Over 500 Chinese companies made their way to Thailand last weekend in order to forge bilateral contracts that would pave the way for new Chinese manufacturing sites in the Southeast Asian country.

The move comes as a mutually beneficial economic deal for both countries.

On the one hand, Thailand will be able to link its Eastern Economic Corridor, which has prime port access to the rest of the world’s trade, with China’s insanely ambitious Belt and Road Initiative that seeks to create a trade infrastructure of roads, bridges, and other pathways from mainland China all the way to Europe.

Also, the economic symbiosis between the two countries will give Chinese manufacturing sites a crucial loophole to avoid US tariffs that have become the norm as Donald Trump’s trade war against the East Asian nation intensifies.

“It is the [opportunity] Chinese investors are seeking: a place outside China to produce with higher competitiveness to counter the effects of the trade war and also to become more competitive in global markets,” said Stanley Kim, the chairman of the Joint Foreign Chambers of Commerce who organized the event.

Read the full story here.

For a qualified Thailand business attorney, contact the expert lawyers at Chaninat & Leeds.

The ruling Thai military government is courting Chinese investors to help fund a $51 billion infrastructure and economic development plan for the country’s eastern seaboard.

The so-called Eastern Economic Corridor project would use Chinese funds to introduce technologically advanced industries to the region, from biotech and robotics to aircraft maintenance, in hopes to revamp what was a traditional manufacturing hub of the country.

According to the Thai officials, the project would go a long way in establishing Thailand’s foot into China’s incredibly ambitious Belt and Road Initiative, which literally aims to be the 21st century’s version of the Silk Road.

Since the 2014 coup that saw the military junta take power, Thailand has seen a significant dip in foreign investment.

The five-year project, running from 2017 to 2021, is an attempt to boost foreign investment and utilize the regions of Rayong, Chachoengsao, and Chonburi–which have direct access by sea to the rest of Asia.

Read the full story here.

For a qualified and professional Thailand business attorney, contact the Thai and US law firm Chaninat & Leeds.

The decade long lawsuit was over the right to use his name for real estate services

Photo by Gage Skidmore

Donald Trump has not only won the election, but also a decade long trademark dispute in China for the right to use his name for a variety of real estate services reports Wall Street Journal.

Currently, the Trump trademark is used to sell products that are not owned by Trump. Some of those products include ammunition, explosives, poker cards and condoms.

According to WSJ, of the 53 registered trademarks under the Trump name in China, only 21 are actually owned by Trump.

International Intellectual Property Lawyers in Thailand specialize in trademark registration and enforcement in Thailand

The lawsuit started when Trump’s application to register his Trump trademark in China had been rejected due to the fact that another man, Dong Wei had previously applied to register the same trademark.

The report says that since Trump was unknown to majority of the Chinese population at the time, it was a fair ruling. After several repeated attempts, Donald Trump finally won the right to a Trump trademark for his real estate business soon after he won the U.S presidential election.

Read the original article here

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China passed animal protection law for endangered species but allows for captive breeding and public performances.

China has recently passed a ‘new wild animal protection law’ which prohibits the sale of food made from endangered wildlife but allows for other products to be derived from them, including for traditional Chinese medicine practices, where for example, bears are bred simply to make products for medicinal purposes, which scientifically is still not proven to work.

This process involves the removal of their stomach bile and has sparked controversy within the media, according to Phys Org it has been ‘condemned’ as animal cruelty by activists.

Chaninat and Leeds family law attorneys have decades of experience in recovering physical and legal custody of children in child abduction cases in Thailand

Environmental campaigners previously brought into the limelight a ‘draft of the law‘ for treating animals, including tigers and bears, as commercial resources’. They  stated that it would not stop their ongoing slaughter but the draft would in fact “further entrench policies of captive-breeding for commercial use of parts and derivatives of captive tigers” “, the Environmental Investigation Agency said.

Read more on this story here

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Importers of scrap metal in China face claims that they have spent over a decade sending “counterfeit mutilated” coins to the United States Mint, earning them over $47 million in return, reports Court House News.

A federal judge ruled that they must face the two-count complaint for civil forfeiture of property.

American business attorneys in Bangkok Chaninat and Leeds are experts in Thai business law

The complaint, filed by the federal government, states that the defendants sent the Mint a large quantity of mutilated coins to be melted down and made into new currency. This is via the Mint’s Mutilated Coin Redemption Program.

However, the program operates at a loss as the value of the metal is less than the value of the new coins.

Read more here.

Related video: Gold Market in Thailand | Understanding the Spot Gold Exchange

“China has unveiled a slew of “confessions” from brokers and journalists as authorities struggled to contain the biggest stock market sell-off since 2008.

The pre-trial confessions – common in high-profile cases in China – suggest that Beijing intends to make a public example of the alleged transgressors.”

See the full story at the Independent.

Tax lawyers in Thailand Chaninat and Leeds employ licensed accountants and auditors, as well as experienced bookkeepers. We are able to provide accounting services and documents translated into English.

Go here to learn about Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Act.

Chinese authorities have announced legal proceedings against alleged securities violations, in the wake of the country’s recent stock market crash, reports the Wall Street Journal.

Targets include high profile individuals in the government, brokerage firms and the media have confessed to what they called securities violations.

Foreign business license lawyers in Thailand Chaninat and Leeds have decades of experience helping foreigners successfully run businesses in Thailand.

The announcement indicates that the Chinese authorities will use law-enforcement as well as financial support to counter weeks of large-scale market loss.

See the full story here.

New strict measures for internet security are being put in place by the Chinese government, who are placing mandatory police officials in the offices of internet companies, reports CNET.

Image Credit: Sinistra Ecologia Libertà (Flickr)

The announcement from China’s Ministry of Public Safety on Wednesday stated that the largest internet firms will soon have “network security officers” with the goal of catching criminal behavior as soon as possible.

It’s not yet clear exactly which companies will be involved, only stating that it would be “important website and Internet firms.”

Xinhua News Agency in China said:

“The units will be able to get a fast grasp on suspected illegal online activities, and serve and direct the websites to improve their ability to safeguard security.”

The Ministry of Public Safety explains this move is an attempt towards increased internet security, but there are concerns that this is a sign that the government are increasing censoring of the internet, and therefore a narrowing of human rights.

Thai Fraud lawyers Chaninat and Leeds have decades of experience in company financial fraud, land fraud, fraud by deception, document fraud, and electronic and computer fraud.

A spokesman for the White House National Security Council said:

“We are concerned by these reports […] The United States’ commitment to Internet freedom reflects our deep-seated belief that individuals have the same universal human rights online and offline.”

China is among the most stringent in the world in terms of Internet censorship, with web services such as Google, Facebook and YouTube not permitted. It has been noted that these are sites that allow for free expression and opinion.

See the full story at CNET.

Free speech and human rights in China was in news last month too, see here for more.

The Chinese government banned a documentary about the country’s smog crisis that went viral less than a week after its March 1 debut, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.

The film, Under the Dome, detail’s the country’s coal dependency, weak enforcement of anti-pollution regulations and resulting air pollution crisis.

Former CCTV reporter, Chai Jing, created and self-funded the controversial documentary to raise public awareness.

The Thailand private investigators at Chaninat and Leeds’ have been conducting investigations in Bangkok and Thailand’s provinces for Thai and foreign clients since 1997.

The documentary initially appeared on Chinese website and even garnered coverage from state-run media and praise from the country’s environment minister, reports USA Today.

After racking up 200 million views, though, the Chinese government blocked it from all major Chinese websites and issued a gag order to the Chinese media.

Read the full story here and here.

Watch the full documentary with English subtitles:

It has been revealed by The Independent that British drug company GlaxoSmithKline is being investigated following claims its employees bribed doctors in China to supply their pharmaceutical products. It has been alleged that the scandal, involving four employees including a vice president, went undetected by the internal bribery and corruption policy, through the use of travel agencies and consultancy firms. 

The president of its Asia-Pacific branch has been forced to admit that executives “appear” to have broken the law. The financial director has not been arrested but it is thought he has been banned from leaving the country.

Corruption is unfortunately often synonymous with Thailand but the government are trying their hardest to tackle the well known problem. There are in fact many laws in Thailand designed to prevent corruption including many Thailand criminal laws.  In addition there are also regulations that indirectly manage corrupt practices. Americans conducting business in Thailand also need to remain aware that there is then also the possibility of international prosecution under the Thai Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The FCPA contains two sections: one related to accounting and the other related to anti-bribery.

 Read the full story here