Hong Kong, 12 October 2026: Our Consultant Kristian Odebjer has published a research report on “Compliance Dilemmas: How Nordic Multinationals Cope with a Complex Compliance Environment in China”. The study highlights how foreign companies operating in the PRC find themselves in an increasingly complex legal environment, due in part to geopolitical tensions.

Kristian teamed up with the Swedish National China Centre and the China Office of Finnish Industries to interview executives at Nordic companies about the key compliance challenges they run into. The report helpfully identifies a toolkit of “coping mechanisms” used to manage risk.

“As an expanding body of legislation – enacted by several different jurisdictions – in areas like foreign trade law and data privacy law may now be applied extraterritorially, companies can no longer assume that they are compliant simply by referring to local law,” says Kristian, fresh back to Hong Kong from launch events in Stockholm and Helsinki.

“It is not unusual these days for companies to be caught in ‘pure compliance dilemmas’. These are situations where following the imperative of one country’s law means that you end up breaking the law of another country claiming jurisdiction over the same activity. Sanctions and counter sanctions have created a virtual minefield for international trade and transaction lawyers to navigate. I believe our study will provide guidance.”

The research report (which is freely available here from the Swedish National China Centre) notes that foreign companies, despite the complex legal environment, are not exiting China. Instead, they invest in processes and procedures designed to help them cope. Some companies also restructure their organisations in order to better manage risk. The Company and Commercial practice of Boase Cohen & Collins is well-placed to advise clients on these types of legal risk management exercises.

Pictured (from left) are report authors Anton Karppanen, Helena Löfgren, Kristian Odebjer and Kevin Broady.