EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT
EMPLOYMENT
AGREEMENT
(the
"Agreement") made as of this 8th day of February, 2008 by and between China
Wind
Systems, Inc., a Delaware corporation, having an office at No. 9 Yanyu Middle
Road, Qianzhou Village, Huishan District, Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province, People’s
Republic of China (here-inafter referred to as "Employer") and Xxxx Xx, an
individual residing at _________________
(hereinafter
referred to as "Employee");
W
I T N E S S E T H:
WHEREAS,
Employer desires to employ Employee as Chief Financial Officer of Employer;
and
WHEREAS,
Employee is willing to be employed as the Chief Financial Officer of Employer
in
the manner provided for herein, and to perform the duties of the Chief Financial
Officer of Employer upon the terms and conditions herein set forth;
NOW,
THEREFORE,
in
consideration of the promises and mutual covenants herein set forth it is agreed
as follows:
1. Employment
of Chief Financial Officer of Employer.
Employer
hereby employs Employee as Chief Financial Officer of Employer, subject to
the
terms and conditions set forth in this Agreement.
2. Term.
a. Subject
to Section 8 and Section 9 below, the term of this Agreement shall be for a
period of twenty-four (24) months commencing on February 8, 2008 (the “Term”).
This Agreement shall terminate automatically at the end of the Term unless
otherwise extended upon terms to be negotiated and mutually agreed to by both
parties. During the Term, Employee shall devote substantially all of her
business time and efforts to Employer and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
3. Duties.
The
Employee shall perform those functions generally performed by persons of such
title and position, and under the Employer’s bylaws. The Employee shall attend
all meetings of the stock-holders and the Board (if invited to attend), shall
perform any and all related duties and shall have any and all powers as may
be
prescribed by resolution of the Board, and shall be available to confer and
consult with and advise the officers and directors of Employer at such times
that may be required by Employer. Employee shall report directly and solely
to
the Board. As contemplated herein, the duties of the Employee shall include,
but
not limited, to the following: (a) review of Employer’s accounting records; (b)
implementation of appropriate internal financial controls; (c) communication
with Employer’s internal accounting staff; (d) liaison with Employer’s auditor
and legal counsel regarding SEC filing and reporting requirements; (e)
preparation of Employer’s consolidated financial statements and footnotes, and
management discussion and analysis, for inclusion in Employer’s SEC filings and
reports; (f) maintenance of Employer’s books and records and bank accounts in
the United States; (g) meeting with Employer’s management and visit with
Employer’s operational facilities; (h) participation at investor meetings and
conferences; and (i) communication with Employer’s investor relationship firm.
4. Compensation.
a. (i)
Employee
shall be paid a base pay of USD $85,000 per year (or the equivalent in RMB
based
on exchange rates applicable at the time of payment) during the Term of this
Agreement. Employee shall be paid once per fiscal quarter commencing with the
quarter beginning February 1, 2008, payable on the first day of each such
quarter.
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(ii) Employee
is eligible to participate in any other compensation programs established by
the
Employer’s board of director or compensation committee for its executive
officers, if any, which will be determined and paid in accordance with policies
set from time to time by the Board (or compensation committee thereof).
(iii) Employee
shall be entitled to a twenty-day paid vacation for each fiscal year of the
Term.
b. Within
ten days following the commencement of employment, Employer shall grant Employee
a non-statutory option to purchase up to 120,000 shares of common stock at
an
exercise price of $2.00 per share, which shall be exercisable for a period
of
two (2) years, subject to the additional terms set forth below and in the form
of agreement approved by the Board of Directors (the “Option”). The Option shall
vest as follows, conditioned upon the “Continuous Service” of the Employee:
60,000
of
the Options shall vest and become exercisable on the date that is 12 months
from
the issuance date of the Option, and
60,000
of
the Options shall vest and become exercisable on the date that is 24 months
from
the issuance date of the Option.
c.
Employee
shall be eligible to participate in any employee benefit plans intended for
all
employees, or for all executive officers, that may be established from time
to
time by Employer.
d. As
used
herein, “Continuous Service” means that the provision of services to Employer in
Employee’s capacity as Chief Financial Officer is not interrupted or
terminated. In jurisdictions requiring notice in advance of an effective
termination as an employee, Continuous Service shall be deemed terminated upon
the actual cessation of providing services to Employer, notwithstanding any
required notice period that must be fulfilled before a termination as an
employee can be effective under applicable laws. Continuous Service shall
not be considered interrupted in the case of any approved leave of
absence.
5. Expenses.
Employee
shall be reimbursed for all of her actual out-of-pocket expenses incurred in
the
performance of her duties hereunder, provided such expenses are acceptable
to
Employer, which approval shall not be unreasonably withheld, for business
related travel and entertainment expenses, and that Employee shall submit to
Employer detailed receipts, according to IRS guidelines, with respect
thereto.
6. Secrecy.
At no
time shall Employee disclose to anyone any confidential or secret information
(not already constituting information available to the public) concerning (a)
internal affairs or proprietary business operations of Employer or (b) any
trade
secrets, new product developments, patents, programs or programming, especially
unique processes or methods.
7. Covenant
Not to Compete.
(a)
Subject
to, and limited by, Section 9(b), and except as set forth in attached Schedule
7, Employee will not, at any time, during the term of this Agreement, and for
one (1) year thereafter, either directly or indirectly, engage in, with or
for
any enterprise, institution, whether or not for profit, business, or company,
competitive with the business (as identified herein) of Employer as such
business may be conducted on the date thereof, as a creditor, guarantor, or
financial backer, stockholder, director, officer, consultant, advisor, employee,
member, inventor, producer, director, or otherwise of or through any
corporation, partner-ship, association, sole proprietorship or other entity;
provided, that an investment by Employee, her spouse or her children is
permitted if such investment is not more than four percent (4%) of the total
debt or equity capital of any such competitive enterprise or business and
further provided that said competitive enterprise or business is a publicly
held
entity whose stock is listed and traded on a national stock exchange or through
the NASDAQ Stock Market. As used in this Agreement, the business of Employer
shall be deemed to include the manufacturing and marketing of imaging systems.
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(b)
For
a
period one year from the date of termination of this agreement Employee shall
not contact or solicit any of the Company’s customers, employees or
suppliers.
(c)
During
the entire time of employment, any outside consulting (paid or unpaid),
employment, business venture or compensated activities (excluding those
described in attached Schedule 7) must receive the written approval of the
employee compensation committee, established by the board of directors, or
any
other committee of the board of directors serving such function.
8.
Termination.
a.
Termination
by Employer
(i)
Employer
may terminate this Agreement upon written notice for Cause. For purposes hereof,
"Cause" shall mean (A) Employee's misconduct as could reasonably be expected
to
have a material adverse effect on the business and affairs of Employer, (B)
the
Employee's disregard of lawful instructions of Employers Board of Directors
consistent with Employee's position relating to the business of Employer or
neglect of duties or failure to act, which, in each case, could reasonably
be
expected to have a material adverse effect on the business and affairs of
Employer, (C) engaging by the Employee in conduct that constitutes activity
in
competition with Employer, including any unapproved activities identified in
section 7(c) of this Agreement; (D) the conviction of Employee for the
commission of a felony; and/or (E) the habitual abuse of alcohol or controlled
substances. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Section 8(a)(i),
Employer may not terminate Employee's employment under this Agreement for Cause
unless Employee shall have first received notice from the Board advising
Employee of the specific acts or omissions alleged to constitute Cause, and
such
acts or omissions continue after Employee shall have had a reasonable
opportunity (at least 10 days from the date Employee receives the notice from
the Board) to correct the acts or omissions so complained of.
(ii) This
Agreement shall automatically terminate upon the death of Employee, except
that
Employee's estate shall be entitled to receive any amount accrued under Section
4(a).
b. Termination
by Employee
(i)
Employee
shall have the right to terminate her employment under this Agreement upon
30
days' notice to Employer given within 90 days following the occurrence of any
of
the following events (A) through (E):
(A) Employee
is not appointed or retained as Chief Financial Officer (or a substantially
similar position).
(B) Employer
acts to materially reduce Employee's duties and responsibilities hereunder.
Employee's duties and responsibilities shall not be deemed materially reduced
for purposes hereof solely by virtue of the fact that Employer is (or
substantially all of its assets are) sold to, or is combined with, another
entity, provided that Employee shall continue to have the same duties and
responsibilities with respect to Employer's business, and Employee shall report
directly to the board of directors of the entity (or individual) that acquires
Employer or its assets.
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(C) A
Material Reduction (as hereinafter defined) in Employee's rate of base
compensation, or Employee's other benefits. "Material Reduction" shall mean
a
ten percent (10%) differential;
(D) A
failure
by Employer to obtain the assumption of this Agreement by any
successor;
(E) A
material breach of this Agreement by Employer, which is not cured within thirty
(30) days of written notice of such breach by Employer; or
(ii)
Anything
herein to the contrary notwithstanding, Employee may terminate this Agreement
upon sixty (60) days written notice to Employer.
(iii)
If
Employee shall terminate this Agreement under Section 8(b)(i), Employee shall
be
entitled to receive the lesser of: (a) the remaining salary due to Employee
under this Agreement, or (b) three (3) months salary, at the then applicable
yearly salary rate set forth in section 4(a), (the “Severance
Payment”).
Other
than the Severance Payment described in this section 8(b)(iii), Employer shall
have no further obligation to compensate Employee pursuant to Section 4
above. If
Employee shall terminate this Agreement pursuant to Section 8(b)(ii), Employee
shall not be entitled to the Severance Payment or any additional compensation
as
provided in Section 4.
9.
Consequences
of Breach by Employer; Employment Termination.
a.
If
the
Employer shall terminate Employee's employment under this Agreement in any
way
that is a breach of this Agreement by Employer, the following shall
apply:
(i) Employee
shall be entitled to receive the Severance Payment as described in section
8(b)(iii). Other than such Severance Payment, Employer shall have no further
obligation to compensate Employee pursuant to Section(s) 4 or 8 above;
(ii) Employee
shall be entitled to payment of any previously declared bonus as provided in
Section 4(a) above; and
(iii) Any
unvested Options as described in Section 4(b) above shall immediately
vest.
b. In
the
event of termination of Employee's employment pursuant to Section 8(b)(i) of
this Agreement, Sections 7(a) and 7(b) shall apply to Employee for the number
of
months remaining under this Agreement at the time of termination plus a period
of six (6) months thereafter.
c.
In
all
cases, upon termination of the employment relationship under this Agreement,
the
Employee agrees to exercise cooperation in returning all company records and
information to the company, facilitating the transition of duties to a successor
in an orderly manner, and at the request of the Employer, certifying financial
statements or other documents over which the Employee had responsibility during
the Employee’s term of employment.
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10. Entire
Agreement; Survival.
This
Agreement contains the entire agreement between the parties with respect to
the
transactions contemplated herein and supersedes, effective as of the date hereof
any prior agreement or understanding between Employer and Employee with respect
to Employee's employment by Employer. The unenforceability of any provision
of
this Agreement shall not effect the enforceability of any other provision.
This
Agreement may not be amended except by an agreement in writing signed by the
Employee and the Employer, or any waiver, change, discharge or modification
as
sought. Waiver of or failure to exercise any rights provided by this Agreement
and in any respect shall not be deemed a waiver of any further or future rights.
The provisions of Sections 4, 6, 7, 8(a)(ii), 8(b)(iii), 9, 10, 11, 12, 13
and
14 shall survive the termination of this Agreement.
11. Assignment.
This
Agreement shall not be assigned to other parties.
12. Governing
Law.
This
Agreement and all the amendments hereof, and waivers and consents with respect
thereto shall be governed by the laws of the State of Delaware, without regard
to the conflicts of laws principles thereof.
13. Notices.
All
notices, responses, demands or other communications under this Agreement shall
be in writing and shall be deemed to have been given when
a. delivered
by hand;
b. sent
be
telex or telefax, (with receipt confirmed), provided that a copy is mailed
by
registered or certified mail, return receipt requested; or
c.
received
by the addressee as sent be express delivery service (receipt requested) in
each
case to the appropriate addresses, telex numbers and telefax numbers as the
party may designate to itself by notice to the other parties:
(i)
if
to the
Employer:
No.
9
Yanyu Middle Road
Qianzhou
Village, Huishan District
Wuxi
City, Jiangsu Province, PRC
Facsimile:
___________
Telephone:
(00) 00000000000
(ii)
if
to the
Employee:
Xxxx
Xx
_____________________
_____________________
Telephone:
(000) 000-0000
14. Severability
of Agreement.
Should
any part of this Agreement for any reason be declared invalid by a court of
competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of any
remaining portion, which remaining provisions shall remain in full force and
effect as if this Agreement had been executed with the invalid portion thereof
eliminated, and it is hereby declared the intention of the parties that they
would have executed the remaining portions of this Agreement without including
any such part, parts or portions which may, for any reason, be hereafter
declared invalid.
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IN
WITNESS WHEREOF,
the
undersigned have executed this agreement as of the day and year first above
written.
Employee:
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/s/ Xxxx Xx | ||
Xxxx
Xx
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Date: February 8, 2008 |
Employer:
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CHINA WIND SYSTEMS, INC. | ||
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By: | /s/ Xxxxxxx Xx | |
Xxxxxxx
Xx
Chief
Executive Officer
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Date: February 8, 2008 |
6
Schedule
7
During
the Term, Employee has the following employments in addition to her employment
with Employer, which Employee shall devote no more than fifteen percent (15%)
of
her business time and efforts:
1.
As
Chief Executive Officer of China Power until May 15, 2008
2.
As
Chief Executive Officer of Jiali Pharmaceutical Inc. until May 31,
2008
3.
As
President of ARSY Consulting Services, Limited (“ARSY”), provided that
Employee’s duties to ARSY shall be solely managerial and supervisory in nature.