Joint Venture in China
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Topic: Joint-Venture – China – Wall Panelling
Once a foreign investor is put into the mix, a wealth of legal, administrative or operational violations that a solely-owned Chinese firm may have been able to survive with, will most likely not be tolerated by the local authorities (Devonshire-Ellise & Hoffman, 2010; Norris, 2011). Therefore an array of legal and contractual issues may arise for which a foreign party should be prepared. Some of these are outlined below.
Environmentally Friendly Wall Panelling:
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As the product involved is classed as building materials the company should make note of Austrade’s guidelines on industry standards for building materials in China (Austrade, 2012). For this environmentally friendly wall panelling the GB/T 50378-2006 regulations will apply (GCiS, 2012).
The Issue of Stabilisation:
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Protection measures should also be stipulated through the creation of a Joint-Venture Contract. One of the biggest issues may be found through the difference in law between China and Australia; China having civil law and Australia having common law. Therefore in order to have the Joint-Venture contract protected from future changes in the Chinese civil law system a stabilisation clause is highly recommended (Coale, M.T.B, 2001-2002).
Types of Joint-Ventures in China:
What makes the selection of a joint-venture so important is that even though China’s Choice of Law provisions follow international practices; this doesn’t apply for Joint-Ventures. The only time a foreign party within a Joint-Venture may have a choice of law is when settling disputes (Gao, 1989, p.560; Wei, 2000, p.40; Sino Foreign Joint-Venture Law Article 2).
Types of Sino-Foreign Joint-Ventures in China: Refer to Appendix 1.
Equity Joint-Venture (EJV):
An equity Joint-Venture in China takes the form of a limited
Topic: Joint-Venture – China – Wall Panelling
Once a foreign investor is put into the mix, a wealth of legal, administrative or operational violations that a solely-owned Chinese firm may have been able to survive with, will most likely not be tolerated by the local authorities (Devonshire-Ellise & Hoffman, 2010; Norris, 2011). Therefore an array of legal and contractual issues may arise for which a foreign party should be prepared. Some of these are outlined below.
Environmentally Friendly Wall Panelling:
-------------------------------------------------
As the product involved is classed as building materials the company should make note of Austrade’s guidelines on industry standards for building materials in China (Austrade, 2012). For this environmentally friendly wall panelling the GB/T 50378-2006 regulations will apply (GCiS, 2012).
The Issue of Stabilisation:
-------------------------------------------------
Protection measures should also be stipulated through the creation of a Joint-Venture Contract. One of the biggest issues may be found through the difference in law between China and Australia; China having civil law and Australia having common law. Therefore in order to have the Joint-Venture contract protected from future changes in the Chinese civil law system a stabilisation clause is highly recommended (Coale, M.T.B, 2001-2002).
Types of Joint-Ventures in China:
What makes the selection of a joint-venture so important is that even though China’s Choice of Law provisions follow international practices; this doesn’t apply for Joint-Ventures. The only time a foreign party within a Joint-Venture may have a choice of law is when settling disputes (Gao, 1989, p.560; Wei, 2000, p.40; Sino Foreign Joint-Venture Law Article 2).
Types of Sino-Foreign Joint-Ventures in China: Refer to Appendix 1.
Equity Joint-Venture (EJV):
An equity Joint-Venture in China takes the form of a limited