Event: China’s New Foreign Investment Law – Second Golden Era of FDI in China

China’s new Foreign Investment Law (FIL), which was adopted on 15 March 2019 and will take effect on 1 January 2020, is expected to create a massive new wave of FDI-related legal work in China. This will be due in part to the anticipated further opening up of the services sector (which is dependent on the final outcome of the US-China trade negotiations), but even more opportunities will be created by virtue of pending changes to corporate governance rules applicable to foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) and as other restrictions on FIEs are removed under the commitments under the FIL to provide national treatment to FIEs.

As a result of these fundamental changes in the legal framework in China, all of the 500,000+ FIEs in China will need to convert in LLCs under the Company Law by the end of 2024, and the vast majority of the 120,000+ Sino-foreign JVs are expected to renegotiate their JV contracts and replace them with shareholders agreements that conform both to international standards and the requirements of the Company Law. Anticipated changes to thin capital rules and restrictions on use of foreign currency capital injections for downstream investments currently applicable to FIEs will also drive opportunities to re-engineer the capital structure and group corporate structures of FIEs.

So the new FIL will impact not only all new FIEs but also all existing FIEs in China, creating significant extended spikes in demand for legal support for related restructuring work, all within a relatively narrow window of time.

Presenters at this event will touch on:

First 15-20 minutes is for networking

Sandwiches and beverages included

Hosted by the Law Committee​