The Chinese Maritime Courts are not obliged to recognise and/or enforce foreign courts' orders, therefore Hanjin's creditors could still arrest Hanjin-related vessels in China if they have maritime claims (recognised under Chinese law) against the registered owners and/or bareboat charterers of the said vessels.

Container leasing companies and bunker suppliers could also file applications in order to request that the corresponding Chinese Maritime Courts order Hanjin to return the leased containers to Hanjin or the bunkers supplied to Hanjin in certain circumstances.

On October 8, 2016, China’s Ministry of Commerce (“MOFCOM”) published the Provisional Administrative Rules on Foreign-Invested Enterprises’ Establishment and Amendment(《外商投资企业设立及变更备案管理暂行办法》), effective immediately.

Dispute Resolution Beijing/Hong Kong/Shanghai Client Alert PRC Launches Information Website for Bankrupt Enterprises and Sets Up Bankruptcy Courts Recent developments The People’s Republic of China (“PRC”) recently launched two initiatives in relation to enterprise bankruptcies. On 1 August 2016, the Supreme People’s Court (the “SPC”) launched the Information Website for National Bankrupt Enterprises Recombinational Cases (the “Website”).

An insolvent enterprise incorporated in Mainland China (“PRC”) or its creditors (“Applicant”) may institute a bankruptcy proceeding against the insolvent enterprise under the PRC Enterprise Bankruptcy Law (“Bankruptcy Law”) by the filing of a bankruptcy petition. There have long been complaints by industry practitioners that PRC courts are reluctant to register bankruptcy petitions.

任何在中国内地（“”）注册成立的企业，如不能清偿到期债务，并且资产不足以清偿全部债务或者明显缺乏清偿能力的，可由该企业或其债权人（“”）提交破产申请，继而根据《中华人民共和国企业破产法》（“《破产法》”）对该企业发起破产法律程序。但是，长期以来，备受业内人士诟病的是，中国法院迟迟未对破产申请实施立案登记制度。在此背景下，最高人民法院（“”）于2016年7月颁布指导通知[1]（“《2016年最高院通知》”），旨在简化和规范登记破产案件的立案受理工作。

最高院通知：优化立案程序

Preferred maritime liens can raise challenging issues during maritime disputes—especially during bankruptcy. Creditors may encounter problems when filing for seizure due to their unique nature, with venue is becoming a determining factor.

We are seeing attempts by the Chinese Government to provide the market with more sophisticated tools for dealing with unprofitable companies.

China is attempting to align its insolvency regime to international standards and introduce additional tools for dealing with the country's rising debt load.

Australian lenders with exposures to these debts (particularly in the coal, steel, manufacturing, cement, shipbuilding, solar, heavy machinery, mining and property sectors) should reassess insolvency risk and understand their options.

The People’s Republic of China (“PRC“) recently launched two initiatives in relation to enterprise bankruptcies. These initiatives will provide significant benefits to both applicants and creditors when they seek to exercise their respective rights during the enterprise bankruptcy process.

China Tax Monthly – 2015 Midyear Review Beijing/Hong Kong/Shanghai In this midyear issue of the China Tax Monthly, we present the most interesting and most important regulatory changes and administrative cases from the first six months of 2015. Two major trends are worthy of note. First, the PRC tax authorities are continuing to strengthen transfer pricing enforcement and anti-avoidance practice. Second, though cross-border restructurings still face challenges, China offered various preferential tax policies to domestic corporate restructurings during the first half of the year.

In 2009, to promote corporate restructuring, the MoF and the SAT jointly released Circular Caishui [2009] No. 59 to  grant tax deferral treatment to qualified corporate restructuring transactions (recently modified by Circular 109, mentioned above, which expanded its scope).

In 2010, the SAT released Announcement [2010] No. 4, providing procedural guidelines to benefit from the tax deferral treatment.