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...
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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...

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the annual must-pass legislation authorizing funds for US defense purposes, has become a vehicle to push through China-related policy priorities in recent years. While the NDAA for fiscal year 2023 is unlikely to be finalized until December, the House has already put forward several China-related provisions in its version of the bill, and the Senate is considering several China-related amendments to the version approved by the Senate Armed...

Over the past three years, companies shipping goods between the United States and China have faced lockdown-related disruptions in China, a labor shortage in the United States, and a worldwide shipping container shortage. While decreased demand, a shift in ocean shipping traffic, and increased air cargo capacity are helping to alleviate some of the challenges, there is still a looming threat of costs and transit times going back up.

The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) went into effect on June 21, six months after it was passed with broad bipartisan support. The law has been implemented and enforced by the interagency Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force (FLETF) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) over the past four months. USCBC has actively engaged with the administration throughout the implementation process to highlight the importance of cooperation with industry stakeholders.

China’s 20th Party Congress meetings closed on October 22 after the election of a new Central Committee of 205 members and 171 alternates and the approval of numerous revisions to the party constitution. The next day, at the first plenary session of the 20th Central Committee, the 24-member Politburo was elected from Central Committee members, and China’s highest leadership body—the seven-member Politburo Standing Committee (PBSC)—was chosen from this group.

On October 16, President Xi Jinping delivered his 20th Party Congress Work Report in the Great Hall of the People, marking the opening of the week-long 20th Party Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Occurring every five years, the Party Congress not only chooses top Party personnel, but also establishes high-level political priorities for the subsequent five years. Over each five-year period, the Party then generally convenes seven plenary sessions, during which major policy...

It has been nearly three years since I have set foot in China. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, I would travel to China several times per year for important conversations. However, restrictions imposed by China on international travel in March 2020 have made trips nearly impossible for all but the most dedicated China hands, even despite some small adjustments to facilitate visas, increase flight availability, and shorten quarantines. Just a few months shy of the 50th anniversary of USCBC’s...

One of the biggest uncertainties in China’s cyberspace governance regime is how strict enforcement will be, and whom enforcement will prioritize. Based on publicly available data and conversations with companies and experts, enforcement of personal information issues appears focused on domestic internet platform giants, such as Didi, Tencent, and Alibaba, rather than foreign companies. USCBC also understands that in some sectors outside of tech, such as finance, enforcement has been more...

Over the last three years, as the world has transformed logistically, politically, and culturally as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical tensions, Western companies’ views of China’s business environment have changed significantly. While both European and US companies have a dimmer business outlook than before, they have each been affected in different ways.