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As European companies expand in China and collaborate with Chinese partners, the rapid adoption of AI tools is not only creating new opportunities but also risks, especially around trade secrets, data boundaries, and the ownership of AI-related outputs. Many EU companies are familiar with the EU AI Act, but when AI projects touch ground in China, these seemingly abstract legal compliance measures translate to real challenges on the ground. At the core of it stands the question of asset control: what can enter the AI systems, what must stay ring-fenced, who owns improvements, and what evidence is needed if disputes arise later.
This practical session organised by the FinnCham China, and the China IP SME Helpdesk avoids theoretical comparisons and focuses instead on tangible control mechanisms demonstrating how EU SMEs can reduce the 'invisible funnel' of trade secret leakage, strengthen their AI-IP governance, and structure clearer ownership boundaries in EU–China collaboration and outsourcing scenarios.
The seminar will conclude with a Q&A session allowing attendees to discuss IP matters with the speaker.
Key topics covered:
1. The Collision of Rules: A practical look at how EU transparency and documentation duties differ from China's AI governance framework, particularly on service-provider obligations, content controls, and data/security boundaries.
2. The 'Invisible Funnel': Why the biggest risk is often not the headline IP infringement, but the quiet leakage of algorithms, client data, and process know-how when employees or vendors use public AI tools without governance.
3. Building an 'AI-IP Control Plane': Practical steps to upgrade NDAs, create internal toolchain white-lists, and build minimum viable evidence chains to support copyright protection, patent strategy, and trade secret control in China.
4. The Deep Water – EU-China AI Co-Development: How to structure IP ownership, data boundaries, and improvement rights in cross-border joint R&D, where EU transparency/documentation duties and China-side data and security boundaries must both be managed.
5. Takeaway messages
Q&A
Speaker: Steve Shi, founder of SLLS Global and China IP SME Helpdesk external expert
Date/日期
Thursday, 9, April, 2026
Time/时间
15:30 - 16:30, Beijing Time
Price/价格
Complimantary for Members
Non-Member Price: 150 RMB
Language
In English
Online Meeting Link
An email will be sent with instructions to join online prior to the event.
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Speakers
Steve Shi
cross-border legal expert and arbitrator at Iphelpdesk
Steve (Lei) Shi is a cross-border legal expert and arbitrator, qualified in China, the United States, Hong Kong (RFL). As the founder of SLLS Global, he leads a legal and consulting platform that supports cross-border investment, IP protection, and compliance transformation for SMEs. With a multicultural legal background and strategic mindset, Steve specializes in translating legal complexity into practical business decisions.
With over a decade of frontline experience in Chinese intellectual property law, Steve has advised on trademark protection, patent strategy, copyright protection, and trade secrets enforcement across diverse industries. He has represented renowned EU clients in Chinese courts and administrative proceedings, and is well-versed in China’s IP litigation system, enforcement nuances, and the evolving roles of local IP bureaus and specialized courts. His insights help international companies navigate the practical challenges of securing and defending their rights in China.
In his recent work, Steve helps UK and European SMEs navigate the evolving IP and digital compliance landscape in China, advising on data privacy (PIPL/GDPR alignment), trade secrets, digital governance, and cross-border investments. He provides hands-on legal supports for compliance with Chinese data localization rules, privacy obligations.
In addition to his advisory work, Steve serves as a WIPO-appointed neutral arbitrator and mediator, actively engaged in resolving cross-border IP and technology disputes. He is also a dedicated legal educator, regularly lecturing at the Law Society of Hong Kong, Intellectual Protection Centers of Chinese provinces, the Law Academy of AIFC (Kazakhstan), and the Legal Affairs Department of Dubai. Through training, dialogue, and public engagement, Steve helps build mutual understanding between China and Europe, empowering legal professionals and SMEs alike to navigate international legal challenges with confidence and clarity.
Sponsors and Partners
Organizer
China IP SME Helpdesk
The China IP SME Helpdesk supports European Union (EU) Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) to both protect and enforce their Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) in or relating to Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan through the provision of free information and services. These take the form of jargon-free, first-line, confidential advice on intellectual property and related issues, plus training, materials and online resources. China IP SME Helpdesk organises IP training seminars and workshops all over China and Europe. It also provides online webinars on various IP-related topics and organizes one-on-one consultation sessions to help SMEs better understand IP, and how it relates to their products and to doing business in / with China.
The China IP SME Helpdesk project is funded by the European Union and builds on the achievements of a pilot project carried out in 2008-10. As of February 2025, Phase VIII commenced expanding China IP SME Helpdesk’s services to the SMEs from countries participating in the Single Market Programme (SMP).
