BizChina

AmCham China just posted an interview here [mp3] of me regarding the return of joint ventures to China. Josh Gartner conducted the interview and he did a great job.

Though joint ventures obviously never left China, there has definitely been a post-recession resurgence. Whereas in the past, most American companies that did joint ventures in China did so for very specific and China-particular reasons, the "new" joint venture is being done as a cost savings devise. The old joint venture was done when the Chinese company had something the foreign company could not supply. That something was usually along the lines of a distribution network or necessary government contacts.

We are now seeing way more of what I call cost-saving joint ventures. By way of example, an American manufacturer might choose to joint venture with an existing Chinese factory, rather than spend the money to build a factory from scratch. The reasons for this upsurge are pretty obvious. American companies have less money now and, perhaps even more importantly, less access to credit.

If you are thinking of going into China as a joint venture, I recommend you give it a listen.

And If you want to read more on joint ventures, check out the following:

-- "China Joint Ventures. Find Me A Good One...."

-- "Avoiding Mistakes in Chinese Joint Ventures."

-- "China's Joint Venture Jeopardy"

What do you think?

Well not the blog itself, I guess, but me. I am heading to Jacksonville, FL, on October 27 to meet with a client and then the next day heading to Miami to speak at the American Bar Association's (ABA) International Law Section Annual Conference. I will be kickin it on South Beach. If you are going to be there, shoot me a line. I return on the 30th.

The World Trademark Review, in its article, "Research reveals increased US confidence in China’s rights enforcement regime," [subscription required for full article] just came out with a story on a recent US-China Business Council (USCBC) survey finding that US brand owners are becoming less concerned with IP rights enforcement in China. IP is now only number seven on a list of the "Top 10 issues," way down from first place in 2005.

China Law Blog's own Steve Dickinson is quoted on how trademarks are actually pretty well enforced in China these days:

Steve Dickinson, a partner at Harris & Moure, told WTR that, following entry into the World Trade Organization, China has “made remarkable progress in enforcement of trademark and patent rights”, but warned: “The same is not true of copyright, and this is where considerable problems still continue. The rate of copying has not really declined.”

However, Dickinson is unsure whether this [the proposed trademark law changes] will have an impact on confidence over the next year: “Most people are unaware of the amendments. Moreover, the changes are not really focused on enforcement and people who have been in China for some time have learned not to rely on changes in legislation. It is never clear when a law will be adopted or what the final version will say. Many proposed laws are changed dramatically in the final version, so we have to wait and see what is adopted.”

The article goes on to talk about how the proposed changes in China's trademark laws will only make things better.

For more on how IP protection in China is improving, check out "Piracy In China. T'Ain't No Big Thing."