CPO & PARTNERS attended the EU Chamber of Commerce in China seminar Decoding China’s Revised Trademark Law held on 24 July 2026, hosted jointly by the IPR Working Group and Fashion & Leather Desk in hybrid Beijing-Shanghai format.

⚖️ China’s updated Trademark Law will take effect on 1 January 2027, reshaping trademark registration, brand management and IP enforcement rules for foreign firms operating in mainland China.

🎤 One of our professionals acted as panel speaker, addressing the daily trademark protection challenges affecting SMEs. Unlike large multinationals with internal IP teams, SMEs face filing barriers, brand squatting, weak enforcement, high compliance expenses and poor routine brand asset management. The new regulation brings stricter obligations alongside fresh operational burdens for small businesses.

📋 All shared analysis and practical guidance originate from our daily hands-on casework at CPO & Partners. We routinely assist international clients with trademark disputes, brand safeguarding and corporate process alignment with China’s evolving IP framework.

💬 Valuable discussions with IP lawyers and EU Chamber representatives delivered actionable solutions to bridge legal provisions and real business operations.

✅ CPO & Partners delivers specialised IP compliance and full brand protection services, enabling foreign companies to pursue stable, compliant and sustainable growth across the Chinese market.

We are honored to share our strategic participation in the 2026 Guangxi Tour for International Enterprises Industrial Cooperation Conference, successfully held on 25 June in Nanning.

As China’s core gateway to the ASEAN economic bloc, Guangxi is a pivotal hub for cross-border trade, industrial collaboration and investment between China, Southeast Asia and European markets.

🏛️ A High-Level Summit

The conference opened with a plenary session moderated by H.E. Wei Tao, Governor of Guangxi. Keynote speeches were delivered by H.E. Chen Gang, Secretary of CPC Guangxi Committee, Xi Guohua, Chairman of CITIC Group, and H.E. María Díaz, President of the Instituto de la Ingeniería de España (IIE).

🚀 Three Landmark Platforms Launched

• The Guangxi Investment and Financing Platform
• The Guangxi-ASEAN Intelligence Indexes
• The official cross-border cooperation opportunity register

A signing ceremony for key international industrial projects followed, injecting new momentum into China-ASEAN and Eurasian integration.

🔑 Strategic Value for CPO & Partners

This participation marks a key step in our China-ASEAN cross-border legal and strategic consulting expansion.

We established direct connections with Guangxi authorities, gaining first-hand insights into:

• Foreign investment regulations
• Fiscal incentive policies
• Market access rules for the China-ASEAN corridor

We also consolidated our global network, covering Chinese state-owned conglomerates, European multinationals and Spanish institutional delegations.

On-the-ground engagement eliminates information asymmetry, enabling us to deliver tailored, practical legal & strategic advisory that aligns with the real needs of European clients operating across Europe, China and Southeast Asia.

📰 Featured in Caijing Magazine

We are proud that our participation and the contributions of Claudio Di Marino of CPO & Partners have been recognized in Caijing Magazine – one of China’s most authoritative financial publications.

Founded in 1998, Caijing is China’s leading finance and business magazine, known for its in-depth reporting on economics, technology and corporate strategy. Its readership includes senior policymakers and business leaders across China and globally. Being featured is a significant acknowledgment of our work in the China-ASEAN cross-border space.

The magazine’s coverage highlights Guangxi’s growing role as a bridge between China and ASEAN, and underscores the critical role trusted advisory firms like CPO & Partners play in facilitating international industrial cooperation.

🌍 Our Commitment

This experience reinforces our core philosophy: anchored in key global trade hubs, empowered by solid institutional partnerships, we provide field-verified international legal consulting to safeguard and drive the cross-border development of our global clients.

After nearly 20 years, on January 27, 2026, the EU and India concluded the negotiations over their Free Trade Agreement. This is the largest deal ever for either side, covering a quarter of global GDP and 2 billion people.

India will eliminate duties on 93% of EU exports, while Europe on 91% of India’s exports, saving EU companies €4 billion annually and potentially doubling EU exports to India by 2032.

Key gains

• EU: benefits for agri-food (tariffs on wine and spirits down from 150% to 75%, and then to 40%), automotive parts (duties will gradually fall from 110% to 10%), machinery, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices.
• India: improved access for textiles, footwear, pharma, and fisheries.

Thanks to the modern rules of origin and bilateral cumulation, EU firms will be able to build integrated EU-India supply chains while accessing zero tariffs.

India is also opening its services market:

• 100% FDI in insurance and 74% in banking
• A dedicated framework for EU banks to open up to 15 branches over 4 years
• Better access for financial, telecom and maritime services

The FTA provides a crucial framework that transforms India into a potential long-term operating hub in Asia. Its official enforcement is expected for early 2027: it is now in the legal scrubbing phase, EU Parliament consent, and Indian ratification will follow.

On December 12th, 2025, the Council of the EU agreed to accelerate the tightening measures on extra-UE low-value parcels, strategically targeting Chinese e-commerce platforms like Shein and Temu with a fixed €3 customs duty on items valued under €150, set to take effect on July 1st, 2026.

📦 The idea is to stop the growing wave of cheap goods that enter Europe without customs duties, putting local businesses at a disadvantage. However, a recent unilateral action by Italy serves as a warning of potential unintended consequences.

On January 1st, 2026, Italy introduced a €2 tax on parcels valued below €150 arriving from non-EU countries. The result was immediate: e-commerce companies simply rerouted shipments through Poland, Germany, and other EU member states. Hence, Italian logistics hubs might lose substantial revenues, while consumers continue receiving the same products with minimal delay.

⚠️ The Italian experience underscores a critical vulnerability in the EU’s new plan. Without a perfectly synchronized and harmonized enforcement strategy across all 27 member states, the €3 duty risks becoming a mere redirect, rather than a reduction, of the Chinese e-commerce volume. The measure is a first step toward fair competition, but its success depends on unified implementation.

CPO & Partners is delighted to share its active participation in the prestigious European Union Chamber of Commerce in China Site Tour at China Mobile Shanghai Industrial Research Institute and Shanghai Mobile New-Quality Productivity Exhibition Hall.

🚀 This event showcased cutting-edge innovations in 5G, AI, big data, IoT, and new-quality productivity, with demonstrations of Baidou Satellite guidance, drone navigation, and smart transportation.

🎤 Keynotes on cross-border compliance, cloud-network integration, and data pathways by China Mobile experts provided invaluable insights for Sino-European digital collaboration.

🤝 Our presence underscores our commitment to bridging Italy-China business, leveraging nearly 20 years in Shanghai to explore compliant digital infrastructure opportunities for our clients.

Published 9 January 2026, Legislative Decree 30 December 2025, no. 211 enters into force 24 January 2026. Implementing Directive (EU) 2024/1226, the decree transforms administrative violations of EU restrictive measures into criminal offences with direct entity liability under Legislative Decree 231/2001.

• New Criminal Code offences (Articles 275-bis et seq.) target asset freezes, making funds available to designated entities, authorisation breaches, and gross negligence in dual-use classification. Extraterritorial reach covers Italian nationals abroad.
• Entity liability (Article 25-octies.2): 1-5% global turnover sanctions (min. €3-40M), 1-6 year disqualifications. Exemption requires updated 231 Models with CONSIS screening and dual-use protocols.
• Italian groups with China WFOEs, joint ventures and minority stakes: Chinese supply chains circumvent Russia sanctions (19 EU packages). Parent companies risk liability for subsidiary/participated entity violations if exercising direction or deriving benefit.

Actions: CONSIS screening, 231 Model update, training for China operations.

On November 13th, 2025, the European Commission agreed to eliminate the €150 customs duty relief threshold and potentially introduce “handling fees” on e-commerce packages as of 2026.

Given the evolution of the e-commerce model, this exemption is no longer justified and creates unfair competition. This initiative directly addresses the sharp rise in low-value B2C parcels shipped from non-EU platforms to EU consumers.

This measure aligns with the VAT framework already in force since 2021, which abolished the €22 VAT relief threshold, applying VAT on all commercial goods imported into the EU from third countries and requiring an import declaration.

The removal of the customs duty exemption threshold means that all goods, regardless of their value, will no longer be exempt from customs duties – ensuring fairer conditions between wholesale and retail importers.

Until mid-2028, a temporary system will be in place to facilitate duty calculation on low-value parcels; afterwards. the EU Customs Data Hub will centralize the entire customs processing.

This agreement marks a pivotal step in the modernization of EU customs procedures, paving the way for a more streamlined, transparent, and equitable system.

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