In October, the Chinese Communist Party announced top party personnel changes and delivered its work report at the 20th Party Congress. The work report lays out priorities and strategic plans for the Chinese government, including facilitating high-quality development and strengthening national security under a more centralized decision-making framework, and the personnel changes have implications for how these priorities will be carried out. Around the same time, more than 30 key ministries...
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December 13th, 2022
The Cyberspace Administration of China’s (CAC) regulations governing security reviews of cross-border data transfers (CBDTs) came into effect on September 1, 2022, with a six-month grace period that ends on March 1, 2023. In order to support members’ ongoing efforts to understand their obligations and benchmark with peers in the business community, USCBC has compiled the below FAQ.
December 12th, 2022
I’m happy to report that I am safely back in Washington, DC, after a productive five-week trip to China. After 10 days in quarantine and 10 days of work meetings in Shanghai, the final leg of my trip was in Beijing—the political center of China—where we met with key central government stakeholders, academic and think tank experts, and member companies. While we received a warm welcome and heard strong rhetorical support for US investment in China, central government meetings were heavily...
November 30th, 2022
On November 11, the State Council Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism issued a notice to adjust its COVID-19 prevention and control measures (20 Measures), an announcement made amid an uptick in daily cases across the country. The newly updated protocol outlines several major changes which aim to slightly relax inbound travel restrictions and mass PCR testing, indicating that the government is aware of the difficulty of sustaining a stringent COVID-19 prevention effort indefinitely.
November 30th, 2022
On October 28, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) released the 2022 Catalog of Industries Encouraged for Foreign Investment. The catalog is a tool to incentivize continued foreign investment in desired industries, and previous editions provided constructive guidelines for foreign-invested enterprises making investment decisions in China. Industrial companies also leverage the annual revision process to the catalog to extract...
November 30th, 2022
The recently concluded 27th Conference of the Parties of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC), more commonly known as COP27, saw mixed results. There was a new consensus that wealthier countries should assist with the loss and damages inflicted by climate change in less developed countries, but there was no agreement on how carbon emissions should be specifically addressed. Although representatives were able to hash out agreement on the broad outlines of a climate fund,...
November 16th, 2022
Business travel to China has become somewhat easier than in the early days of the pandemic. That said, it remains far more complex, costly, and unpredictable compared to pre-pandemic travel. Travel hurdles include flight booking: Direct flight routes from the United States to China are extremely limited. Until very recently, flights were also subject to cancelation at any time. As a result, ticket prices are many times higher than prior to the pandemic. Visa application: The requirements and...
November 16th, 2022
The United States’ announcement of export controls on China’s semiconductor manufacturing and advanced computing sector last month represents the latest in a series of US efforts to maintain as wide a lead as possible over China, a national security imperative in the eyes of the Biden administration. Industry representatives in China have issued statements opposing the controls, which threaten to choke off China's access to advanced chips, software, and other commercial activities that are...
November 16th, 2022
US-China bilateral trade in goods remained strong overall between July and September of this year. The result was an 11.4 percent increase in trade over 2021 and an 8.2 percent increase compared to the previous quarter, during which Shanghai—China’s largest financial center—experienced widespread lockdowns. Bilateral trade appears to have peaked within Q3, however, with the US data for September showing a slight decline in both exports and imports. Declining shipping rates and preliminary...
November 15th, 2022
My first time coming to Shanghai was in 1988. Since then, with each successive visit, the city I’ve experienced changes dramatically. This visit was no different. Uncertainty created by COVID-19 controls pervades every aspect of daily life on the ground, but the dynamism of China’s market is still visible. After my release from quarantine and subsequent conversations with many members, I heard frequent expressions of optimism about long-term prospects in China; and in engagement after...
