中國大陸外商創業投資企業之法律環境

Abstract

創業投資崛起於第二次世界大戰之後，對美國及世界經濟都帶來了深遠的影響；經由建立新企業、創新過程及科技進步，創業投資從根本上改變了人類的生活方式，並且扮演促進世界經濟發展的強力引擎。 中國大陸在一九八○年代初期，正式引進創業投資的概念和操作，和台灣成功建立其創業投資和高科技產業的時期大約相當。但是中國大陸創業投資事業的發展卻相對緩慢，主因在於由計劃經濟轉換到市場經濟的過程中，除了不具備成熟的市場環境外，另一個主要原因是欠缺完整的法律體系，讓複雜的創業投資運作機制無所依托。由於認知創業投資是推動高科技產業和經濟成長的重要觸媒，中國大陸近年來，由中央到地方政府，均積極建設和改善其法律體系。 2001年9月中國大陸首次推出《關於設立外商投資創業投資企業的暫行規定》，18個月後，於2003年3月頒佈施行《外商投資創業投資企業管理規定》並取而代之，本文即專注於《管理規定》對外商創業投資企業適用之剖析。 相較於《暫行規定》，《管理規定》有多項創新突破之處，除了大幅降低外商創業投資企業進出中國市場的門檻之外，並透過非法人制創業投資企業之組織型式，引進了美國創業投資業界所習用的有限合夥制，此外，也允許建立「創業投資管理企業」來受託管理創業投資企業的投資業務，以便創業投資企業之經營管理得以和國際接軌。 雖然《管理規定》相當務實的處理創業投資之運作機制，但是在中國大陸的法律體系中，仍然有許多問題尚待解決，尤其是《管理規定》與《公司法》、《合夥企業法》和其他法規間，有諸多牴觸杆格的現象。此外，令人訝異的是，繼《管理規定》頒佈施行之後，一些同步或隨後施行之地方性創業投資法規和《管理規定》仍然有許多不協調的地方，這些衝突和牴觸不僅令外商投資人無所適從，對法律效果也帶來不確定性。 最後，本文亦就其他足以影響創業投資運作的相關法規加以剖析，主要討論加諸於資金來源的限制、租稅優惠之欠缺以及退出機制之不足等，其中又針對最重要的退出管道－即「二板」或「創業板」設立之法律障礙加以深入分析。

Since its inception after World War II, venture capital has had a profound impact on the US and world economy. Through the development of start-ups, innovation process and high-tech advances, venture capital has changed fundamentally the way we live and has played as one of the most powerful engines of the world economy. The concept and operation of venture capital were formally introduced to China in early 1980s, about the same period when Taiwan successfully established its venture capital and high-tech industries. However, the development of venture capital in China had been comparatively slow due to the prolonged transformation process from the planned economy into the market economy system. Besides, one of the major concerns is the lack of a comprehensive legal framework to accommodate the sophisticated operation mechanism of venture capital. Knowing venture capital is an important catalyst to foster its high-tech industries and economic growth, China has been getting serious in establishing and perfecting its policy and regulatory framework. Both the central and local governments have been active in introducing related legislation in recent years. This article focuses on China’s recently adopted “Regulation on Administration of Foreign-Invested Venture Capital Enterprises” (the “2003 Rules”), which was effective from March 1, 2003 and superseded the “Provisional Regulation on the Establishment of Foreign-Invested Venture Capital Enterprises”(the “2001 Rules”), which had been in operation for only 18 months. The 2003 Rules represents a substantial re-write of the 2001 Rules. There are major breakthroughs in relaxation of terms and conditions for foreign investors to enter and exit China’s venture capital market. Moreover, the 2003 Rules provides a practical structure effectively similar to the limited partnership in US and allows the establishment of “venture capital management enterprises” which are both familiar to international fund investors and venture capitalists. While the 2003 Rules is much more practical in handling the operation mechanism of venture capital, there are still many questions remain unanswered in the context of China’s legal framework because of its conflicts with the Company Law, Partnership Law and others. Further, the author surprisingly found several most updated regulations enacted by various local governments are not in compliance with the 2003 Rules. All these conflicts create not only confusion to the foreign investors but also uncertainties in the investments. Besides the 2003 Rules, this article analyzes the obstacles in related laws and regulations that may hinder the development of venture capital, mainly the fund raising constraints, the lack of tax incentives and lack of exit mechanism, especially the best mode of exit, i.e., initial public offerings (IPO) in the proposed “Second Board” or “Growth Enterprises Market Board”( GEM Board) in China.