"In 2022, we expect the amended AML to provide further legal clarity to companies. On the one hand, substantive prohibitions will be expanded (for example, hub-and-spoke arrangements are explicitly captured) and penalties for missed filings and non-cooperation in investigations will increase; on the other hand, the 'safe harbour' rules, if finally adopted, should provide companies some comfort with respect to their commercial practices. While the level of enforcement will increase as the elevated and expanded NAMB is now better equipped to pursue wrongdoings, the authority also encourages and provides pro-active guidance to companies on putting in place effective compliance programs to prevent infringements from occurring in the first place."

Liao, Xi, Linklaters Zhao Sheng, Beijing

"For 2022, we expect the government to continue beefing up the new anti-trust authority, the NAMB, and its provincial offices. The increase in staff is noteworthy (perhaps doubling current numbers), but we think new developments could bring a dynamic leading to a considerably higher headcount. In terms of enforcement, the draft of the amended AML sets out a list of sectors where anti-trust enforcement could be conducted, and the new NAMB head indicated the industries relevant to people's livelihood and the tech, financial and media industries as enforcement priorities in merger review. We also expect there to be more private anti-trust litigation. The damages awards in the IP sector have risen over the past few years, and we could see a similar development in the anti-trust field. If there is a leading court judgment, a flurry of lawsuits could be filed."

Adrian Emch, Hogan Lovells, Beijing

"In terms of legislation, we expect the promulgation of more implementing rules to provide detailed guidance on application of the to-be-amended AML. In addition, the Supreme People's Court is likely to publish a set of judicial interpretations to clarify the rules on 'burden of proof', the determination of competition harm and compensation and other hot issues in anti-trust civil litigation. In terms of law enforcement, the NAMB will take an even more active and aggressive approach in supervising and penalizing anti-monopoly behaviour. In particular, digital economy, financial and healthcare and other so-called sectors related to people's daily lives, like automobiles and consumer products, will still be the major enforcement priority. Also, the NAMB is well prepared to challenge some complicated anti-trust cases such as abuses of intellectual property rights, big data related monopolies and various types of exclusive dealing. Furthermore, anti-trust civil litigation will be increasing in the coming year."

Michael Gu, AnJie Law Firm, Beijing

"The long-awaited PIPL and DSL finally took effect in 2021, providing a framework for data protection and data security in China. To implement these high-level requirements, multiple draft regulations were also released in 2021 for public comment, including the draft Network Data Security Regulations, which cover a wide array of topics, in November and the draft Measures for the Security Assessment of Cross-border Data Transfers, which identify the data processing entities that must apply for a security assessment before transferring data outside China, in late October. Drafts of the Cybersecurity Review Measures and the Provisions on the Management of Internet Algorithmic Recommendation for Internet Information Services were finalized in the first days of 2022, and we expect other regulators to pass more implementing regulations in 2022, including those related to the security assessment and the standard contractual clauses for cross-border data transfers."

Luo, Yan, Covington & Burling, Beijing

"2022 is the key year for implementing the PIPL and DSL. In the new year, we expect more detailed rules to be published and implemented in relation to cross-border data transfers, data classification and important data, data security review and related filings and critical information infrastructure. Multinationals should pay special attention to regulations relevant to the cross-border data transfer regime, in particular, the thresholds for data localization and the governmental assessment procedures. Sectoral regulators also will play a more prominent role in data protection and publish their own rules. Key regulators to watch include the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the central bank and financial regulators, and the health regulator. Enforcement will ensue in areas where the implementing rules have become effective and will continue in areas such as mobile apps."

James Gong, Bird & Bird, Beijing

"In 2021, the PIPL and DSL came into force, and several implementing regulations and related drafts were released. We expect to see more detailed regulations that further implement the DSL and PIPL in 2022, especially in relation to identifying important data, such as the specific requirements for various security assessments, and cross-border data transfers, such as a standard contract for overseas, third-party data processors. We expect the initial wave of regulatory inspections and enforcement cases to occur in late 2022, when detailed implementing regulations might be in force and companies should have had sufficient time to update their internal controls and compliance systems."

Samuel Yang, AnJie Law Firm, Beijing

"Cross-border investment is unlikely to fully bounce back before 2023. Many investments take time to realise and the pipeline may be a little empty, as COVID has cut China off from the world for two years and cross-border investments need face to face interactions, not ZOOM calls. China will remain, however, very open to (indeed thirsty for) foreign investment. The hot sectors are likely to be digital, consumer facing products (especially cosmetics), fertility and health related businesses. We expect to see more foreign tech companies joint venturing in China, as it is a market too big to ignore but too difficult to go it alone. The digital wall between China and the West will complicate but not block such forays and collaboration. The not-so-hot sectors will be education and anything perceived as potentially having a negative impact on society (ranging from alcohol to gaming)."

Mark Schaub, King & Wood Mallesons, London

"As the Chinese government continues to develop a more liberal and flexible foreign direct investment regime in 2022, foreign investors have already seen a further shortening of the negative lists and can expect a modernized Company Law (with more freedom in capital contributions and shareholding, an expedited capital reduction procedure and more international corporate governance structures), a clearer regulatory approach toward VIE structures and a further relaxed foreign exchange policy that offers foreign investors significant financing flexibility. In terms of attractive sectors for foreign investment, high and new technologies, high-end manufacturing, new and emerging industries, financial services and telecommunications all should benefit from favourable national and local policies and incentives. In short, in 2022 we expect that China will continue to lower the market entry threshold for foreign investors to enter into the country and will materialize its welcome statements into tangible policies."

Vincent Wang, Global Law Office, Shanghai

"In 2021, China continued its efforts to enhance its export controls and to fight against foreign sanctions. In 2022, China may release the implementing regulations for the Export Control Law and get used to enforcing its export control and sanctions laws and regulations, while the US may maintain its tightened export control and sanctions policies against China. Domestic and foreign invested companies in China are expected to devote more resources to build or improve their export controls and sanctions compliance program, while attaching greater importance to human rights (especially the so-called forced labor issue) and supply chain compliance in 2022, especially by those companies relying on the US and European markets. Though quite challenging, companies should avoid taking a side, and instead try to find a way to comply with requirements from both China and foreign countries (especially the US)."

Ren, Qing, Global Law Office, Beijing

"2022 will be another challenging year for foreign companies doing business in China. Regulatory headwinds are unlikely to abate, with companies needing to navigate Chinese export control, data privacy, data security, anti-trust and other regulations as well as US and other relevant jurisdictions' regulations, which in some cases will directly conflict with Chinese regulatory requirements. But the story of 2022 is unlikely to be only about challenges. China continues to push open doors for foreign investment in different sectors, with the new negative lists issued at the end of 2021 providing for (albeit modest) market openings, and continues to reform corporate and other business law rules to facilitate deal execution. Look for cross-border transactional activity that takes advantage of these opportunities and that in relevant cases may use joint venture or other structures that help mitigate regulatory concerns."

Paul McKenzie, Morrison & Foerster, Beijing and Shanghai

"In 2021, we witnessed restructurings, supply chain disruptions and force majeure issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic. We also experienced a number of existing Sino-foreign joint venture companies that, in the majority of cases, were requested by local company registration authorities to adapt to the new corporate governance structure provided under the Foreign Investment Law, which actually permits companies to amend their organizational form and internal governance provisions to comply with the Company Law until the end of 2024. We expect all of the aforementioned topics, as well as, in particular, data security and data protection compliance efforts, to remain of high importance in 2022. In addition, updates to important pieces of legislation, such as the Company Law, the Enterprise Bankruptcy Law and the Arbitration Law, are expected to have considerable impact on China-registered as well as China related businesses in 2022."

Michael Munzinger, CMS China, Shanghai

"Every China market participant faced something new in 2021, the second year into the pandemic. For one, China continued to become more open to foreign investment, as evidenced by an ever-shorter version of the negative list issued at year's end. By contrast, however, regulatory controls were tightened in substantive areas of law such as data protection, anti-trust, and national security. To navigate these crosscurrents, a successful investment in China, big or small, now requires investors to know China, and the specific policy environment, better than ever. In this sense, now is not the time to ponder overarching laws that specifically apply to foreign investment, which will continue to fade away in terms of their importance. Rather, success will come to those foreign investors who pay more attention to detailed rules and regulations to properly re-position themselves, starting with the underlying behaviours and operations on which their China businesses are based."

Li, Jun, Han Kun Law Offices, Shanghai

"According to the legislative plans of the government and securities regulatory authorities, 2022 may see the publication of new directives which will give regulators greater powers against misconduct or failures of governance by mainland Chinese-listed companies. Current proposals aim to create a broader range of central government-authorised regulatory powers on listed companies' behaviour, which may also cover environmental, social and governmental (ESG) issues. The latest draft rules relating to overseas listing directly or indirectly by Chinese companies also indicate a significant change to the IPO regime. On one hand, Chinese regulators are trying to place indirect overseas listings under their supervision, and on the other hand, they wish to simplify the regulatory process for direct overseas listings. Whilst the listing of a VIE structure is yet to be further clarified, it is expected that Chinese regulators will take a practical approach to deal with this."

John Xu, Linklaters, Shanghai

"One expected milestone for 2022 is the likely amendment of the Anti-Money Laundering Law, following the release of a consultation draft in 2021. Financial regulators are expected to promulgate a series of implementing rules and guiding standards to align with international practices. This may include more stringent requirements on client due diligence, large-amount and suspicious transaction reporting, risk assessment and client record maintenance. PRC companies may be required to further improve internal control systems and risk management measures and respond to incremental compliance challenges. In another bright spot for 2022, we expect the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) to overhaul the regulatory system for overseas securities listings by domestic enterprises. CSRC also may enhance its cross-border regulatory co-operation and joint audit oversight with offshore regulators. For onshore capital markets, CSRC may further integrate and streamline its regulatory framework over PRC-listed companies, with key focuses set on statutory obligations of listed companies and investors' protection."

Yang, TieCheng, Han Kun Law Offices, Beijing

"We expect to see a comeback of IPOs and secondary listings of China concepts stocks in the Hong Kong capital markets in late 2022 due to the changing legal environment in China. Notably, the CSRC released a consultation paper to regulate Chinese companies' offshore listing in December 2021. If enacted in the current form, there will be a significant impact on Chinese VIE structured companies currently listed or planning to be listed overseas. However, we believe that Hong Kong will still be viewed more favourably than the US as a listing destination from a China regulatory perspective. In addition, with current market volatility and policy pressures from the Chinese and US governments, we expect to see more China concepts stocks coming back to the Hong Kong stock market for a secondary listing. These dual listed companies retain the flexibility to withdraw from the US market when the circumstances require or when the time is right."

Wang, Yang, Dechert, Beijing and Hong Kong

"Back in October 2020, China's central bank (PBOC) circulated a draft amendment to the Law of the People's Bank of China, which officially introduced the digital currency, e-CNY. Unlike crypto currency, which has been outlawed in China, the e-CNY is a centralized digital currency primarily aimed at facilitating e-payments and enhancing the control and ease of tracking of e-payments. We anticipate the PBOC will expand the e-CNY pilot programme to more cities in 2022, but it remains unclear whether e-CNY will replace e-payment methods that are currently widely used through social media like WeChat Pay and Ali Pay. It is fair to say, however, that e-CNY is the only lawful digital currency in China, that it will be managed solely by the PBOC and that all e-payments must be transacted through a centralized and licensed platform to prevent money laundering and other regulatory issues in the financial industry."

Raymond Cai, Llinks Law Offices, Shanghai

"We estimate that, in 2022, one feature of the Chinese finance sector is the increasing volume of green financing and climate-driven investment and financing projects, with an aim to contributing to the ultimate goal of carbon neutralisation. Another feature we expect to see is the increased use of RMB in cross-border (inbound and outbound) financing transactions, thanks to the continued promotion of RMB's international uses from both policy and business perspectives."

Zhang, Xin, Global Law Office, Beijing

"In 2021, multiple provinces and cities in China implemented the new three-child policy by extending maternity leave and paternity leave and introducing childcare leave, a new type of employee leave. In 2022, we expect more issues will arise in the implementation of these new rules. The details of the new rules in each city or province differ, and the rules are silent as to how employers can verify that parents are properly sharing childcare leave and whether unused childcare leave may be carried over or encashed. Employers must address these issues and update internal policies in 2022. In addition, there were a number of high profile sex discrimination and harassment cases reported in 2021. This trend will likely continue into 2022 as companies are increasingly expected to face and manage reports about discrimination and harassment and pro-actively address workplace diversity and inclusion issues."

Johnny Choi, DLA Piper, Beijing

"By the end of 2021, many local governments issued updated employee leave policies due to the new, national three-child policy. All of these policies are very localized and most are very general. These issues will bring implementation problems, and we still need to determine to what extent the revised policies will be implemented in practice. In addition, another set of issues will be carried over from 2021, the need to resolve the HR challenges brought about by the PIPL and its provisions on consent. Companies must obtain the consent of employees to transfer their personal information abroad, provide employees (and candidates) with information on how they process personal information and obtain their general consent, as well as specific consent if, for example, sensitive personal information is involved. As a result, companies may need to review their personal information protection policies in 2022, update their employment rules and optimize their personal information processing procedures."

Jeanette Yu, CMS China, Shanghai

"China released its Guidelines for Building a Powerful Intellectual Property Country (2021-2035) in September 2021. The Guidelines set the goal for China to rank among the world's top tier by 2035 in IPR competitiveness. Development of IPR power has been one of China's most important policies for years, and we have seen the legislative activities for IPR protection in China increase in recent years. To effectively implement the amended trademark, copyright, patent and anti-unfair competition laws, numerous implementing rules and regulations, as well as judicial interpretations and opinions were issued in 2020 and 2021. In addition to judicial and administrative protection, China has been advocating the use of ADR to resolve intellectual property disputes. In 2022 and beyond, China will focus on not only stricter IPR protection but also more diverse and effective utilization of IPR, including the financing of IPR such as IPR mortgages, IPR securitization and so on."

Aggie Liu, Baker McKenzie FenXun, Beijing

"While data has been quite a buzz word in 2021, mostly for its implications to compliance issues and capital markets, we foresee some further heating up in 2022, this time from the perspective of data ownership rights in a digitalization era. This is hardly a new topic to many internet companies, where competition law is often leveraged to solve data scraping disputes. The next wave, however, may expand to more traditional sectors that are undergoing digitalization changes, thanks to the maturity of IoT and AI technologies. Issues related to the proper allocation of rights and interests pertaining to datasets, as well as the algorithms using these datasets will create both legal challenges and business opportunities."

Kevin Duan, Han Kun Law Offices, Beijing

"In October 2021, the Standing Committee of the NPC announced its decision to authorize the State Council to conduct a pilot real estate tax reform programme in certain areas. Looking ahead to 2022, we expect to see detailed regulations for the pilot programme, which is likely to involve, in addition to Shanghai and Chongqing, other wealthier and economically diversified cities such as Shenzhen, Hangzhou and Beijing. The tax rate is expected to start off low, ranging between 0.2% and 1%, to avoid strong protest from the taxpayers. Considering the disparities among different areas of the PRC and the government's constant emphasis on stability, it might still take time for the tax to be rolled out on a nationwide scale. We also expect to see clarification on whether additional expenses will be required to automatically renew the tenure of residential land, since the Civil Code is ambiguous on this issue and leaves it to future legislation."

Stephen Lin, Fangda Partners, Shanghai

"The authorization in October 2021 to carry out a pilot programme of real estate tax reforms in certain regions is a notable event in respect of real estate tax law development in China. After years of discussion and planning, the Chinese government is determined to accelerate the implementation of real estate tax nationwide, although the reform will be limited to certain regions in the near future. It is widely anticipated that certain tier one and tier two cities in the Pearl River Delta, Yangtze River Delta, and Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Rim might be included in the first pilot regions. It could be predicted that a series of supporting measures in the finance and taxation sectors will be introduced to facilitate this pilot programme, leading to long-term and far-reaching impacts on the business landscape of the real estate market in this country."

Nancy Zhang, JunHe, Beijing

"With the Implementation Measures for the Early Resolution Mechanism for Drug Patent Disputes (for Trial Implementation) and the corresponding judicial interpretation and administrative adjudication measures coming into force in 2021, the institutional framework of China's patent linkage system is basically in place. In 2022, lawsuits and administrative adjudication cases accepted under this system are expected to yield results, and we will have the opportunity to learn more about the operation of China's patent linkage system in practice. In addition, the revised Patent Examination Guidelines with the added special provisions for patent invalidation procedures as applied to the patent linkage system will also become effective in the near future, further improving the patent linkage system. With the above factors coming into play, pharmaceutical companies will be faced with more opportunities as well as challenges in China in the coming year, as more disputes under the patent linkage system will likely emerge."

Ran, Ruixue, Covington & Burling, Beijing

"In 2022, companies will continue to face challenges in the supply chain, mobility affecting recruitment of talent around the world and increasing geo-political tensions. In terms of legal developments in the life sciences sector, we expect that the revised implementation rules for the new DAL will be released as SAMR had said in its 2020 legislative plan that it will push this forward and speed up the formulation and revision of supporting regulations for the DAL. Also, multinational companies in the life sciences industry will need to adapt their management and use of patient data to be in line with the requirements under the new PIPL, most notably the conditions that the PIPL imposes on cross-border transfers of personal information."

Philip Cheng, Hogan Lovells, Shanghai

"The past year witnessed the release by the Ministry of Justice of a draft amendment to the Arbitration Law and the recognition by the international arbitration community that Chinese cities (Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai) and institutions (HKIAC and CIETAC) have become the most preferred seats and institutions internationally. 2022 may see the promulgation of the long-awaited revised Arbitration Law, which will be in line with international practices and bring about ground-breaking changes to arbitration practice in China in the years to come. I have no doubt foreign arbitral institutions will take full advantage of the new law to set up and boost the administration services of China-seated arbitrations and Chinese institutions internationalise their operations."

Ye, Weina, Herbert Smith Freehills Kewei Joint Operation Office, Shanghai

"Disruptions to supply chain and travel restrictions around the world during the COVID-19 era will continue to drive a surge in disputes in 2022. Arbitration will remain as the preferred mode of dispute resolution as proceedings are generally less impacted by local lockdowns and restrictions and virtual hearings have become the norm. The growth of arbitration in Mainland China for resolving foreign-related disputes is expected to be particularly significant, as China seeks to modernize its arbitration regime by enacting an amended Arbitration Law, proposing substantial changes such as allowing ad hoc arbitrations and opening the door for foreign arbitration institutions to administer foreign-related arbitrations in Mainland China. Despite the turmoil in recent years, Hong Kong will remain a key player in international arbitration as one of the most established arbitration hubs supported by a pro-arbitration judiciary and the only seat outside of Mainland China where parties to arbitrations may obtain interim relief from the people's courts."

Kevin Hong, Norton Rose Fulbright, Hong Kong