26 June 2024

A Shanghai-based technology company and its de facto manager were suspected of using another company to issue fraudulent VAT special invoices worth hundreds of millions of CNY without conducting any substantial business operations.

Strategies for Attorney-Client Privilege in Internal Investigations

8 October 2023

Art Dicker Qiao Peng

The intricacy intensifies in cross-border investigations, when navigating the divergence between the U.S.’s common law and China’s civil law systems.

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Cross-Border Challenges for Internal Investigations in China

7 October 2023

Art Dicker Qiao Peng Connie (Yan) Chen

In 2021, China’s legislature enacted the Personal Information Protection Law, presenting a significant challenge for internal investigations.

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China Lowers Prosecution Standards for Commercial Crimes

26 May 2022

Qiao Peng Sylvia Wang

Effective 15 May 2022, new provisions set lower thresholds for criminal cases to be filed for commercial bribery, such as offering or accepting bribes not involving officials, embezzlement and misappropriation of funds. One of several recent initiatives to strengthen China’s approach to dealing with commercial crimes, the new rules will make it easier and more likely for the criminal authorities to prosecute individuals and entities that engage in these crimes. This could also trigger businesses in China to review their internal compliance policies, to ensure that these align with the new thresholds.

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Sexual Harassment: Employer Responsibilities and Compliance in China

6 January 2022

Vickey Zhou Eric Yuan Qiao Peng

In a recent case, a manager of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holdings was accused of sexually assaulting a subordinate in August 2021. This case brought the issue of sexual harassment at the workplace into the Chinese public sphere. The police investigated and the manager was dismissed, but Alibaba also took this opportunity to announce the establishment of a "Working Environment Committee" as decision-making body for work-related matters including sexual harassment.

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性骚扰问题中雇主责任分析及合规建议

10 November 2021

Qiao Peng Vickey Zhou Eric Yuan

电子商务巨头阿里巴巴集团控股公司（以下简称“阿里”）一名经理被控性侵一名同事的事件，在今年8月将国内工作环境中的性骚扰问题推向公众视野。

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China’s First Personal Information Protection Law

8 October 2021

Qiao Peng Shirley Sha

The Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL) was passed in China on 20 August 2021 and will come into force from 1 November 2021. It is specified, among the rest, that automated decision-making methods to push information and direct commercial marketing to individuals shall provide options that are not specific to their personal characteristics or provide individuals with convenient means to refuse.

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Strategies for Reporting Criminal Cases as a Company

15 September 2021

Tony Xu Qiao Peng

Where an enterprise has preliminarily obtained the clues of potential criminal cases through internal investigation, and the enterprise considers that the offender should be held criminally liable, it can report the case in accordance with the following strategies:

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Expense Reimbursement Fraud — What Companies Can Learn from Unsuccessful Lawsuits

6 September 2021

Qiao Peng Molly Luo

Expense reimbursement fraud goes against the principle of integrity. They are a kind of fraud that harms corporate interests and benefits. Therefore, when companies discover an employee involved in such fraud, they tend to terminate the labor re1ationship with, for reason of material breach of corporate policies. However, as we found in practice, companies are still losing their lawsuits and have to make compensation for their employment termination, even though they have proved the employee’s engagement in expense reimbursement fraud.

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