All articles by Doroto

 

Should I Write a Separate Will for My China Assets?

This question has been raised frequently over time. A recent inquiry was from a client in UK who has a couple of real properties in China. Upon working on his estate planning, he wondered whether he should write a single will covering both his UK and China assets or write a separate will for China assets. By the way, the inquirer is British, domiciled and habitually…

 

Right of Residence and Cross-border Estate Planning for Properties in China

Right of residence? Something you may have not heard of before in China. It is no wonder since this new legal concept is just recently created in China Civil Code, which has yet to take effect on January 1, 2021.

I. What is Right of Residence?

First, right of residence is a right in real properties, and to be more specific, a right created in…

 

China New Regulation on Cosmetics (II): Exports to China

Has any world big cosmetic name not set their feet in China yet? Probably not. China market is simply too big and profitable to miss. In 2019, the cosmetic market grew by almost 13 percent (equivalent to RMB 40 billion or approx. US$5.72 billion), to reach RMB 299 billion (US$42.8 billion), according to data published by the National Bureau of Statistics.…

 

Corporate Seal Fraud in China: the lesson learned from Tencent and Lao Gan Ma brawl

Just recently a piece of news has spiraled quickly among netizens in China. It is an interesting story between two most well-known Chinese companies: Tencent and Lao Gan Ma.

I. What Happened

On June 29, a court decision showed that Tencent had applied to…

 

Write Your Pre-nuptial Agreement under China Laws: Points for Attention

Cross-border marriages are no longer rare in China, so are cross-border divorces in China.

People who are about to get married have increasingly used pre-nuptial agreements to plan for their financial life after marriage. We have helped quite a few clients draft such pre-nuptial agreements.

However, please note post-marriage nuptial agreement may be void…

 

Shenzhen Property Market Update: Serious Curbing Measures Issued

Today, July 15, 2020, Shenzhen local municipal government stepped up new measures to curb local frenzy property market that has made many observers drop jaws.

However, in all other first-tiered cities like Beijing and Shanghai, the property markets have been pretty steady without much obvious rise or fall esp in Shanghai where I live and work, making Shenzhen…

 

China New Regulation on Cosmetics (I): Rules on New Raw Materials

On June 29, 2020, China officially published its long-awaited regulation on cosmetic industry, titled as “Regulation on Supervision and Administration of Cosmetics” (hereinafter “New Regulation“).

It is kind of a surprise to see how many changes have been made in contrast to the draft that was said to be passed at the meeting of…

 

Cross-border Estate Planning: China Round-Trip Investment Rules

To many, estate planning is just a part of family law practice having little involvement of corporate and investment laws. It is no longer true in today’s world when clients often have their major assets in the form of ongoing businesses, i.e., companies or corporations.

I. Why Round-Trip Investment Is Relevant

There has been growing demand among Chinese…

 

Inheritance by Foreigners of Bank Deposits in China

We have written a lot of posts related to inheritance of real estate (real properties) in China. Frequently, we get inquiries about and deal with inheritance of personal properties such as stock/equity interests in a company or bank deposits/cash in China.

It is worth a separate post because the rules regarding inheritance of personal properties are quite…

 

China Civil Code to Reform China Inheritance Law: Estate Administration and New Form of Will

On May 28, 2020, China has just enacted its first Civil Code, to be effective as from January 1, 2021, a long-awaited legislation that aims to codify China’s fragmented civil laws. Brought under its umbrella are China Civil General Provisions (Chapter I), China Property Law (Chapter II), China Contract Law (Chapter III), China Personal Right Law (IV),…

 

Update on Shareholder Liability in Regard of Subscribed Capital in a China Company

We should have written this post earlier.

On this blog, in old posts, we mentioned the shareholder liability in regard of their subscribed capital contribution:

Can company’s creditors go after shareholders who have not paid up subscribed capital?

Registered capital, the greater, the better? Not really!

The main point is that a creditor of a company may go…

 

Cross-border Divorce in China: Choice of Law on Division of Matrimonial Properties

Recently we are dealing with two interesting cross-border divorce cases. The parties to the divorce don’t have habitual residence in China but they have real properties situated in China that need to be divided and partitioned. An interesting legal issue regarding the choice of applicable law appears here that doesn’t seem to be clear in judicial…

 

China Tax Update: new rules regarding China tax residents’ overseas income

On January 17, 2020, China State Tax Administration (CSTA), issued an announcement regarding personal income tax on income sourced from overseas by its tax residents.

A few takeaways from the announcement.

I. China Tax Residents

As the same with definitions of other jurisdictions, a tax resident of one country doesn’t have to be the citizen of that …

 

Three Ways of Inheriting Estates in China

I have written quite a few posts back in regard of foreigners inheriting estates in China:

How a foreigner inherit properties in China

Inherit Personal Properties in China

China Estate Planning: how to Deal with Your China Assets Generally

There are quite a few more articles in that regard, pls use the blog search function to locate them.

None of those posts have…

 

Video: make a will for your China assets and the points you need to know

My second video on YouTube channel (China Family and Business Laws) talking about how a foreigner or Chinese living outside of China should consider when they make a will for their assets in China.

I am still trying to accept my own voices and sounds when I find a bit strange. 🙂

Ok, here is the link if you wish to listen, and you are welcome to subscribe this Channel …

 

My YouTube Channel (China Family and Business Laws) Came Online Today

I know I should have done this much earlier, as part of my digital marketing efforts. However, to launch a YouTube channel posting videos is so much different from just writing posts esp when I have to speak English in the video.

But I understand a live person in the video will present a much better impression on audience. People who may need our help may have serious…

 

Export Non-Special Purpose Cosmetics into China

Cosmetics are big business in China. There are quite a few aspiring fortune stories in cosmetic industry. One is about a celebrity couple launching a new facial masks business that garnered billions of RMB in a couple of years. Recently, a young man that wears makeups makes a big fame on online video platforms among girls and women.

…  

Selling Products Online in China? License Requirements

China markets are magnets to world business owners who want to sell their products to 1.4 billion Chinese consumers.

With China e-commerce developing so fast and pervasively that it has almost changed the mainstream shopping habits of Chinese society from bricks and mortars to online shops, to ride the tide, foreign businesses are looking into tapping that…

 

What Can You Do about Your Tenancy-in-Common Properties in China?

As you know from posts on this blog, we deal a lot with inheritance issues on behalf of foreign clients with respect to estate properties in China. Very often, such inheritance of properties (typically real estate properties) will end up in a co-ownership of the properties by two or more heirs or beneficiaries. Well, if the co-owners are on good terms, everything…

 

Property Seller Slips into a Coma, What About the Sale Contract under China Laws?

Real life can be complicated beyond imagination.

After working in cross-border estate planning for more than a decade, I just came to know a case brought to me by an inquirer which is intriguing to me as it should be the first case of its kind my all my past legal practice. By the way, I just gave some oral advice back then.

I. Facts of the Case

Here are the facts: a foreigner…

 

Cross-border Divorce with a Chinese Spouse and Assets – Jurisdiction Matters a Lot

Years ago, when I talked with a foreign lawyer friend who used to work in China law firm about cross-border divorces, he mentioned about his parents divorcing across USA-Israel borders, emphasizing the importance of choosing the favorable jurisdiction to litigate. When I started to focus more on cross-border family laws, I have …

 

China to Overhaul Regulation on its Cosmetics Industry

Cosmetics are big businesses.

With China society getting more and more affluent, cosmetics consumption has been on steady rise over years, and all major brands in the worlds are now in China market. However, China’s regulation on cosmetics industry has been lagging far behind reality, indeed a drag on this industrial innovation and progress. Most …

 

China’s New Foreign Investment Law and its Implementation Regulation Taking Effect

China enacted its new overhauled Foreign Investment Law in March of 2019 amid trade war with USA, which has taken effect as of January 1, 2020, the day of yesterday.

As expected, China State Council shall step up the implementing rules to execute the Law passed by China Parliament or the People’s Congress. The Implementation Regulation was published …

 

Bona Fide Purchaser for Value without Notice Rule under China Laws

We are family law practitioners at large. But our work involves not only divorce and estate issues, but also a lot real estate and corporate/investment laws.

In our daily legal researches, we notice that there are still quite a lot of cases involving frauds in real estate transactions.

For example I, a family member forged your identity card and cheated the notary…

 

Challenge the Validity of a Will Made under Chinese Inheritance Law

It is not a rare phenomenon: your elderly parents in China is being taken care of by a remote relative while you are overseas; after your parent dies and you think of carrying out inheritance of the estate properties (real estates, bank deposits), to your big shock, that relative (whether cousin or someone else) produces a will out of the blue which says that your…

 

Purchase China property in the name of your Chinese girlfriend or wife?

Very often we get inquiries from foreigners pertaining to purchase of China properties in the name of their Chinese girlfriend or wife for the reason that they are not qualified to purchase properties in China (China has placed restrictions on foreigners buying properties in China ever since 2006). But they are concerned about losing the property once their…

 

Do China courts have jurisdiction over divorce of two foreigners?

With more and more foreigners working and living in China, we have received quite a number of inquiries from foreigners in China who wish to divorce in China with their spouses who are also foreigners.

But what is the take of Chinese courts regarding jurisdiction over such cases? In other words, if such a case is submited to China courts for resolution, will China…

 

Guardianship Issues over Incapacitated Ward under China Laws

We are approached by a potential client inquring about an interesting situation: he and his mom are both living in Hong Kong, but his mom was actually incapacitated for some time and virtualy bedridden; now his mom has a property in down town Shanghai, French Concession Area, worth millions of dollars; he wants to sell the property to suppport the family and his…

 

A Big Victory for the Great Deal : Sale of Property in China

I have to say congratulations to our own team! We have just closed a great deal for our client in selling their house in downtown Shanghai, the French Concession Area （法租界）.

The three-story house is the client’s ancetral property that has been built for almost 100 years, a western styled building in the best location of Shanghai. What’s more, this…

 

What A Foreign Executor Can Do About Estates in China

We have been helping and advising a good number of clients over the years who are the executors in wills made outside of China by testators, in regard of the administration and distribution of estates (real estates, corporate shares and bank deposits) located in the mainland of China.

Unfortunately in most cases, foreign executors would find themselves ending…

 

Hire China Lawyer for Handling China Estate

Just approached by a client from Southeast Asia who inquired about inheriting his Dad’s estate in China, a real property in Shanghai.

He contacted me because he felt suspicious of something that must have gone wrong about his current lawyer working on the inheritance matter. It has been almost a year and the client has spent most of their budget for the …

 

Guardianship for the Elderly under China Law

Part of the estate planning services always concerns the caring of the elderly people. After all, we are all getting old each day and we all probably lose capacity to act on our own some day in the future.

Guardianship is the legal system designed for people of no or limited capacity due to young age or loss of mental capability, so that their interests are being taken…

 

China Foreign Investment Law and Cross-Border Inheritance and Estate Planning

China has enacted its long-awaited Foreign Investment Law this March but will only come into effect as of January 1, 2020. So far this law is warmly welcomed and hailed at large by the international communities.

Well, there are a lot of comments on the Law and its impact and implications on existing and future foreign investment in China. But hardly is there any…

 

Strategically Deal with Your China Property When You Divorce

Pretty often I am approached by clients or by foreign peer attorneys inquiring about how they should deal with their China properties when they divorce in a foreign jurisdiction.

Some of them are too late when they call me. Kate (not the inquirer’s true name) is one of them.

She has been living with her husband in California for many years and now is the process…

 

Overview of Inheritance and Estate Planning under Chinese Laws

Over the last 10 years, I and my team have been offering legal services related to inheritance and estate planning for clients from many other countries outside of China. We have written a number of posts on this blog in that regard.

As per request from an American lawyer, Ms. Jiah Kim, who specializes in cross-border estate planning catering to her American clients,…

 

Happy New Year of Pig from Landing Law Offices in Shanghai

In China, today is the first day of China lunar new year of pig.

The whole country is in a happy mood. A 7-day holiday has started from yesterday. A lot of celebration activities are going on in all parts of the country, from Beijing China Central Television to local TV stations, from big cities to small towns.

China Lunar New Year or Spring Festival is a time for family…

 

The Ways of Moving Money Out of China by Individuals

This is a hot topic in today’s China: how to move money in China to a foreign country. With the backdrop of the trade-war and tech-war between China and USA simmering with no assuring sign of cooling down, China economy has been hurt somehow, and 2019 is a tough year for China and in the meantime, United States is still looking buoyant, …

 

Child Custody and Visitation under Chinese Laws

International or cross-border marriages in China and with Chinese have been on steady rise in the past, and thus international or cross-border divorces have seen increase as well in China. We have been repeatedly approached by clients who wish to divorce in China with his or her spouse that is also a foreigner.

With regard to divorce (without regard to child …

 

Inheritance of Personal Properties/Chattels in China: a Real Headache

In most cases in the past years, we help foreign clients in dealing with inheritance or succession of real properties, mainly residential properties like apartments or houses in cities like Shenzhen, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing and even Suzhou.

Occasionally, we received clients’ inquiries about inheriting chattels or personal properties (properties…

 

Make a Will for Your China Assets: why and how?

With so many Chinese emigrating to foreign countries while having substantial assets within China or so many foreigners holding China assets, it is no wonder that we have seen the increase of inquiries regarding estate plan for their China assets, mainly real properties, corporate shares or bank deposits.

I.  Why Do You Need a Separate Will for Your China…

 

Inheritance of Corporate Shares of a China Company (IV)

We have already written a few articles regarding inheritance by foreigners of corporate shares (a stock company limited by share) or equity interests (a general limited liability company) in a China company, where typically the deceased is a Chinese citizen being a shareholder in a China domestic company and the heirs (often spouse and children) have already…

 

Case Report: new factual situation for lifting corporate veil under China laws

Limited liability has been recognized as one of the fundamental features of companies and corporations throughout world, which was heralded as great an invention as the steam engine.

Under Chinese laws and in Chinese judicial practice, it has proven that it is difficult to get the court to pierce the corporate veil, a metaphor referring to the limited liability…

 

Chose in possession and Chose in Action under Common Laws

This post is rather an effort of myself in learning property laws in common law countries.

As a lawyer, one of my main law practices is to help China’s high net worth individuals to work out their estate plan under which very often clients wishes to allocate their assets or properties in both China and offshore countries. It is critical for me to understand…

 

China overhauls its individual income tax law

China has enacted its recently revised individual income tax law, a big overhaul of the law over more than 30 years from its inception.

Some of the changes will be set to have an impact on you, either foreigners or oversea Chinese.

1.  New Definition of Tax Residents

In the prior version of the IIT law, a tax resident is one who has domicile within China or otherwise…

 

China Estate Planning I: How to deal with your China assets generally

I have observed one interesting thing in my legal practice in family law area. While Chinese people within China are not much interested in making their estate plan, those overseas Chinese are however more keen to prepare for their late years of life and post-demise affairs.

With so many Chinese migrating to foreign countries across the globe, many of them don’t…

 

New policy in China for curbing property market: companies banned from buying

In the past a couple of days, four cities in China, Shanghai, Xi’an, Changsha and Hangzhou, has announced that they will restrict corporate entities in purchasing local properties, a new round of efforts in reining in local property market.

For a decade, China (mainly the central government) has been wrestling with property markets. On one hand, the…

 

Tax implications related to your inheritance of overseas estates in China

Taxes are one of the major concerns of foreign heirs inheriting estates located in China.  What taxes are levied on the estates or the inheritance? Is there any way of optimizing taxes in China on acquiring and cashing in on the estate assets?

I. Taxes for Inheritance of Estates

(1)  No Estate Tax or Inheritance Tax in China 

In today’s world, many countries…

 

Oversea Chinese from Canton (Guangdong): the way back to your roots

This is not something new, though I reckon not every oversea Chinese who are affected (in a positive sense) by the local policy really know about it.

I am talking about the policy stepped up by local Guangdong government back in 2011, entitled “Several Opinions on Earnestly Safeguarding Oversea Chinese’s the Residential Land Use Right in Rural…

 

China Land VAT: how to avoid or defer payment of land value added tax

Land value added tax is a big cut of profits from property owners in China.

Land VAT is applicable basically in two scenario: (1) corporate property owners that sell properties, including foreign entities that hold China properties,and (2) individual owners of non-residential properties.

If the owner simply sells in the market for cash, then the land VAT …

 

Legal Implications on the choice of trustees for properties in China

It is no longer anything fresh for a foreigner to have assets or properties in China. The foreigner can  be either real foreign individual without China root or overseas Chinese or naturalized Chinese. So when those people set up trusts in their residing countries (outside of China) and wish to place their China properties (either real properties or shares)…