Taihe Legal News, Issue 1219

Finance and Capital Markets

FINANCE & CAPITAL MARKETS

The State Administration for Market Regulation has promoted the first batch of exemplary practices from innovation pilot programs on trade secret protection.

The General Office of the State Administration for Market Regulation has issued the “Notice of the General Office of the State Administration for Market Regulation on Promoting the Typical Practices and Innovative Pilot Experiences of the First Batch of National Commercial Secret Protection Initiatives.”

The annex compiles pilot practices from 20 regions, including Haidian and Tongzhou in Beijing, covering local legislation and standards, industry-specific protection guidelines, cross‑regional collaboration, coordination among administrative enforcement, criminal prosecution, and civil litigation, as well as mediation and judicial confirmation. Some areas have established blockchain‑based evidence‑preservation and notarization platforms, risk‑assessment systems, and digital service frameworks; they are also exploring commercial‑secret insurance, pledge‑based financing, certification and evaluation mechanisms, and financial services. Additional measures include scenario‑specific rules for supply chains, joint research and development, cross‑border e‑commerce, AI‑related data, and overseas rights‑protection, along with service hubs, expert think tanks, technical investigators, and multi‑agency collaborative mechanisms.

China’s Corporate Credit Index remained stable at a high level in the first half of the year.

Recently, relevant authorities released the operating results of the China Enterprise Credit Index for the first half of 2026, indicating that the overall level of corporate credit nationwide remained stable.

In the first half of 2026, China’s Corporate Credit Index stood at 161.88, down 0.04 points from the second half of 2025 but up 0.27 points year on year. The second-quarter index was 161.72, a decline of 0.33 points from the first quarter; in June, it reached 161.22, down 0.31 points from May, with the share of enterprises exhibiting higher credit risk continuing to fall. In the first half of the year, the top five provincial indices were Shaanxi, Xinjiang, Anhui, Beijing, and Tianjin; the top five industries were finance, electricity, heat, gas, and water production and supply, education, manufacturing, and water conservancy, environmental protection, and public facilities management. All sectoral indices increased compared with the second half of 2025.

Beijing is soliciting public comments on the Measures for Financial Support of Intellectual Property.

On August 3, 2026, the Beijing Municipal Intellectual Property Bureau released the “Measures for the Implementation of Financial Support Funds for Intellectual Property in Beijing (Draft for Public Comment),” with the public comment period running until August 9.

The Measures apply to enterprises engaged in production and business operations in Beijing and provide post‑subsidies under three categories: pledge‑based financing, insurance, and securitization. For pledge‑based loans, interest subsidies cover up to 50% of the actual interest rate, with an annualized cap of 1.5%, capped at RMB 300,000 per year; comprehensive cost subsidies are capped at 50%, with a maximum of RMB 30,000. In cases of loan defaults, compensation is provided for up to 50% of the principal risk borne by the institution, with a yearly cap of RMB 1.5 million per institution. For domestic and overseas insurance, subsidies are granted at rates of 80%, 60%, and 50% for the first through third filings, respectively, with annual caps of RMB 200,000 and RMB 800,000; securitization interest subsidies are capped at 50%, with an annualized rate not exceeding 3%, and a yearly maximum of RMB 2 million.

Business and Corporations

COMMERCIAL & CORPORATE

The State Administration for Market Regulation has refined the system for entrusting reviews of operator concentrations.

Recently, the State Administration for Market Regulation issued the “Announcement of the State Administration for Market Regulation on Further Improving the System of Entrusted Review of Concentrations of Undertakings.”

The Notice takes effect on August 1. Building on the existing practice of entrusting Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, Chongqing, and Shaanxi with the review of certain simplified cases, it now extends such entrusted reviews to additional non‑simplified cases and adds Liaoning, Zhejiang, and Sichuan to handle certain simplified cases. Meanwhile, the State Administration for Market Regulation has upgraded its antitrust system for operator concentration, deploying the system in the newly designated entrusted regions and adding a non‑simplified case module for those already entrusted. It has also revised the Operator Concentration Review Work Manual for provincial market regulation authorities, refining the entrusted review procedures and mandating the concurrent development of internal workflows. Since the launch of entrusted reviews on August 1, 2022, the entrusted provincial authorities have, on average, taken 16.28 days to accept applications and 17.52 days to conclude reviews.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is soliciting public comments on 60 standards, including “Steel Pipe Flanges (PN Series).”

Recently, the Science and Technology Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued a public notice soliciting comments on the draft approval of 56 industry standards, including “Steel Pipe Flanges (PN Series),” as well as four foreign-language versions of industry standards. The deadline for submitting feedback is August 30, 2026.

This public notice covers 60 projects submitted for approval, including 56 industry standards and 4 foreign-language versions of industry standards. The industry standards encompass 18 in the chemical sector, 1 in gold, 3 in building materials, 13 in machinery, 19 in automobiles, 2 in light industry, and 1 in electronics; the foreign-language versions comprise 4 light-industry standards. The standards listed in the notice include “Steel Pipe Flanges (PN Series),” “Requirements for Green Factory Assessment—Gold Refining Industry,” “Technical Requirements for Full-Oxygen Combustion in Cement Kilns,” “Energy Efficiency Grading and Evaluation Methods for Industrial Transformers,” “Electric Winches for Automotive Use,” “Technical Requirements for Unit‑Product Energy Consumption of Electronic Shielding Alloy Materials,” “Kitchen Hanging Accessories,” and others. The draft documents for approval can be accessed on the Industrial and Information Technology Standards Information Service Platform under the “Project Public Notice” section.

Four departments have issued the Implementation Plan for Building a Unified National Market in the Transportation Sector.

Recently, the Ministry of Transport and three other departments released the “Implementation Plan for Deepening the Development of a Unified National Market in the Transportation Sector.”

The Implementation Plan outlines six key tasks: improving market access and exit mechanisms, advancing inter-provincial one-stop government services and the credit system, and curbing low‑price, disorderly competition; building an integrated, multi‑modal transportation network and fostering multimodal transport as well as the integration of transport logistics with manufacturing; addressing issues in tendering and bidding, and standardizing government subsidies and administrative powers; unifying enforcement standards and strengthening platform oversight; promoting data sharing and openness, and optimizing the intensive use of resources; expanding the consumer market, orderly opening emerging markets, encouraging private capital to participate in infrastructure development, and advancing the integration of domestic and foreign trade while facilitating international transport. The document also calls for targeted initiatives, including credit‑based regulation, cross‑regional car‑rental networks, mutual recognition of ship inspections, and measures to restore order in the express delivery sector.

Taxation

TAXATION

The State Taxation Administration has officially released its first industry-specific cross-border tax guideline, the “Guidance on Tax-Related Services for International Transportation.”

Recently, the State Taxation Administration issued its first industry-specific cross-border tax guidance—the “Guidance on Tax-Related Services for International Transportation”—providing business entities engaged in international maritime, aviation, and land transportation with end-to-end, standardized, and implementable compliance references. This marks another expansion of the “Shuilutong” cross-border tax knowledge product system.

The “Guidance” is divided into two sections—“Attracting Investment” and “Going Global”—and distinguishes among various modes of transport. It systematically addresses relevant tax matters across eight dimensions—tax liability, withholding obligations, taxable income, tax calculation, tax incentives, treaty benefits, tax‑administration procedures, and tax‑related risk warnings—focusing on the questions of “whether tax should be paid, what tax is due, how much tax is payable, and how to pay it.” In addition, by compiling and interpreting publicly available tax cases, the Guidance provides clear, practical guidance on cross‑border business tax risks. The appendix further consolidates end‑to‑end tax policies and compiles links to tax‑administration channels and other resources referenced in the Guidance.

Litigation and Arbitration

LITIGATION & ARBITRATION

The Supreme People’s Court has released a set of typical cases that standardize platform operations and safeguard consumer rights.

Recently, the Supreme People’s Court released a set of typical cases that legally regulate platform operations and safeguard consumers’ legitimate rights and interests.

This release features five case studies covering scenarios such as livestream‑based e‑commerce, oversight of platform security deposits, platform‑managed operations, virtual‑asset transactions, and主播 compensation commitments. The cases clarify the following: livestream‑based sales constitute commercial activities; livestreamers owe a heightened duty of care when commenting on competing products, and any one‑sided statements or improper associations that mislead the public amount to commercial disparagement; platforms have a statutory obligation to supervise the security deposits of merchants they host, and if they know or should have known that a merchant is engaging in abnormal withdrawals to evade refunds yet fail to take corrective action, they may be held jointly liable; when a third‑party operator orchestrates fake transactions or artificially inflates credibility through order‑boosting, such conduct constitutes a material breach, entitling the platform to deduct the security deposit pursuant to valid standard terms; in the transfer of an account, if the seller conceals information regarding restrictions on core functions such as search and promotion, this amounts to a fundamental breach; and any after‑sales guarantees or “one‑for‑four” punitive promises made by a livestream promoter are legally enforceable, obligating the party to assume joint liability in accordance with the agreement.

The Supreme People’s Procuratorate has released the 63rd batch of guiding cases on criminal retrial protests.

The Supreme People’s Procuratorate has issued the “Notice on the Issuance of the Sixty-Third Batch of Guiding Cases of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate.”

This batch of cases comprises Supreme People’s Procuratorate Case Nos. 257 through 261, all of which are criminal retrial cases in which the Supreme People’s Procuratorate lodged a protest. They cover robbery, intentional homicide, rape, and drug trafficking. The cases clarify the following principles: recantations must be examined in light of the investigation process, objective evidence, and co‑defendant statements; in homicide cases occurring in enclosed spaces, investigators should analyze whether the perpetrator was an acquaintance or a stranger and rule out third‑party involvement; where objective evidence is lacking and the legality and credibility of the defendant’s guilty plea are questionable, the principle of “in dubio pro reo” shall apply; in drug‑related cases with no confessions, technical investigative materials may be obtained, and identifications such as facial images and voiceprints should be substantively reviewed; furthermore, electronic data—including mobile phone communications—should be extracted, and indirect evidence employed to establish a coherent evidentiary chain that eliminates reasonable doubt.

The Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate have issued a decision to amend judicial interpretations, including those pertaining to public-interest litigation on marine ecology.

On August 5, 2026, the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate issued the “Decision on Amending Two Judicial Interpretations, Including the ‘Provisions of the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate on Several Issues Concerning the Handling of Public Interest Litigation Cases Involving Marine Natural Resources and the Ecological Environment.’”

The Decision shall enter into force on August 15, 2026. The Judicial Interpretation on Public Interest Litigation in the Marine Environment has been renamed the Provisions on Several Issues Concerning the Handling of Public Interest Litigation Cases Involving the Marine Ecological Environment, and it applies to civil, criminal‑related civil, and administrative public interest litigation arising from pollution of the marine environment or damage to the marine ecosystem within maritime areas. The competent authorities for marine ecological and environmental protection may make claims for compensation against the liable parties and bring actions before the maritime courts; the procuratorial organs may support such actions and, where the relevant authorities fail to seek recovery, initiate litigation, or perform their duties in accordance with the law, may file suit themselves in accordance with the law. The legislative basis for the Judicial Interpretation on Criminal Cases Involving Environmental Pollution has been accordingly revised to include the Ecological and Environmental Code and other laws.

The Supreme People’s Court has issued new rules on the temporal application of the Civil Code on Ecological Environment.

On August 5, 2026, the Supreme People’s Court promulgated the “Several Provisions of the Supreme People’s Court on the Temporal Effectiveness of the Application of the Ecological Environment Code of the People’s Republic of China.”

The regulations stipulate that, following the Code’s entry into force, legal facts giving rise to a case shall be governed by the Code; for facts occurring prior to its entry into force, the applicable law and judicial interpretations in effect at the time shall apply, with principled provisions permitted to invoke specific provisions of the Code for reasoning. Where a contract is performed continuously across the date of entry into force, the relevant rules in effect at the time of performance shall apply; the Code shall also apply to ongoing torts and to cases where part of the damage occurs after the Code’s entry into force. Civil cases for which the three-year limitation period has not yet expired may be subject to the five-year limitation period. After the Code’s entry into force, its provisions shall govern public-interest litigation, injunctions and preservation measures, as well as administrative cases; administrative cases involving continuous unlawful acts that terminate after the Code’s entry into force shall likewise be governed by the Code. Provisions are also set forth regarding the defendant in proceedings brought by branch institutions, mitigating or reducing penalties, retrials, and cases that remain pending.