With the rapid development of digital assets and blockchain technology, countries have shown different regulatory attitudes towards crypto assets. The regulatory logic of digital currencies in mainland China and Hong Kong is quite different. Government of mainland China has clarified the legal status of digital currencies through various circulars and announcements. It has adopted a strict regulatory attitude towards digital currencies, completely banning illegal activities related to Initial Coin Offerings and virtual currencies. Hong Kong has always been open and inclusive to new things and innovative financial models, and its attitude has changed from the initial neutral observation to inclusive acceptance and active supervision. Hong Kong is now implementing a new VASP licensing regime, with a dual licensing requirement for operators of securities-based tokens and a register of licenses available for public inspection. This article will analyse the latest developments in the regulation of crypto assets in mainland China and Hong Kong.

A major new regulation on cross-border lending (People's Bank of China Circular No. 27), took effect earlier in the year. We prepared an extensive overview of the regulation in Chinese (《境内银行业金融机构境外贷款新规解析》). Below is a shorter version of the article in English. The briefing in English first appeared in the December issue of Butterworths Journal of International Banking and Financial Law in International Briefings.

After the return of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ("Hong Kong") to Chinese sovereignty on 1 July 1997, economic and trade cooperation between Hong Kong and the mainland have increased dramatically. Since Hong Kong maintains an independent judicial system under the "one country, two systems" principle, the needs for much broader and deeper judicial cooperation between Hong Kong and the mainland are also increasing.

Merger filings within the EU may be required at EU or national level. EU filings, for large-scale deals having a "Community dimension," must be submitted to the EU Commission (thereby pre-empting the need to file with the Member States' authorities). If the deal fails to meet the thresholds of the EU Merger Regulation (EUMR), the parties may be subject to any number of national filings in the 27 Member States (due to Brexit, the UK is now a separate jurisdiction which is no longer part of the EU merger review structure).

The Civil Code of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the "Civil Code"), adopted and promulgated at the Third Session of the 13th National People 's Congress of the People's Republic of China on May 28, 2020, shall come into force as of January 1, 2021. The current Tort Law of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the "Tort Law") has been integrated and partially amended by Part VII of the Civil Code-Tort Liability, in which Chapter IV is about the legislation on "product liability", which will play an important role in the development of product liability insurance in China.

A novel coronavirus epidemic (COVID-19) broke out at the beginning of 2020. Facemasks, goggles and protective clothing soon became short in supply due to the unexpectedly rapid spread of the virus. Currently, enterprises from both within and outside of the medical supply sector are working hard to meet the massive demand on the market. Unfortunately, it simply is not enough at the moment as more people are returning to work, exponentially increasing the demand. In light of the supply shortage in China, many companies are also starting to opt for import as an alternative.