Six months after China’s internet regulator published new rules on data flows, cross-border data transfer (CBDT) remains a top challenge for US companies operating in the country. Sector-specific issues and the introduction of free-trade zone CBDT rules are presenting new challenges to companies even as national-level compliance burdens have eased. As a result, the relaxation has been uneven and can be better described as an evolution of compliance challenges rather than universal relief....
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The impending presidential and congressional transition in the United States is prompting American policymakers to push for final approval on long-debated tariff policies, in part in an effort to win voters. The initiatives in question—the final Section 301 determination, new de minimis rule, and ongoing debate over China’s trade status with the United States—are all in different stages but stem from similar motives. And regardless of the election results, strategies like these to tighten...
US-China trade continued to decline in the first half of 2024, reaching 2.3 percent year-over-year after both US exports to and imports from China contracted. That said, this is the slowest contraction in overall US-China trade since the second half of 2022. The relatively slower contraction occurred amid a return to growth for US-worldwide trade, which increased 2.7 percent, and reflects increases in consumer spending and inventory growth in the United States and stronger industrial output...
China is hoping to replicate Silicon Valley-style innovation through its policy support for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Several initiatives released this past summer by government ministries provide investment incentives and low-cost financing for qualified domestic companies that innovate new technologies. These initiatives target all kinds of companies, from startups to “little giants,” with the goal of boosting innovation and securing China’s domestic supply chains....
On August 29, Jake Sullivan concluded his first trip to China as national security advisor, where he met with several senior Chinese officials as part of ongoing efforts to maintain open lines of communication between Washington and Beijing. Sullivan held over 14 hours of discussions over three days with officials including President Xi Jinping, Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi, and Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia.
Lawmakers in the US House of Representatives convened on September 9 to vote on a series of China-related proposals that have been circulating since March, including measures aimed at addressing China’s alleged unfair trade practices and other actions deemed threatening to US national security. According to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), lawmakers are attempting to use this so-called “China week” to counter China “with every tool at [their] disposal,” with the goal of pushing out a...
On July 25, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published proposed rules that, if implemented as written, would significantly expand US export controls over US person activities and previously uncontrolled items. The rules restrict exports, re-exports, and in-country transfers of goods, software, and technologies to four categories of end users in China and other countries that the United States maintains an arms embargo on.
Under the leadership of Chair Raj Subramaniam, seven USCBC board directors recently completed our annual board mission to China. See our public statement on the trip here.
The 20th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party concluded its third plenum last Thursday in Beijing. Over the course of the meetings, senior party leaders deliberated a wide range of economic and social policy initiatives that will have lasting implications for companies operating in China. President Xi Jinping chaired the four-day event, and all key party officials were present.
As members of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee convened for the Third Plenum in Beijing this week, China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released economic data for the second quarter of 2024, which paints a picture of imbalanced growth.