The Short Answer
CNLawBlog is short for China Law Blog. It’s a long running legal blog founded in 2006 by American attorney Dan Harris. It’s not a mysterious new platform or a startup that needs a dozen articles to decode it. It’s a well established blog run by a real law firm, and most of the pages currently ranking for this keyword aren’t actually connected to it at all.
Who Really Runs CNLawBlog
China Law Blog was started by Dan Harris. He’s a founding member of the international law firm Harris Sliwoski LLP, formerly known as Harris Bricken, which has offices across the US and in Beijing. Harris began the blog back in 2006 to build awareness for the firm’s China related legal work. Over time it grew into one of the most cited resources on Chinese business law, intellectual property, and cross border disputes.
The blog’s track record backs this up. The American Bar Association Journal placed China Law Blog in its Blawg Hall of Fame, a list reserved for the top 20 law blogs of all time. It has also appeared repeatedly in the ABA’s annual Blawg 100. Harris himself is regularly quoted by outlets like Forbes, Bloomberg Businessweek, and the BBC on China business risk.
The one official home for this content is harris-sliwoski.com. Just search China Law Blog there and you’ll find it. There isn’t a separate standalone site called CNLawBlog(dot)com run by the same firm, and that’s exactly where the confusion starts.
So Why Are So Many Random Websites Writing About CNLawBlog?
This is the part most articles won’t tell you. Over the past year, dozens of unrelated websites have published near identical articles with titles like Exploring CNLawBlog or Is CNLawBlog Trustworthy. These range from tech blogs to lifestyle sites to app review sites, and none of them have any real connection to Chinese law, Harris Sliwoski, or Dan Harris.
What’s actually happening here is a pretty common pattern in SEO content. Once a term starts getting search volume for any reason, in this case likely just curiosity or confusion about the name, content farms and freelance writers rush to publish generic explainer articles to grab that traffic. It doesn’t matter whether the site has any real connection to law. That’s why you’ll find CNLawBlog explainers sitting right next to articles about roofing, car maintenance, or WhatsApp tricks. The content adds almost no real information, and it mostly just repeats the same vague sentence in slightly different words.
One thing worth knowing here is that this has real consequences. Some of these copies have blurred the line enough that people researching the real China Law Blog for genuine business reasons can end up on a low quality mirror site instead. That matters if you’re actually trying to find reliable guidance on doing business in or with China.
How to Tell the Real Thing From a Copy
- Check the domain. The authentic content lives at harris-sliwoski.com. Any standalone site using just the name CNLawBlog as its main identity is not the original.
- Look for a named author with a real legal background. Genuine China Law Blog posts are written by identifiable Harris Sliwoski attorneys, and a generic editorial team or an unnamed byline is a red flag.
- Watch for vague repetitive language. Phrases like leading voice in legal insights or trusted platform for modern legal understanding, with no specific case names, statutes, or examples, usually mean the content is filler, not real legal writing.
- Real legal content cites specifics. China Law Blog posts talk about actual regulations, court cases, or named business scenarios. They don’t just make broad claims with nothing behind them.
Is CNLawBlog a Law Firm? Can It Give You Legal Advice?
No. China Law Blog is editorial content published by lawyers at Harris Sliwoski LLP, and it’s meant to inform, not to replace individual legal advice. If you have an actual legal matter involving China, like a contract dispute, an IP issue, or a business setup, the blog can help you understand the landscape, but you would still need to talk directly to a licensed attorney about your specific situation. This applies even more to the copycat sites, since they have no legal credentials behind them at all.
Quick FAQ
Is CNLawBlog the same as China Law Blog?
Yes. CNLawBlog is just a shorthand way people search for China Law Blog, the site founded by Dan Harris of Harris Sliwoski LLP.
Is CNLawBlog.com real?
The official content is published under Harris Sliwoski’s own site. Independent domains built around the exact phrase CNLawBlog as a brand name aren’t affiliated with the original blog or firm. Treat them as unrelated content, not as the authoritative source.
Why do so many unrelated blogs have CNLawBlog articles?
Because the term started getting search interest, and generic SEO content gets produced quickly to capture that traffic, no matter what the publishing site is actually about. It’s a known pattern in content marketing, not proof that these sites are connected to the real blog.
Where can I read the real China Law Blog?
Search China Law Blog directly on harris-sliwoski.com, or look for posts written by Dan Harris or other named Harris Sliwoski attorneys.
Bottom Line
CNLawBlog isn’t a mystery platform. It’s just an abbreviated nickname for a respected twenty year old legal blog with a real law firm behind it. The confusion online exists because that name became a convenient SEO target for unrelated sites, not because the original blog changed or multiplied. If you’re researching it for a genuine reason, whether that’s business in China, legal curiosity, or just fact checking what you read, go straight to the source, check for named legal authors, and treat any site that only repeats vague praise as noise, not information.