Dear Working Group member,
The European Chamber is pleased to invite you to the next joint Legal and Competition Working Group meeting. It will be held on Monday, 26 June, 9:30 – 11:00 at the European Chamber offices in Beijing and Shanghai via video conference.
On 15 March 2017, the National People’s Congress adopted the General Provisions of the Civil Code. These will constitute the basis of a comprehensive Civil Code which is expected to come into force in 2020, covering all sectors of civil law (contracts, property, torts and family law).
The General Provisions will include all elements of civil law such as subjects, rights, liability, statute of limitations, etc. and will provide the overall framework of the civil code.
The Legal and Competition Working Group supports this landmark initiative as a tool to provide European enterprises with more legal certainty when conducting business in China.
In addition, the drafting of the Civil Code might also be an important exchange in the context of the ongoing EU-China Legal Affairs Dialogue which was launched in Beijing on 20 June 2016.
In this respect, Andrew McGinty, Partner at Hogan Lovells, will provide a presentation of the General Provisions of the Civil Code directly affecting companies. Mr McGinty is the head of the Corporate practice in Asia. He has spent several years living in Beijing, Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Shanghai, where he is now based. He covers a wide range of foreign direct investment, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and strategic alliances as well as regulatory advice on the TMT, venture capital, real estate, financial institutions, life sciences and insurance sectors. Mr McGinty is originally from London but has been living in China for the past 30 years. He is fluent in English, French, Mandarin, Cantonese and Spanish.
Tentative agenda:
- 9:30 – 9:40: Welcoming remarks and introduction of the speakers by the Chair of the Legal and Competition Working Group
- 9:40 – 10:20: Presentation of the General Provisions of the Civil Codes (with particular reference to those ones affecting companies) by Mr Andrew McGinty, Partner at Hogan Lovells
- 10:20 – 11:00: Q&A session
As usual, we welcome your suggestions for possible agenda topics and speakers for this and future meetings.
