JC Master Legal News Issue 1208

Key Takeaways for This Issue

The National Administration of Financial Regulation has recently issued the “Notice from the General Office of the National Administration of Financial Regulation on Strengthening Financial Services for Small and Micro Enterprises in 2026.”

On May 18, the State Council Leading Group for Employment issued the Action Plan for Stabilizing Employment, Expanding Job Opportunities, and Enhancing Quality.

The Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate recently issued the “Provisions on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Criminal Trial in Absentia,” which will take effect on May 22.

Finance and Capital Markets

FINANCE & CAPITAL MARKETS

The People’s Bank of China convened the 2026 Internal Audit Work Conference to outline key tasks. Recently, the People’s Bank of China held the 2026 Internal Audit Work Conference.
The meeting reviewed the internal audit work conducted in 2025 and outlined nine guiding principles for the 2026 internal audit agenda, including upholding factual accuracy, serving the overall national interest, prioritizing quality, and ensuring effective follow-up on audit recommendations. It also emphasized strengthening learning and research, fostering collaborative problem-solving, and adhering to laws, regulations, and disciplinary standards. The meeting called for further standardizing, legalizing, and professionalizing internal audit practices, while leveraging technology to enhance audit capabilities, continuously improving working styles, and officely safeguarding the red lines of civilized auditing and the bottom line of integrity in audit work.

The National Administration of Financial Regulation has recently issued the “Notice from the General Office of the National Administration of Financial Regulation on Strengthening Financial Services for Small and Micro Enterprises in 2026.”
The Notice calls for advancing financial services for small and micro enterprises to achieve “stable lending, optimized structure, improved quality, and sustainability,” while strengthening credit supply to these businesses and private enterprises. It emphasizes supporting first-time loans, credit‑based loans, and medium- to long-term financing, increasing loan disbursements to corporate borrowers among small and micro enterprises, and prioritizing sectors such as technology, consumption, and foreign trade. The document also seeks to deepen the coordination mechanism for facilitating financing for small and micro enterprises, refine regular online matchmaking platforms and in-person outreach initiatives, and promote a “joint consultation” approach. Furthermore, it requires banks to enhance their supply systems and bolster resource allocation, insurers to improve management frameworks and expand service offerings, and all stakeholders to advance the sharing of credit information, strengthen inter‑agency collaboration, and ensure effective implementation of relevant policies.

Business and Corporations

COMMERCIAL & CORPORATE

On May 18, the State Council Leading Group for Employment issued the Action Plan for Stabilizing Employment, Expanding Job Opportunities, and Enhancing Quality.
The Plan sets out measures to stabilize employment in key industries, expand job opportunities through industrial upgrading, and enhance employment quality. These include promoting the development of priority manufacturing value chains and their intelligent transformation; supporting sectors such as construction, accommodation, and catering to unlock additional employment potential; maintaining the scale of policy‑driven recruitment; and increasing the proportion of university graduates hired by state‑owned enterprises. It also calls for an employment‑stimulating initiative in the service sector, advancing major project construction, implementing work‑for‑relief programs, and creating jobs in fields like artificial intelligence, new energy, and new materials. Furthermore, the Plan proposes improving skills training, on‑the‑job internships, and the availability of apprenticeship positions; refining a wage‑distribution system that rewards skills; formulating measures to safeguard the rights and interests of workers in new forms of employment; pushing forward revisions to the regulations on paid annual leave; and standardizing the use of labor dispatch.
The National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration have outlined plans to promote the orderly development of direct green‑power supply among multiple users. On May 20, 2026, the two agencies issued the “Notice on Matters Concerning the Orderly Promotion of Direct Green‑Power Supply Among Multiple Users.”
The Notice clarifies that multi‑user green electricity direct‑connection applies to multiple distinct legal entities, excluding residential and agricultural users, and is categorized into grid‑connected and off‑grid types. Projects shall be planned on a “load‑driven generation” basis, with annual self‑generated and self‑consumed electricity accounting for no less than 60% of total available generation and no less than 30% of total electricity consumption, rising to at least 35% by 2030. The notice mandates clear designation of the project’s principal responsible entity, as well as arrangements for ownership and settlement, and sets out standardized procedures for grid connection, dispatching, metering, market registration, payment of transmission and distribution charges and government‑mandated funds, green‑electricity traceability, and the issuance of green certificates. For grid‑connected projects, the annual electricity fed into the grid shall, in principle, not exceed 20% of total available generation.

Taxation

TAXATION

The Ministry of Commerce recently released an interpretation of the preliminary outcomes of China–U.S. economic and trade consultations, as well as related tariff arrangements. A responsible official from the Department of U.S. and Latin American Affairs of the Ministry of Commerce outlined key developments, covering tariffs, mechanisms for trade and investment, agricultural trade, export controls, and aircraft procurement. The two sides reached agreements on bilateral tariffs, with a preliminary understanding to discuss, under the framework of the Trade Council, a reciprocal tariff‑reduction scheme applying to products of comparable scale. They also agreed to establish intergovernmental Trade and Investment Councils. Furthermore, the two sides achieved consensus on non‑tariff barriers and market access for certain agricultural products: the U.S. side pledged to work toward lifting certain automatic detention measures and market‑access restrictions imposed on Chinese imports, while China resumed registration of eligible U.S. beef exporters and will conduct follow-up reviews of corrective measures submitted by some poultry‑product and beef‑exporting enterprises. In addition, the two sides will continue to coordinate efforts to extend the joint arrangement for the Kuala Lumpur Economic and Trade Consultations.

Litigation and Arbitration

LITIGATION & ARBITRATION

The Supreme People’s Court has issued a notice to deploy efforts to implement the National Parks Law. Recently, the Supreme People’s Court released the “Notice on Diligently Studying and Implementing the National Parks Law of the People’s Republic of China.”
The Notice requires courts at all levels to integrate the study and implementation of the National Parks Law with judicial adjudication and enforcement, ensuring the uniform and correct application of relevant rules. It also calls for judicial safeguards focused on protecting the authenticity and integrity of national park ecosystems, advancing green and low‑carbon transformation, and carrying out ecological restoration. The document proposes refining supporting mechanisms, promoting the integrated handling of criminal, civil, and administrative cases involving national park ecological and environmental resources, exploring auxiliary adjudication systems such as expert panels and technical investigators, and strengthening the development of a specialized judiciary. Furthermore, it establishes collaborative mechanisms among courts in areas where national parks are located—covering evidence collection, expert resource sharing, and cross‑jurisdictional enforcement—and reinforces coordination with management authorities, procuratorial organs, public security agencies, and ecological‑environmental law‑enforcement bodies in matters such as case referrals, information sharing, investigation and evidence gathering, oversight of restoration and enforcement, and the administration and use of funds for damage compensation.

The Supreme People’s Court, in collaboration with the China Disabled Persons’ Federation, recently released the second batch of typical cases on litigation services for persons with disabilities.
This batch of cases focuses on areas such as traffic accidents, labor remuneration, livestream‑tipping, consumer rights protection, and personal injury involving persons with disabilities in new forms of employment. It demonstrates how the courts, leveraging the “top‑to‑top” online litigation‑mediation coordination mechanism, collaborate with disabled persons’ federations to provide barrier‑free litigation services, psychological counseling, joint mediation, and root‑cause governance. Typical practices include: offering hearing‑impaired individuals disability‑friendly services such as writing boards, speech‑to‑text conversion, and sign language interpretation, enabling same‑day case filing and mediation with performance within seven days; addressing online purchase disputes involving motorized wheelchairs for persons with disabilities by clarifying the obligation to disclose key information—such as licensing requirements and catalog‑entry criteria—in transactions involving special‑purpose goods; and, through a “one court, two institutions + disabled persons’ federation” collaborative framework, resolving injury disputes arising from tourism‑related conflicts while encouraging scenic areas to enhance their accessibility infrastructure and services.

On May 18, 2026, the Shenzhen Bankruptcy Administration Bureau issued the “Notice of the Shenzhen Bankruptcy Administration Bureau on Extending the Validity Period of the ‘Shenzhen Measures for Assessing the Repayment Capacity of Individual Debtors in Bankruptcy.’”
The Measures, which renew and rename the original trial measures, shall enter into force on June 18, 2026, with a validity period of five years. The document stipulates that, upon approval by the Court and the Commercial Bankruptcy Administration, it may commission a solvency assessment for personal bankruptcy liquidation cases and for cases in which the proposed debt‑repayment amount under a reorganization plan falls short of the principal; such assessments shall be conducted through expert review meetings, typically comprising five experts, with complex cases requiring at least seven experts. The regulations also set forth provisions regarding the selection, recusal, confidentiality, and rights and obligations of the experts. Procedurally, the process includes debtor interviews, electronic verification of household financial circumstances, meeting‑based assessments, and the formulation of written opinions; the assessment report is submitted to the court as a reference for review, but it does not substitute for judicial scrutiny or the administrator’s investigation.

The Supreme People’s Procuratorate recently issued the “Notice on Implementing the New Standards for Compensation for Deprivation of Personal Freedom,” announcing the revised daily compensation rates.
The notice clarifies that, effective May 18, 2026, when procuratorial organs at all levels render decisions on state compensation cases involving deprivation of personal liberty for which they serve as the obligor, the compensation shall be calculated at RMB 495.94 per day. This rate is determined by converting the 2025 national average annual wage of employees in urban non‑private sector units—RMB 129,441—as published by the National Bureau of Statistics on May 15, 2026, using the daily average wage formula. Previously, the daily compensation standard in effect since the May 2025 notice was RMB 475.52.

The Supreme People’s Procuratorate released the White Paper on Prosecutorial Services for the Development of the Yangtze Economic Belt during the 14th Five-Year Plan period. On May 20, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate issued the White Paper on how procuratorial organs will serve and safeguard the development of the Yangtze Economic Belt during the 14th Five-Year Plan.
The white paper shows that over the past five years, procuratorial organs in the Yangtze River Economic Belt have handled a total of 274,000 environmental and resource-related cases, including 18,000 cases involving 32,000 individuals subject to review for arrest, and 93,000 cases involving 169,000 individuals subject to review for prosecution. They also processed 15,000 civil and administrative supervision cases related to ecological and environmental protection, as well as 148,000 public interest litigation cases. Furthermore, they supervised the remediation of 347,000 mu of contaminated farmland, forestland, grassland, wetlands, and other areas, and recovered and disposed of 15.408 million tons of industrial solid waste. The white paper further reveals that procuratorial organs have refined an integrated “air–space–ground” case-handling support system, expanded the number of environmental damage appraisal institutions operating without upfront fees to 141, and established more than 500 rapid‑testing laboratories. During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, priority will be given to advancing efforts in water pollution prevention and control, illegal dumping of solid waste, the ten-year fishing ban, biodiversity conservation, and cooperation between law enforcement and judicial authorities.

The Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate recently issued the “Provisions on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Criminal Trial in Absentia,” which will take effect on May 22.
According to the Provisions, if a criminal suspect or defendant is charged with multiple offenses, and some of those offenses fall within the scope of Article 291, Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Procedure Law, the absentia trial procedure may be applied to those specific offenses. The Provisions further clarify that, in cases of joint crime where some suspects or defendants are located outside China and meet the criteria set forth in Article 291, Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Procedure Law, the absentia trial procedure may be applied to those particular suspects or defendants. In addition, the Provisions require that, for cases proposed to be subject to the absentia trial procedure pursuant to Article 291, Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Procedure Law, the People’s Procuratorates and the People’s Courts shall conduct a thorough review of nine specified matters, including whether the case falls within the scope of cases eligible for the absentia trial procedure and whether it falls under the jurisdiction of the court concerned.

The State Council has promulgated the Regulations for the Implementation of the Mineral Resources Law of the People’s Republic of China. Recently, the State Council issued these Regulations, which shall enter into force on June 15, 2026.
The Regulations aim to ensure the effective implementation of the revised Mineral Resources Law, promote the rational exploration and utilization of mineral resources, strengthen the protection of mineral resources and the ecological environment, advance high-quality development of the mining sector, and safeguard mineral resource security. Comprising eight chapters and 79 articles, the Regulations primarily set forth the following provisions: first, further refining the system of mining rights; second, detailing the regimes governing mineral exploration and extraction; third, specifying the mechanisms for ecological restoration in mining areas; fourth, enhancing the systems for mineral resource reserves and emergency response; and fifth, improving the oversight and management framework. In particular, the Regulations stipulate the establishment and improvement of a comprehensive system of technical standards and norms for basic geological surveys, clarify the procedures for applying for exploration and mining licenses, reinforce guarantees for land use in the mining sector, encourage the integrated utilization of mineral resources, and define the legal validity of mineral resource reserve reports.

The National Technical Committee for Cybersecurity Standardization has recently released the “Ethical and Security Guidelines for AI Applications, Version 1.0” (hereinafter referred to as the “Guidelines”).
The Guidelines outline the ethical and security implications of AI applications, articulate guiding principles and concepts for AI ethics and security, and set forth specific safety guidelines covering AI development, service provision, and application use. According to the Guidelines, the key ethical and security impacts of AI applications encompass six major areas: the impact on human agency, public order, individual cognition and societal values, as well as social stratification and discrimination. The Guidelines further specify that the ethical and security framework comprises four components: general guidelines, development guidelines, service‑provision guidelines, and application‑use guidelines. Notably, the general guidelines include 13 provisions, such as “conducting a prior assessment of the purpose and potential impacts of AI applications and fully safeguarding national security, public interests, and the rights and interests of organizations and individuals.”