China Market Intelligence

May 19th, 2021
By Alison Schonberg and Banny Wang

Last year, China initiated a three-year action plan to reform state-owned enterprises (SOEs). China has not publicly released the plan, but local plans and high-level reports confirm that China aims to expand the role of SOEs in its economy, at odds with calls for China to do away with unfair subsidies and require its SOEs to compete on the same terms as private and foreign companies. China is also aiming to make its SOEs more competitive by increasing mixed ownership, reducing overcapacity...

May 10th, 2021
By Craig Allen

In a recent conversation, an ambassador of one of America’s closest allies observed that US trade policy, especially toward China, seems “paralyzed.” How is it, the ambassador asked, that there could be so little change from the Trump era? How long should this be expected to continue? I suggested to the ambassador that the Biden administration was not paralyzed, but instead “distracted” with efforts to implement its aggressive domestic policy agenda.

May 5th, 2021
By Alison Schonberg

In spite of US-China political tensions, bilateral trade remains strong. During the first quarter of 2021, US exports to China continued to grow and imports from China returned to 2019 levels. In 2020, US exports to China rose 17 percent, in large part due to China’s successful control of COVID-19, faster than expected economic recovery, and efforts to meet Phase One purchase targets. In a continuation of this trend, US exports increased 58 percent year over year in the first quarter of 2021...

May 5th, 2021
By Allie Klein

On February 23, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) launched a multi-committee effort to create an economic, diplomatic, and military strategy to compete with China. The legislative vehicle for the Senate’s plan is the Endless Frontier Act, a bill that would invest billions in domestic research, development, and manufacturing infrastructure. Lawmakers plan to attach multiple bipartisan China-related bills from several committees to the bill, which would significantly expand its scope...

May 5th, 2021
By Kexin Zhang and Banny Wang

On April 21, the National People’s Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) released its annual legislative plan for 2021, a blueprint for laws to be introduced, reviewed, and passed over the course of the year. This year’s plan includes 54 legislative tasks, some of which have already been accomplished. Thirteen draft laws or revisions are slated to see some type of movement between now and June. The plan touches on several critical topics for foreign companies operating in China, including data...

April 21st, 2021
By Lipei Zhang

China’s 14th Five-Year Plan calls for strengthening and accelerating enforcement of China’s Anti-Monopoly Law (AML) in the hopes of promoting fair competition and innovation. In particular, the government is monitoring monopolistic behavior in the internet platform industry, as evidenced by two recent, high-profile cases of AML enforcement involving Alibaba Group and the Sherpa’s food delivery app. In the wake of these cases, the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) and other...

April 21st, 2021
By Hannah Feldshuh

The National People’s Congress is expected to either pass or significantly revise both the draft Data Security Law and the draft Personal Information Protection Law this year. Together, the laws will create the foundation for new data security reviews applying to all companies and for rules governing how companies treat users’ personal information. 

April 21st, 2021
By Banny Wang, Huihui Shen, and Jackie Li

Last quarter, the Chinese government made several leadership changes at the central and provincial level. Notably, China appointed a new ambassador to the WTO and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs named a new vice minister. Over the same period, almost all provincial-level governments appointed new high-level officials.

April 7th, 2021
By Matt Margulies

President Xi Jinping’s ambitious carbon peaking and carbon neutrality pledges announced last year led to a major international focus on China’s climate and energy targets in the 14th Five-Year Plan (14FYP) which was released in March. While the 14FYP did identify certain carbon emission reduction and energy targets, it was short on details and did not appear to match the ambition of President Xi’s pledges. However, less than a month after the 14FYP’s release, China’s future energy and...

April 7th, 2021
By Hannah Feldshuh and Alison Schonberg

In the first quarter of 2021, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) and other financial regulators signaled that protecting financial data will remain a top priority. Recent policy and regulatory moves further regulators’ goals of empowering the digital economy while strengthening oversight on data collection and use. Several measures introduce new requirements for foreign financial services firms, including internal reviews, stricter consent requirements around data collection, and constraints...

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