China Distributor Agreements: A Relatively Easy Way to Sell Your Products into China

Distribution contracts with Chinese companies are both similar to and quite different from US distribution agreements. U.S. law makes it difficult and expensive to terminate distributors, but because China makes no special allowances for distributors, we draft our China distribution agreements to provide for applying Chinese law in a Chinese court. We also do not bother with provisions that try to work around distributor protections.

One big issue in China with nearly all distributor agreements is intellectual property protection. To “further” protect the IP of our American clients, we usually put into our distributor agreements what we call a “no registration” provision. In this provision, the distributor agrees that our client exclusively owns all trademarks or other IP that might be at risk, that the distributor gains no rights to those trademarks, and that the distributor will not register any IP in any way related to our client’s IP. We use the words “further protect” because the first line of protection for you in China should always be to register your trademarks in China right away.

China’s Anti-Monopoly Law prohibits retail price maintenance, which includes requiring a distributor sell goods at a minimum resale price to third parties. Therefore your China distribution agreements should not require your Chinese distributor sell your goods at a certain price.

One final important difference between Chinese and American distribution agreements is the signature line. Your Chinese distribution contract should provide a place for your Chinese distributor to affix its company seal because without that, a Chinese court might find your distribution contract invalid.

A distribution relationship with an experienced Chinese distributor and a China-specific distribution agreement may be just the solution for getting your product into China.

What do you think?