On 11 January 2017, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) issued the Notice on Matters relating to the Macro-prudential Administration of Overall Cross-border Financing (关于全口径跨境融资宏观审慎管理有关事宜的通知).

The notice further encourages cross-border financing and applies to domestic enterprises and foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) (excluding real estate enterprises and government financing platforms) and financial institutions that borrow RMB or foreign currency from non-residents.

For more coverage of this development, see Legal update, PBOC issues revised rules on cross-border financing.

On 26 January 2017, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) issued the Notice on Further Promoting Foreign Exchange Administration Reform and Perfecting Authenticity and Compliance Review (关于进一步推进外汇管理改革完善真实合规性审核的通知).

The notice is aimed at relaxing certain foreign exchange inflow controls and strengthening the authenticity and compliance reviews for capital outflows carried out by China's designated foreign exchange banks, and has some significant changes compared with previously issued foreign exchange control rules.

For more coverage of this development, see Legal update, SAFE relaxes capital inflow controls and strengthens outflow authenticity reviews.

On 4 February 2017, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) circulated for public comment the Measures on the Security Review of Network Products and Services (Draft for Public Comment) (网络产品和服务安全审查办法（征求意见稿）).

The measures are aimed at implementing one aspect of the Network Security Law of the People's Republic of China 2016 (中国人民共和国网络安全法), that is, the national security review of products and services used in certain information networks in China.

For more coverage of this development, see Legal update, CAC circulates draft security review measures for network products and services.

On 26 February 2017, the National People's Congress (NPC) deliberated and circulated for public comment a revised draft of the Anti-unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China (中华人民共和国反不正当竞争法（修订草案）). The final version of the draft will represent the first revision of the law since it was initially enacted in 1993.

The draft expands the scope of commercial bribery to include the acts of bribery of or by third parties that could influence a transaction. The draft also attributes the bribery acts of employees to their employers, unless the employer can prove otherwise.

For more coverage of this development, see Legal update, NPC deliberates on draft Anti-unfair Competition Law.

On 15 March 2017, the NPC enacted the General Provisions of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China (中华人民共和国民法总则), which will take effect 1 October 2017.

The general provisions are comprised of existing civil norms and legal rules based on, and developed from, the General Principles of Civil Law of the People's Republic of China 1986 (中华人民共和国民法通则). The civil code will be expanded in future to include more specific chapters governing property rights, contracts, tort liability, family law and inheritance.

For more coverage of this development, see Legal update, China enacts general provisions of civil code.