On July 31, 2026, the Ministry of Finance, the State Taxation Administration, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology jointly issued Announcement No. 23 of 2026, the "Announcement on Corporate Income Tax Policy for Non-Monetary Asset Exchanges by Integrated Circuit Enterprises and Industrial Mother Machine Enterprises." Under the Announcement, enterprises may, for income from qualifying non-monetary asset exchanges, include that income evenly in taxable income in installments over a period of no more than five years and thereby defer the payment of corporate income tax. The Announcement applies retroactively from January 1, 2026, and remains effective through December 31, 2028.

The integrated circuit and industrial mother machine industries are the most barter-intensive segments of the industrial chain. When equipment on a production line no longer matches, a company swaps it with a peer; when a process patent sits idle, it trades the patent for a set of testing equipment. Neither party to such a transaction usually receives any cash, yet it must first pay a sum of corporate income tax on the income it has recognized. This policy was introduced precisely to resolve the cash-flow mismatch of "income recognized on the books while no cash sits in the accounts." This article offers a general overview of the policy's benefits, eligibility thresholds, applicability, and risks.

15 August 2026 is no ordinary day.

The Environmental Code of the People’s Republic of China came into force on 15 August 2026.
From the oily-water separator on board and the entries in your statutory record books to shore-power use in port and the waste contractors you appoint, each decision may now determine whether the vessel keeps trading or is penalised and taken out of service.

Do not use ‘industry practice’ as a shield.
Malpractices that could be overlooked in the past may now be scrutinized retrospectively, with exposure to liability, fines, loss of limitation and even criminal referral.

Drawing on the Code’s new provisions, we explain the six red lines shipping companies should be most concerned about, the three principal categories of legal exposure and a seven-day implementation plan. Shipowners, operators, masters and terminal managers should review the checklist together, item by item.

For any enterprise that wants to develop and utilize its data, the first question it cannot sidestep is this: Have we done our classified protection? And up to what level have we taken it? In practice, though, many enterprises find themselves stuck on the same doubts: How far does classified protection actually have to go before it counts as "good enough"? Once we pass the assessment, is everything smooth sailing from there? And what exactly is the relationship between classified protection and the Data Security Law? This article sets out to answer these questions from a practical, hands-on perspective.