Government measures in key jurisdictions 5th edition - Flipbook - Page 36
China
Property
Have any
changes been
made to the
laws around
property,
rent and
enforcement?
•
On May 15 2020, the Supreme People’s Court issued the second guiding opinions in
adjudicating civil cases involving the Covid-19 epidemic. The Supreme People’s Court
states that the courts should not grant the petition of either party to terminate a sales
contract if the Covid-19 epidemic is making performance more costly or performance
will be later than the time specified in the contract as long as the purpose of the
contract is not frustrated. On the other hand, the courts may allow adjustment of price
or time of performance based on the actual circumstances of each case and the
principle of equity.
•
On July 13 2020, the Supreme People's Court, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of
Culture and Tourism released the Circular about Lawfully and Properly Handling
Epidemic-related Travel Contract Disputes, which encourages modification of the
contracts such as change of travel dates or replacement of travel package and provides
that extra cost for safety measures should be borne by both service providers and
tourists and increased lodging and food cost will be borne by stranded tourists.
Some local governments have introduced support and guidance policies for enterprises
affected by the Covid-19 Epidemic, which also include the adjustment of lease agreement
relationships. For instance, the Municipal Government of Beijing issued Several Measures
on Dealing with the Impact of Covid-19 Epidemic and Promote the Sustainable and Healthy
Development of Medium, Small and Micro Enterprise on February 5, 2020.
According to those measures, for medium, small and micro enterprises which rent
properties from city-owned or district-owned enterprises:
•
the rent in February 2020 shall be exempt if such enterprises (i) rent properties for
the purpose of manufacturing or operations; (ii) keep operating or stop operating in
accordance with the policies for the prevention and control of the Epidemic; and (iii)
do not lay off employees or only lay off few employees,
•
the rent in February 2020 shall be reduced to 50% of the original amount if such
enterprises rent properties for office work,
•
it is encouraged that landlords (property owners) reduce or exempt the rent of other
leased properties, which is subject to the negotiation of the contract parties, and
•
for landlords that reduce or exempt rent for medium, small and micro enterprises, the
municipal or district government would provide subsidies.
Although the policies above are only applicable to qualified “small, medium and micro
enterprises”, it may also act as a guide for other leasing parties.
Special Series regarding the Legal Impact of the Covid-19 Epidemic on the Real
Estate Industry. Topic Three: the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic on property lease
agreements.
On May 9 2020, the National Development and Reform Commission and seven other
central government agencies jointly issued a policy to further support micro and smallsized enterprises and businesses owned by individuals in the service industry to ease the
burden of rental payment for coping with the Covid-19 epidemic, including measures
such as:
36
Government measures in key jurisdictions
