Investment inside and out

Mergers and acquisitions in China are expected to be more frequent in 2019. Pooling Resources points out that since the third quarter last year, the Chinese Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) has unleashed a fresh wave of regulatory policies aimed at revitalizing conditions for listed companies in the M&A market, including with rapid examinations, simplifying and speeding up examination procedures for small-sum transactions. But the regulator has also stepped up its efforts to strengthen the prevention and control of insider trading in M&A of listed companies.

In terms of M&A by foreign investors, a significant development has been the newly approved Foreign Investment Law, which is widely seen as a major overhaul of the law governing foreign investment into China. The new law means much less restrictions and considerably more convenience for foreign investors in China, but some technical issues, such as the validity of VIE structures, still need to be clarified.

The trade conflict between China and the US continues, but at the time of writing, the two countries appeared close to reaching a deal. However, given the US’s broken promises in the last round of negotiations, and the possible inclusion of a “snap-back” provision in the deal this round, the landscape of the future US-China trade relationship is still very uncertain.