Financial services within reach of small businesses: Zheng Wenhai on signing commercial contracts

On the afternoon of 18 August 2021 Zheng Wenhai of Shanghai Minton Law Firm was invited to the financial training session "Financial services within reach, supporting small and medium-sized enterprises", jointly organised by the Qingpu District Development and Reform Commission and the Shanghai Equity Exchange and run by the Qingpu Service Centre of the Shanghai Equity Exchange, where he gave a detailed reading of the legal rules and real cases on "matters to watch when signing a commercial contract and guarding against the risks". Leaders of the Qingpu District Development and Reform Commission, leaders of the Zhaoxiang Town People's Government, leaders of the Qingpu Service Centre of the Shanghai Equity Exchange and the heads of outstanding enterprises in Zhaoxiang Town took part in the event.

Signing contracts is an indispensable part of everyday business. As enterprises grow quickly and each industry has its own market characteristics, a contract becomes the means by which the parties bind and protect their shared interests and allocate risk. For many enterprises, however, signing a contract is simply the conclusion of a cooperative relationship, and they overlook the losses that risks buried in its terms can bring. The organisers held this event precisely to help enterprises recognise that importance at every stage.

Mr Zheng explained the various problems companies meet when signing contracts from the angles of contractual risk, intellectual property risk and criminal law risk, and analysed them against contract disputes he had handled in the ordinary course of practice.

At the end the enterprises held a short interactive discussion of their own practical problems.