Welcome to the last Hongda Business Services Roundup of May! As we look forward to the new month of June it's about that time again that we introduce you to another one of our complimentary offers.
A couple of months ago we released a trademarks eBook and I'm happy to announce that we have compiled a printable trademarks checklist for companies looking for an easy way to keep track of the entire process from start to finish.
Learn about the documents required and the registration procedure to help you register your own trademarks in China with our complimentary checklist.
Now, onto this week's posts:
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Where To Find Information On The QianHai Special Economic Zone?
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China is the biggest risk to Hong Kong banking stability
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Enforcing contracts in China: Time to rely on written agreements again
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China's high-tech future emerges in factory town Shenzhen
Let's jump right in!
1) Where To Find Information On The QianHai Special Economic Zone?
If you're at all familiar with Chinese business news, then you may have heard of a place called QianHai special economic zone.
This zone is a new area of Shenzhen which the Chinese government are hoping will overhaul their economy and financial systems heading into the 21st Century.
While this is clearly important, as a current or potential foreign business owner in China, you will probably be asking: "But what is QianHai, and why is it important to me?"
One of the problems with getting useful and official information in China is that, despite it being out there, it's usually not very clear on where to find it!
Keep reading this blog post as we share some of the key information on QianHai from official Chinese and English language sources...
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2) China is the biggest risk to Hong Kong banking stability
Corporate defaults are on the rise in China but the central bank is unlikely to pump massive liquidity into the system.
That’s according to a recent article in the official People’s Daily, which quoted an “authoritative figure”.
Mainland companies might have a bigger challenge paying debt, leaving Hong Kong banks exposed to them quite vulnerable.
It’s estimated that 17 defaults have struck mainland firms this year, involving 15.5 billion yuan (US$2.37 billion), according to Bloomberg.
The worst is yet to come given the high debt ratio of mainland companies and the possibility that the government will reverse its monetary easing policy.
3) Enforcing contracts in China: Time to rely on written agreements again
Given China's notorious past of countless deals falling through due to lack of transparency and a legal system that has struggled to keep up with its rapid development, you'd be forgiven for thinking that enforcing contracts in China lags far behind the rest of the western world.
In reality, this is far from the truth. In fact, a data collection performed in June 2015 by The World Bank Group on enforcing contracts places China at no.7, well above 'more developed' countries the likes of Germany (12), France (14) and Luxembourg (17). This is certainly a testament to China's ongoing commitment to provide legal transparency to the foreign companies/individuals that conduct business here.
China has made huge strides in terms of contract law that have helped make written agreements more reliable than they were before, but the country is still struggling to get rid of its bad rap due to cases where problems occasionally stem from the original drawing up of the contract itself.
In this blog let's take a look at the necessary measures that should be taken when enforcing contracts in China...
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4) China's high-tech future emerges in factory town Shenzhen
Forget Beijing and Shanghai. China's economic future is emerging in Shenzhen.
Once a collection of fishing enclaves next door to Hong Kong, Shenzhen has become the epicenter of China's manufacturing-driven miracle is staking its future growth on finance, technology and culture.
The metropolis teeming with millions of migrant workers is home to some of China's biggest and hottest companies. Many are led by a new wave of young Chinese entrepreneurs hoping to build global brand recognition.
Divided from the former British colony of Hong Kong by a river, Shenzhen has been the preferred laboratory for experiments by China's communist leaders since reformist Deng Xiaoping designated the tranquil area as the country's first "special economic zone" in 1979.
Now a sprawling megacity of 11 million people, its fortunes were made churning out cheap clothes, electronics and toys for big foreign brands. But low cost manufacturers like Apple supplier Foxconn have been moving inland or out of China as labor costs increased. Now the focus is on higher value-added, homegrown technology.
Please let us know about any of your thoughts regarding some of the topics we recapped this week in the comments below, or let us know about any other topics you'd like for us to cover.
That's it for the roundup and the end of another work week. Hope to see you all again next week for more of the posts that matter in Hongda's world. Have a great weekend!
