On February 9th, an Expert Seminar on the topic: "Chinese law: negotiations, contracts, counter-party verification and anti-corruption" was held on the platform of the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The event was moderated by Ms. Marina Evteeva, the Director of the Compliance Consulting Center of the MCCI.
Mr. Ivan Timofeev, the Director General of the Russian International Affairs Council, delivered the opening speech "China and foreign sanctions against Russia". He described how restrictions and sanctions affect the Russian-Chinese trade, taking into account the fact that "in many aspects, the Chinese have become our most desirable supplier and source for our sales markets". The speaker noted that one of the powerful triggers for Chinese’ banks, refusing to work with Russian clients, was the December amendments of the United States, which suggest the imposition of financial sanctions for any Chinese bank for participating in transactions, related to supply of dual-use goods to Russia. "And this risk is not far-fetched - it is already being practiced," Mr.Timofeev emphasized.
With the presentation of "Chinese vs. Western Approach to Law. Law, Politics and Business Security in China. Legal peculiarities of negotiating with a Chinese counter-party" was delivered by Mr. Pavel Troshchinsky, the Head of the Center for Political Research and Forecasts at the Institute of China and Modern Asia of the Russian Academy of Sciences, PhD of Law, author and teacher of the special course "Chinese Law". "Probably the most important myth of recent times is that it is difficult or impossible to work with China. We were constantly told that China is something impossible: one doesn't have to work with China - work with us! But this was a deception as a technique of competitive struggle: the West, which has been working with China for a long time, has built up huge competencies," said Mr.Troshchinsky.
He expressed confidence that the recent problems of Russian business were related to its orientation towards the West. The speaker admitted that despite the presence of objective difficulties (both in the political, state and business fields) it is no more difficult to work with China than with Russian counter-parties. "One will have to study Chinese law! It is imperative to start with its basic theoretical postulates. Without this, it will not be possible to understand the foundation on which the Chinese legal and, more comprehensively, political structure rests. The Chinese political system must also be studied in order to achieve high-level practical results," Mr.Troshchinsky is convinced.
The speaker listed some peculiarities of Chinese law, talked about its legal branches, codification of its legal system in the general, civil and criminal law. He drew separate attention to the safety of doing business in China, internal risks and personal safety.
With the presentation "Foreign Trade Contracts with Chinese Counter-parties. Checking counter-parties: request for documents, basic and additional checks. Contract realization. Cases of contract termination" was delivered by Mr. Alexander Zainigabdinov, the Head of the Beijing office of “CHINA WINDOW CONSULTING GROUP”, an arbitrator of the Shanghai International Arbitration Center.
Mr. Troshchinsky also spoke about criminal liability of organizations and anti-corruption campaign in China. China is very different from Russia in terms of criminal law. The presumption of innocence appeared there only in 1996, but collective responsibility has existed for many centuries. China has 46 offences that carry the death penalty. Among them is corruption as a crime against national security. "Cardinal changes in the fight against corruption began only under Xi Jinping. The internal situation began to change dramatically. The fight against corruption began to acquire, although not a formal, but a real, practical character," said Mt Troshchinsky.
He focused on China's major constitutional reform that took place in 2018. As a part of it, Mt. Xi Jinping established the State Anti-Corruption Monitoring Committee. "In China, bribing a civil servant is up to life imprisonment!" - warned the speaker. Receiving a bribe and mediating a bribe are also classified as serious criminal offences. "China has turned into a civilising, not only economic competitor of the West. And at a certain level, this competition has moved from the economic to the geopolitical civilisational level. China has becone a successful alternative to the Western world," the expert believes. He also gave the participants of the meeting some practical recommendations.
All participants of the event had the opportunity to ask questions of the experts in the chat room, and they actively used this opportunity.
"The number of participants in today's event proves the interest in the topic and the desire to acquire new knowledge. And we still have a lot of topics to cover. I think we will plan a new event soon," summarized Marina Evteeva.