The legal environment for foreign companies in China has been undergoing some important changes in recent years. Most of these evolutions are directly linked to the implementation of China’s economic reform plan and of the rule of law, which is being promoted as an essential element thereof.

The Flanders-China Chamber of Commerce (FCCC) organized a seminar to discuss how these reforms affect daily operations of foreign companies in China.

Paul Van Hooghten, Partner and Head of the Corporate Practice at Linklaters, briefly discussed the recent challenges faced by Chinese companies when doing acquisitions in Europe.

Eric Liu, Senior Consultant of the Corporate/Mergers & Acquisitions Practice, based in Linklaters’ Beijing office, gave an update on the recent regulatory developments in Chinese investors’ outbound investment and the foreign investment regime in China.
Tom Vandebosch, Legal Counsel at Umicore, joined the panel discussion and shared the experiences of Umicore.

The seminar was presented by Eric Liu, who has been advising clients on their inbound and outbound M&A transactions in relation to China and their operations in China for more than 13 years. His presentation dealt with the foreign exchange obstacles of Chinese investors when making outbound investments and the recent reform of the foreign investment laws in China.

The lunch-seminar took place on 8 November 2016 in the offices of Linklaters in Brussels, where a buffet lunch was also served.