commodities]

 

Recently, the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce issued the Guidelines on Authenticity Rules for Commodity Trading in Shanghai (Trial), effective as of the date of issuance. The document encourages enterprises to connect with warehouse receipt registration institutions, blockchain evidence preservation platforms, and the comprehensive service and management platform for trusted commodity trading. Through end-to-end blockchain-based evidence preservation, data from warehousing, logistics, transactions, settlement, and other stages can be interconnected to ensure that trade data is authentic, tamper-proof, and traceable.

 

Source: Shanghai Commerce

 

Corporate Activities

 

BYK Opens New Mini Plant in China

[Keyword: BYK]

 

Recently, BYK held an opening ceremony in Shanghai for its new mini plant in China. Featuring four production lines with an annual capacity of 500 metric tons, the new facility’s core strength lies in localized and flexible production. To meet the diverse and rapidly evolving innovation needs of the Chinese market, the mini plant leverages its advantages of small-batch, high-mix, and highly flexible production to respond quickly to customers’ various customized requirements.

 

Source: Invest in Shanghai

 

Forums and Exhibitions

 

2026 Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics Autumn Edition Opens

[Keywords: Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics Autumn Edition]

The 2026 Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics Autumn Edition will be held at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai) from August 25 to 27. Covering 240,000 square meters across nine core exhibition halls, the event will bring together more than 3,500 exhibitors from 30 countries and regions worldwide. 

 

Source: Shanghai Commerce

 

Culture & Arts

 

1. New Version of Dance Drama “Legend on the Silk Road” to Be Staged in Shanghai in November

[Keywords: Legend on the Silk Road]

The new version of the dance drama “Legend on the Silk Road” will be staged at the Opera Hall of the Shanghai Oriental Art Center on November 7 and 8. Set against the backdrop of the Tang Dynasty at its height, the large-scale dance drama draws inspiration from the world-renowned Silk Road and the Dunhuang murals, while incorporating elements from folk songs and dances from different regions.

 

Source: Minhang Today

 

2. “A House of Nobility: Aesthetics and Cultivation of Life in the Mawangdui Han Tombs” Exhibition Updates Its Displays

[Keywords: Mawangdui Han Tombs]

Starting August 18, the T-shaped silk painting from Mawangdui Tomb No. 3 is on display at the Shanghai Art Museum. It is the largest known painted silk work from the Han Dynasty. The precious artifact had previously been exhibited outside Hunan only in Italy, making this its first public exhibition outside Hunan Province within China and giving the exhibition considerable academic and aesthetic significance.

 

Source: Shanghai Tourism

 

3. Shanghai Poly Grand Theatre Launches 12th Anniversary Performance Season

[Keywords: Shanghai Poly Grand Theatre, 12th Anniversary]

 

Recently, the “Nonstop” 12th Anniversary Performance Season of Shanghai Poly Grand Theatre officially opened. The season will feature 25 productions across 30 performances, bringing together traditional Chinese culture and world-class art and creating a stage where millennia-old cultural traditions resonate with contemporary trends.

 

Source: Shanghai Poly Grand Theatre