Free flow of data across borders is an essential part of customer outreach, product maintenance, personnel management, and much more. Chinese regulators are working to articulate both cross-industry and industry-specific guidance for cross-border data transfer, particularly by defining “important data,” which is subject to tighter restrictions. In October 2021, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) issued the “Outbound Data Security Assessment Measures” (Outbound Measures), which...
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March 9th, 2022
March 7th, 2022
Senior US government (USG) officials held a virtual call with China-based US-China Business Council member companies last Thursday evening to discuss the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security’s (BIS) regulatory responses to the recent Russian aggression in Ukraine.
February 28th, 2022
First, late on Friday, February 11, the administration released its Indo-Pacific Strategy. It casts China in a negative light both in terms of its internal direction and assertion of influence across Asia. The document’s most important line vis-à-vis China states: “Our objective is not to change the PRC but to shape the strategic environment in which it operates, building a balance of influence in the world that is maximally favorable to the United States, our allies and partners, and the...
February 23rd, 2022
China’s provincial governments recently concluded their annual local “two sessions.” At the beginning of each year, provincial-level lawmakers and political advisers convene to take stock of past year’s achievements and make plans for the coming year’s development. As a rule, GDP growth targets and personnel changes are announced during these meetings. These meetings send an important signal of the national economic outlook and forthcoming policies for the national two sessions meetings...
February 23rd, 2022
US goods exports to China hit a record high of $151 billion in 2021. The 21.2 percent increase mirrors the 23.1 percent increase in US goods exports to the world, from $1.4 trillion to $1.8 trillion, driven by a recovery in global demand for goods. Inflation likely helped to raise these figures as well. Top exports to China included soybeans ($14.1 billion) and semiconductors ($13.4 billion).
February 23rd, 2022
Two years after China vowed to transform Shenzhen into a "global model city with distinguished competitiveness, innovation capability, and influence," the National Development and Reform Commission and Ministry of Commerce jointly released a new opinion on relaxing market access in Shenzhen. The opinion serves as a directive to promote the development and integration of the Greater Bay Area (GBA), including through 24 measures to ease market access in sectors such as advanced technologies,...
February 9th, 2022
Last Friday, the House passed the America COMPETES Act (COMPETES), the House Democrats’ China package which includes funding for domestic research and innovation as well as outlines a US diplomatic, economic, and defense strategy on China. While the legislation bears many similarities to the Senate’s US Innovation and Competition Act (USICA), recently rebranded as the Make it in America Act, both in substance and structure, key differences remain which must be settled (possibly through a...
February 9th, 2022
In recent months, China has locked down a number of major cities because of COVID outbreaks, affecting millions of residents as well as local manufacturing. The impact of recent COVID-related shutdowns on companies has been much smaller than the blanket shutdowns at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, though they have been acute for some companies in affected areas and disrupted supply chains.
February 9th, 2022
The Biden administration has continued to focus on protecting the information and communications technology supply chain, keeping in place a regime, released on the second-to-last day of the Trump administration, that could allow the Commerce Department to block virtually any technology-related transaction that has a nexus to China. The regime, known as the Securing the Information and Communications Technology and Services Supply Chain Interim Final Rule (ICTS IFR), went into effect last...
January 19th, 2022
On January 15, 2020, after years of negotiation and tariff escalation, the United States and China signed the historic Phase One trade agreement. The agreement made considerable progress on longstanding regulatory and market access barriers and led to increased purchases of US goods. It also put a stop to further tariff increases. Two years later, China has fallen short of its purchasing targets in the agreement and outstanding regulatory reform commitments remain. It is within this context...
