One common instance is for a local government to use a special purpose domestic company as the signatory in a JV or other sort of deal. Technically, this is not an SOE, but it certainly has government baggage weighing it down.

If you are dealing with an SOE or any company with government connections, enforcement is always an issue (i.e. very difficult). This applies to product liability as well as any commercial dispute. Discovery is extremely limited in China under normal circumstances; with one of these kinds of companies, you can forget it.

You are being way too kind (hell, you are way too kind). This article is more than condescending, it is flat out racist and I am going to go after it big time in a post soon. The article to which it approvingly refers is the one I was telling you about whose thesis was essentially that we can never trust China because it is not Christian. Man this stuff frosts my ass.

yes, the body of tort law in China may not be as sophisicated (“scary” at times too) in the U.S.

yes, the damages awarded are too low, and punitive damages are hard to come by for plaintiffs.

yes, the courts are not independent.

But, none of them, singularly or combined, means that China has no “body of civil law” or no “good lawyers.” It is downright inaccurate and misleading, to say the least.

Thanks for setting the record straight.