Find useful legal information for your business in China!

11 Jan

Mr. Wangdong Posted in Chapter 1 Employment Relations

19.I am a cleaner with a regular work schedule. Am I an employee of this company or a contractor?

Answer: The fact that you do cleaning work for a company and have a fixed shift schedule does not in itself identify you as an employee of the company. It also depends on other factors of the arrangement. For a detailed analysis of legal factors, please refer to How do I distinguish between an employmentRead more about 19.I am a cleaner with a regular work schedule. Am I an employee of this company or a contractor?[…]

11 Jan

Mr. Wangdong Posted in Chapter 1 Employment Relations

20.My company has signed a labor outsourcing agreement with a human resources company. Is this legal?

Answer: Whether it is legal for your company to conclude a labor outsourcing contract depends on whether your company implements the purpose of labor dispatch in the form of labor outsourcing. Although labor outsourcing and labor dispatch are both human resources companies sending personnel to the recipient to provide services, there are significant differences inRead more about 20.My company has signed a labor outsourcing agreement with a human resources company. Is this legal?[…]

10 Jan

Mr. Wangdong Posted in Q&A on Chinese Labor Law Practice

Preface of Q&A ON CHINESE LABOR LAW PRACTICE

The purpose of this book is to present the practical issues of China’s employment law by answering “what should I do” in a concise question-and-answer way. China’s employment law is a law that confuses many foreign investors or foreign employees in China. They feel that the legal provisions of the employment law are inconsistent withRead more about Preface of Q&A ON CHINESE LABOR LAW PRACTICE[…]

15 Jun

Mr. Wangdong Posted in Legal Practice

Can a breach of the Personal Information Protection Act constitute a criminal offence?

Answer: Yes. While generally, a violation of the Personal Information Law leads to civil infringement and administrative penalties, under certain conditions and to a certain extent, it may also constitute a crime as per Article 235 of the ‘Criminal Law.’ This crime involves infringing upon the personal information of citizens, and the legal consequences include potential imprisonment for up to three years or detention, along with a fine or a single fine.

15 Jun

Mr. Wangdong Posted in Legal Practice

What are the legal consequences of violating the Personal Information Protection Act in terms of administrative penalties?

Answer: Violations of the Personal Information Protection Act may be subject to administrative penalties. At present, the legal database of PKU Law does not publish any administrative litigation cases involving administrative penalties under the Act.

15 Jun

Mr. Wangdong Posted in Legal Practice

Is my company liable for civil damages for violating the Personal Information Protection Act?

Answer: The purpose of the Personal Information Protection Act is to protect the security of personal information and individual privacy, and therefore the subject of personal information is entitled to seek civil liability in tort from the perpetrator of a breach of the Act.

15 Jun

Mr. Wangdong Posted in Legal Practice

We are a representative office of a foreign company. Will the registration of personal information required by the Chinese government to leave the country result in the disclosure of trade secrets?

Answer: Foreign representative offices and foreign-funded enterprises may have concerns about signing standard contracts and filing registrations, as it may potentially disclose customer information and other trade secrets. This concern is not entirely unfounded. According to the Personal Information Protection Act, any company, including foreign-funded enterprises, is indeed required to disclose their affiliated companies, suppliers, or customers abroad when filing registrations with the Chinese government.

15 Jun

Mr. Wangdong Posted in Legal Practice

How should we, as a company doing business with foreign countries, enter into and conduct registration for a standard contract for personal information?

Answer: Currently, the signing and filing of personal information standard contracts should be the channel for personal information outbound compliance that the vast majority of companies, including domestic and foreign-funded enterprises, must follow.

15 Jun

Mr. Wangdong Posted in Legal Practice

We are a foreign company operating in China, how should we deal with the cross-border provision of personal information in accordance with the Personal Information Protection Act?

Answer: Many businesses now have close communication with offshore customers, suppliers or parent companies. The manager of a business may talk to the parent company about an employee who is ill and calls in sick, or he may report a client’s personal issue. This potentially involves the cross-border provision of personal information. The Personal Information Protection Act requires that companies in China should follow one of the three pathways when providing personal information outside of China.

15 Jun

Mr. Wangdong Posted in Legal Practice

What does the newly implemented Personal Information Protection Act in China do?

Answer: The “Personal Information Protection Act” (“the Act”) fills the legislative gap in China’s personal information protection. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), enacted by the European Union in 2018, aims to protect personal information security, privacy, and dignity. The first article of China’s “Information Protection Law” specifies that the purpose of the Act is to safeguard the rights and interests of personal information, regulate personal information processing activities, and promote the reasonable utilization of personal information.