Much has happened since our last update on the COVID-19 situation in China in June. Over the past two months, all provinces experienced surges in daily new case reports. The most significant uptick came in August, when a group of tourist hotspots—Hainan, Xinjiang, and Tibet—all began to report large-scale outbreaks that resulted in city-wide lockdowns in Sanya, Shigatse, and other locations. These outbreaks soon spilled over to other provinces, including Sichuan, Heilongjiang, Liaoning,...
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In mid-September, the onshore and offshore yuan broke the significant threshold of 7 yuan to the dollar—the lowest level since July 2020. So far this year, the yuan has depreciated roughly 8 percent against the dollar. The depreciating yuan comes as the dollar continues to gain strength, and at home, China is facing mounting economic pressures due to its COVID-19 controls and ongoing housing crisis.
While IP protection has improved in recent years, several challenges remain, especially when it comes to enforcement. USCBC closely follows developments in Chinese IP protection through regular dialogue with regulators, benchmarking, and our annual member survey. Over the past year, roughly half of USCBC Member Survey respondents reported an improvement in IP protection in China, while the other half reported no change. In recent months, a number of IP-related policies have been issued at...
The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) released the first version of the Cross-Border Data Transfer Security Assessment Application Guide on August 31, hours before the Measures on Cross-Border Data Security Assessment (EN, CH)went into force on September 1. These measures had been published on July 7. This document will govern the most likely way for US multinational corporations to handle transfers of substantial amounts of data from China. The guide’s self-assessment template is a...
Due to a record-shattering heatwave last month, southwestern China experienced severe water and energy shortages. Sichuan province has been among the hardest hit, and its reliance on hydropower, which generates 80 percent of the province’s electricity, has only exacerbated problems. At one point, reduced water levels in Sichuan caused a 50 percent drop in hydropower-generated electricity.
On August 26, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), and China’s Ministry of Finance (MOF) signed a Statement of Protocol Agreement marking the first step in resolving the issue of US regulator access to the audits of Chinese companies listed in the United States.
While regions across China were dealing with extreme weather conditions last month, the temperature here in Beijing recently moderated from summer highs to a comfortable transition into the autumn. The seasonal change presents an interesting parallel to the reality for American businesses in China today. Following US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, August kicked off with heated rhetoric and high expectations for volatility. Fast forward to early September and concerns...
China’s large markets, well trained talent pool, opportunities for supply chain integration, and optimal geography have long motivated US companies to localize production in China. However, political, economic, and regulatory changes, as well as long-standing intellectual property (IP) concerns, have led some firms to reevaluate the extent to which they must localize in China to maintain their competitiveness. To understand these concerns, USCBC conducted a series of interviews with over 20...
Through US policies aimed at reshoring semiconductor manufacturing, tightening unilateral export controls, and increasing multilateral coordination of controls on semiconductors, the Biden administration is hedging against the United States’ perceived “most consequential strategic competitor,” China. On August 9, President Joe Biden signed into law the CHIPS and Science Act (CHIPS Act), which provides $52 billion in funding to US semiconductor manufacturers for the purpose of strengthening...
US-China bilateral trade in goods remained strong in the first half of 2022 despite ongoing tensions between the two countries, pandemic-related disruptions to the supply chain, and an economic slowdown for both countries. Trade was up 14.5 percent year on year, driven mainly by increased imports. However, when compared to the second half of last year, trade is down slightly. This is partially a natural trend resulting from decreased trade activity due to Chinese New Year at the beginning of...