JC Master Legal News Issue 1157

Key Takeaways for This Issue

Accounting offices under close scrutiny: Two departments strengthen the filing and regulatory oversight of entities engaged in securities‑related services.
On April 25, the Ministry of Finance and the China Securities Regulatory Commission issued a notice revising and promulgating the Measures for the Filing and Administration of Accounting Offices Engaging in Securities Services, which was published on the CSRC website and will take effect on April 14, 2025.
The Supreme People’s Court has released the 2024 Typical Intellectual Property Cases.
On April 21, the Supreme People’s Court held a press conference to release the “Report on Judicial Protection of Intellectual Property by Chinese Courts (2024)” and the 2024 Typical Cases of Intellectual Property Adjudication by the People’s Courts.
The Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate have issued a judicial interpretation on criminal cases involving intellectual property.
On April 24, the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate jointly issued the “Interpretation on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Handling Criminal Cases Involving Infringement of Intellectual Property Rights” and released typical cases of criminal protection of intellectual property.
The Supreme People’s Court has issued a judicial interpretation clarifying several issues concerning the jurisdiction of military courts over civil cases.
On April 25, the Supreme People’s Court published on its website the “Provisions on Several Issues Concerning the Jurisdiction of Military Courts over Civil Cases.” The provisions were adopted on March 1, 2025, and will enter into force on May 1, 2025.
Finance & Capital Markets
The Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accountants has issued an audit risk alert for listed companies whose annual reports may trigger stock delisting criteria.
On April 23, the Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accountants stated that it had recently issued letters of inquiry to relevant accounting offices regarding the audit of listed companies’ 2024 annual reports, alerting them to audit risks that could trigger delisting criteria and requesting the offices to provide details on the progress of their audits of the designated listed‑company clients for the 2024 reporting period.
The “Several Opinions of the State Council on Strengthening Regulation, Preventing Risks, and Promoting High-Quality Development of the Capital Market” calls for intensifying oversight of delisting. In response, the China Securities Regulatory Commission has issued the “Opinions on Strictly Implementing the Delisting System,” further clarifying the criteria for mandatory delisting. These stricter standards for mandatory delisting impose higher requirements on audit work: certified public accountants must officely uphold the risk threshold, exercise prudence in rendering audit opinions, and effectively fulfill their role in professional oversight.
The Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accountants advises that accounting offices should designate audit engagements for listed companies that may trigger stock delisting criteria as priority projects. They should assign project team members and quality reviewers with extensive auditing experience, strengthen project‑level quality reviews, and ensure that the audit report is issued only after all material matters and any outstanding disagreements have been resolved. Furthermore, project teams should increase resources dedicated to fraud prevention, design and implement targeted anti‑fraud procedures, and rigorously assess the authenticity of key financial data—such as operating revenue and its deductions, net profit, non‑recurring gains and losses, and net assets—as well as the commercial rationale underlying related transactions, thereby obtaining sufficient and appropriate audit evidence.
Accounting offices under close scrutiny: Two departments strengthen the filing and regulatory oversight of entities engaged in securities‑related services.
On April 25, the Ministry of Finance and the China Securities Regulatory Commission issued a notice revising and promulgating the Measures for the Filing and Administration of Accounting Offices Engaging in Securities Services, which was published on the CSRC website and will take effect on April 14, 2025.
The revised Measures comprise five chapters and twenty-one articles. This revision primarily addresses three key areas: First, it streamlines the initial filing requirements and sets forth the relevant criteria for accounting offices engaging in securities‑related services to file for the first time. Second, it refines the requirements for filing significant matters and annual filings, ensuring that, beyond the initial registration, accounting offices continue to meet the prescribed conditions, while also introducing additional administrative procedures for deregistration and corrective measures. Third, it strengthens alignment and coordination with the Certified Public Accountant Law of the People’s Republic of China, the Securities Law of the People’s Republic of China, as well as the Measures on the Licensing and Supervision of Accounting Offices (Ministry of Finance Order No. 97) and the Regulations on Information Disclosure by Accounting Offices Engaging in Securities‑Related Services (Caihui [2023] No. 10), making corresponding amendments and improvements to the procedures for completing filing information, the templates for supporting documents, and the wording used.

Commercial & Corporate
Three departments have released the “Negative List for Market Access (2025 Edition).”
On April 24, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Commerce, and the State Administration for Market Regulation issued a notice promulgating the “Negative List for Market Access (2025 Edition),” which was published on the NDRC website and will take effect as of April 16, 2025.
The revised list reduces the number of items from 117 in 2022 to 106, with 11 items removed. National-level regulatory measures have been cut from 486 to 469, and local-level measures from 36 to 20. The new list categorizes market access matters into two types—prohibitions and permits—and clarifies the scope of application of the negative list for market access as well as the statutory basis for its regulatory measures. The list underscores the standardization and facilitation of market access, calling on government departments at all levels to strengthen comprehensive oversight and prevent unauthorized entry. Additionally, the revised list incorporates regulatory measures for emerging business models and new sectors, such as civil unmanned aerial vehicles and electronic cigarettes.
The Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee convened a meeting to analyze and assess the current economic situation and economic work.
On April 25, the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee convened a meeting to analyze and assess the current economic situation and economic work, issuing directives on macroeconomic policies, income growth, boosting consumption, supporting enterprises, advancing reform and opening-up, defusing risks, and stabilizing the real estate market.
The meeting emphasized adhering to the principle of seeking progress while ensuring stability, implementing the new development philosophy, expanding high‑level opening-up, and maintaining stable employment, businesses, and markets. It called for the implementation of an active fiscal policy and a moderately accommodative monetary policy to support the real economy, raise incomes among middle- and low-income groups, and foster growth in service consumption. Comprehensive measures should be taken to assist struggling enterprises, strengthen financing support, and accelerate the integration of domestic and foreign trade. Efforts will be made to cultivate and bolster new‑type productive forces and develop a number of emerging pillar industries. Continued, concerted efforts will be devoted to tackling critical core technologies, innovatively launching a “Science and Technology Board” in the bond market, and expediting the implementation of the “AI Plus” initiative. Priority industries will be vigorously upgraded and enhanced, with standards serving as the guiding framework and competitive order being standardized. The package of debt‑resolution policies for local governments will remain in place, and steps will be accelerated to address outstanding payments owed by local governments to enterprises. Urban renewal initiatives will be stepped up, with orderly and effective transformation of urban villages and dilapidated housing. A new model for real estate development will be hastened, with increased supply of high‑quality housing, optimized policies for acquiring existing commercial properties, and sustained efforts to consolidate the stability of the real estate market. Ensuring people’s livelihoods will involve stabilizing grain prices and consolidating the achievements of poverty alleviation. The policy toolkit will be refined, and the Party’s leadership over economic work will be strengthened.

Taxation TAXATATION
Three departments: The policy of stabilizing employment and providing refunds will continue to apply to insured enterprises that maintain or reduce their workforce.
Recently, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the Ministry of Finance, and the State Taxation Administration jointly issued the “Notice on Extending the Implementation of Unemployment Insurance Policies and Measures to Stabilize Employment and Benefit the People,” specifying the continuation of two policies and measures aimed at stabilizing employment and delivering benefits to the public.
First, we will help enterprises stabilize employment. For insured enterprises that maintain or reduce their workforce, the job‑retention subsidy policy will remain in effect through the end of 2025: small, medium, and micro enterprises will receive a refund of up to 60% of their actual unemployment insurance contributions from the previous year, while large enterprises will be eligible for a refund of no more than 30%; law offices and accounting offices will be treated on a comparable basis. Second, we will support workers in enhancing their skills. We will continue to relax the eligibility requirements for the skills‑upgrade subsidy—shortening the minimum period of insurance coverage—and expand its scope through the end of 2025, providing such subsidies to insured employees or recipients of unemployment benefits who have been contributing for at least one year and have obtained the relevant professional qualification or vocational skill level certificate.

Litigation & Arbitration
The Supreme People’s Court has released the 2024 Typical Intellectual Property Cases.
On April 21, the Supreme People’s Court held a press conference to release the “Report on Judicial Protection of Intellectual Property by Chinese Courts (2024)” and the 2024 Typical Cases of Intellectual Property Adjudication by the People’s Courts.
The 2024 typical intellectual property cases released by the Supreme People’s Court cover a range of categories, including patents, trademarks, copyright, anti-unfair competition, and trade secrets, and span such industry sectors as biopharmaceuticals, AI technologies, and online gaming. The cases include an invention‑patent ownership dispute involving an mRNA‑based drug for osteoarthritis; a trademark infringement and unfair competition case in the real estate sector; a trade‑secret‑infringement case concerning the unauthorized disclosure of unreleased game characters; a copyright‑infringement case involving “AI face‑swapping”; a case of game “skin‑changing” infringement; an unfair‑competition case related to online reviews that both criticize and praise; an unfair‑competition case involving ticket‑snatching software; and a criminal case with a civil component alleging copyright infringement in connection with popular film and television works. These cases further clarify the relevant judicial rules and underscore the judiciary’s role in guiding, regulating, and safeguarding industry development.
The Supreme People’s Court has released typical cases in which people’s courts have, in accordance with the law, adjudicated environmental pollution disputes involving solid waste.
On April 22, the Supreme People’s Court released three typical cases involving environmental pollution caused by solid waste, highlighting the courts’ role in safeguarding ecological security and promoting green development.
The typical cases released by the Supreme People’s Court underscore the stringent crackdown on illegal and criminal acts involving environmental pollution caused by solid waste. Case One involves the cross-provincial illegal dumping of mixed waste, with the court imposing a severe penalty for the offense. In Case Two, Yuan Mouqin illegally dumped hazardous waste, and the court held him accountable both criminally and civilly. In Case Three, a pearl trading office was fined for importing solid waste, and the court upheld the customs authorities’ enforcement action.
The Supreme People’s Procuratorate has released nine typical cases of intellectual property protection.
On April 23, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate released nine typical cases of intellectual property protection, covering areas such as trademark rights, copyright, and trade secrets.
In Case No. 3, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate clarified that, when handling criminal cases involving online infringement of copyright, procuratorial organs must, in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Law on the right of information network dissemination, accurately determine whether an act constitutes public dissemination via an information network. Where an offender uses “hotlinking” to make works available to the public by linking directly to the rights holder’s server, such conduct, if meeting the criteria set forth in Article 217 of the Criminal Law, shall be prosecuted and punished as copyright infringement. For cases where the circumstances are minor and, pursuant to the Criminal Law, no penalty is required or a penalty may be waived, the procuratorial organ, in accordance with the law, shall issue a decision not to prosecute; at the same time, it shall review whether administrative penalties are warranted, submit its prosecutorial opinion, and refer the matter to the competent authority for disposition.
Twelve U.S. states have jointly sued the Trump administration, alleging that its “reciprocal tariffs” are unlawful.
On April 23, a coalition of 12 U.S. states jointly filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, alleging that its tariff policies violate the law.
The attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, and Vermont filed a lawsuit that day in the U.S. Court of International Trade in New York, calling the Trump administration’s tariff policy “a capricious exercise of power rather than a legitimate use of statutory authority.” They seek a court declaration that the “reciprocal tariffs” are unlawful and an injunction to prevent their implementation. The complaint argues that, under the U.S. Constitution, the power to impose tariffs is vested exclusively in Congress, and the president may invoke emergency powers only when confronted with an “unusual and extraordinary threat” from abroad. By imposing steep, ever‑changing tariffs on all goods entering the United States, the Trump administration has upended the constitutional order and plunged the U.S. economy into turmoil.
The Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate have issued a judicial interpretation on criminal cases involving intellectual property.
On April 24, the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate jointly issued the “Interpretation on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Handling Criminal Cases Involving Infringement of Intellectual Property Rights” and released typical cases of criminal protection of intellectual property.
The Interpretation comprises 31 articles, organized into five sections, and sets forth the criteria for criminal liability and the corresponding penalties for offenses involving trademarks, patents, copyright, and trade secrets. With respect to trademark offenses, it clarifies the standards for determining “the same goods or services” and “identical trademarks.” In the area of patent offenses, it specifies the particular circumstances constituting the counterfeiting of another’s patent. For copyright offenses, it defines the criteria for establishing unauthorized reproduction and distribution. As for trade secret offenses, it delineates the standards for identifying improper means such as theft and electronic intrusion. Finally, on matters of common application, it establishes guidelines regarding joint offenses and the imposition of fines.
The Supreme People’s Court has issued a judicial interpretation clarifying several issues concerning the jurisdiction of military courts over civil cases.
On April 25, the Supreme People’s Court published on its website the “Provisions on Several Issues Concerning the Jurisdiction of Military Courts over Civil Cases.” The provisions were adopted on March 1, 2025, and will enter into force on May 1, 2025.
The Regulations specify that civil cases under the jurisdiction of military courts include: cases in which both parties are military personnel or military units; cases involving military secrets; tort liability disputes arising within military barracks; and labor disputes concerning civilian personnel employed by the armed forces. Local parties may choose to bring before a military court cases such as tort claims arising from injuries sustained by military personnel in the course of their official duties, as well as marital and family disputes involving military personnel. Military courts and local people’s courts may consult to resolve jurisdictional disputes; if no agreement is reached, they shall request the higher-level court to mediate; should mediation still fail, the Supreme People’s Court shall designate the competent court.

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