The Asia-Pacific Youth Energy Event was held in Shenzhen. What legal risks do enterprises face in cross-border cooperation?

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In August 2026, Shenzhen hosted an international gathering focused on green energy and youth innovation — the "Asia-Pacific Youth Forum: Energy Creates the Future" event. Over sixty experts, scholars, and youth representatives from 13 countries and regions gathered in Pengcheng (Shenzhen), visiting Chunhui Substation and Huaqiangbei Museum, engaging in in-depth exchanges on topics such as green low-carbon transition, regional connectivity, and coordinated development of computing and electricity. This event was not merely a collision of ideas, but also reflected the accelerating reality of energy cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region. However, behind cross-border energy projects, technical exchanges, and data flows, legal risks lurk closely. As Shenzhen lawyers, what concerns us most is: how can enterprises identify and guard against legal minefields when participating in such international cooperation? This article will interpret this hot-button event from a legal perspective and provide compliance guidance for relevant enterprises.

Legal Framework and Risk Perspective of Cross-Border Energy Cooperation

Cross-border energy cooperation involves multiple jurisdictions, and the application of law is the foremost issue. In the "Asia-Pacific Youth Promoting Connectivity" session, representatives from Cambodia, Thailand, and other countries shared their national energy policies, which reminds us that energy laws, environmental standards, and investment access policies vary greatly across countries. For example, the 500 kV grid interconnection project between Laos and China must simultaneously comply with China's Electricity Law, Renewable Energy Law, and relevant Lao foreign investment laws.

In practice, cross-border energy projects often adopt BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) or PPP (Public-Private Partnership) models, with complex contract structures involving key elements such as concession rights, electricity pricing mechanisms, and dispute resolution clauses. If the governing law is not clearly specified in the contract, disputes may lead to lengthy cross-border litigation or arbitration once they arise.

Furthermore, energy projects often involve significant public interest, and host governments may intervene on national security grounds. For instance, although the China-Laos interconnection project has been implemented, enterprises need contingency plans in case of future policy changes. Lawyers recommend conducting comprehensive legal due diligence before project initiation to clarify the host country's legal environment, and incorporating stable governing law clauses and dispute resolution mechanisms into contracts, such as agreeing to arbitration by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) or the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC), to reduce uncertainty.

Data Compliance and Intellectual Property Protection in Computer-Assisted Collaboration

The much-discussed "electricity-computing coordination" deeply integrates electric power with computing power, which involves massive data flows and technology sharing behind the scenes. Singaporean scholar Wang Hai noted that "data center power density is leaping to the megawatt level," implying that cross-border transmission of massive data will become the norm. At this point, data compliance becomes an issue that enterprises cannot avoid.

China's Data Security Law and Personal Information Protection Law impose strict regulations on cross-border data transfer, requiring security assessments for the export of important data. Energy data often involves critical information infrastructure and may be classified as "important data." If transferred abroad without assessment, it could result in administrative penalties or even criminal liability. When participating in cross-border computing projects, enterprises should establish a data classification and grading system to clarify which data can be shared and which must be stored locally.

Intellectual property protection is equally critical. During the event, young delegates discussed AI+energy innovation, which involves algorithms, patents, trade secrets, and more. In cross-border cooperation, failure to agree in advance on the ownership of technological achievements can easily lead to disputes. For example, who owns the copyright of jointly developed software? How should patents for improved technologies be filed? Lawyers advise that before cooperation, a detailed intellectual property agreement should be signed, clarifying the ownership and usage rights of background IP (each party's pre-existing technologies) and foreground IP (new technologies arising from the cooperation), and stipulating confidentiality obligations and non-compete clauses to prevent the leakage of core technologies.

Legal Support for Green Finance and Cross-Border Investment

The Russian representative proposed the concept of "financial connectivity," emphasizing the role of currency swaps and policy-based credit in supporting cross-border cooperation. Behind this lies the legal compliance of cross-border investment and financing. When Chinese enterprises participate in Belt and Road energy projects, they often leverage financing from institutions such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the Silk Road Fund, but they must comply with the Foreign Exchange Administration Regulations and anti-money laundering provisions.

As a core city of the Greater Bay Area, enterprises in Shenzhen going global need to pay attention to the negative list for foreign investment access, antitrust review, and environmental protection laws of the destination countries. For example, the EU's Foreign Subsidies Regulation has begun to review Chinese enterprises investing in Europe. If subsidies are found to distort the market, they may face investigations or even have transactions revoked.

In legal practice, we often advise enterprises to leverage the legal advantages of jurisdictions such as Hong Kong and Singapore when establishing cross-border structures, by setting up SPVs (Special Purpose Vehicles) to optimize taxation, while taking care to avoid being characterized as a "tax haven" that could trigger anti-avoidance investigations. At the same time, political risk insurance should be purchased, such as products offered by China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation, to mitigate risks including expropriation and war in the host country.

Key Compliance Points and Attorney Recommendations for Enterprises Participating in International Activities

Such international events provide enterprises with a platform for showcasing and cooperation, but compliance must also be observed during participation. For example, if the "story sharing" segment of an event involves corporate promotion, it must comply with the prohibitions on false advertising under the Advertising Law. When communicating with foreign government officials, it is necessary to guard against the risk of commercial bribery and comply with the provisions on the crime of offering bribes under the Anti-Unfair Competition Law and the Criminal Law.

For Shenzhen enterprises, participating in Asia-Pacific energy cooperation presents opportunities, but legal compliance must be made a prerequisite. Our recommendations are as follows:

Establish a foreign-related legal counsel mechanism to ensure professional lawyers participate in all stages of the project.

2. During the contract drafting stage, attach importance to the dispute resolution clause and choose an arbitration venue that is favorable to your own side.

3. Before data is transferred out of the country, be sure to complete a security assessment and work with legal counsel to develop a data compliance plan.

4. Monitor legal developments in the host country, conduct regular legal training, and enhance employees' compliance awareness.

If enterprises face specific legal issues, they may seek support from professional law firms. Guangdong Zhibing Law Firm has deep expertise in涉外energy legal services and has assisted numerous Greater Bay Area companies in completing compliance reviews for cross-border projects. We are committed to leveraging our professional capabilities to help enterprises achieve steady and long-term growth.

Conclusion

Though the "Asia-Pacific Youth Exchange" event has concluded, the momentum of energy cooperation is only just beginning. Law serves as the "infrastructure" of international cooperation—only by building a solid line of compliance defense can green electricity and data computing power truly flow. Enterprises in Shenzhen should seize the opportunity, using law as their shield, to gain a competitive edge in the new Asia-Pacific energy landscape.