March 15th, 2019
China’s National People’s Congress today finalized and passed its new Foreign Investment Law (FIL) (unofficial English translation) on the last day of its session. While some improvements were made since a revised draft was released in December 2018, questions remain that will need to be worked out in implementing regulations.
Since China declared a “war on pollution” in 2014, environmental protection has become a top political priority, evidenced by tough regulations, enforcement campaigns, and an emphasis in official rhetoric. Stronger environmental enforcement has had mixed effects on US-China Business Council (USCBC) members. In many cases, it has helped level the playing field for foreign companies that already had strong pollution controls, since domestic companies are increasingly held to the same environmental standards as foreign companies. At the same time, the speed of regulatory change and sudden intensity of enforcement has increased costs and uncertainty throughout the supply chain.
March 13th, 2019
The victory could improve US farmers’ ability to compete in the Chinese market, but prospects for China’s implementation of the ruling are still uncertain. Reversing the impact of subsidies may take considerable time.
February 22nd, 2019
Bilateral trade negotiations this week continued to make progress on several memoranda of understanding (MOUs) that could serve as the framework of a potential trade deal between the two countries. Few details are known about what the six MOUs include and if they will lead to an extension of the trade talks past March 1. It is expected that this week’s talks will narrow the list of issues that Presidents Trump and Xi will discuss at a potential meeting in mid- or late-March.
February 8th, 2019
This week on the Sinica Podcast, we’re live from the US-China Business Council’s Forecast 2019 Conference in Washington, D.C. This show was recorded on January 31 — the day (and hour) that Donald Trump met with China’s top official in charge of trade negotiations, Liu He. Kaiser and Jeremy spoke with Tim Stratford, the chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in the People’s Republic of China, and with Craig Allen, the president of the US-China Business Council.
February 1st, 2019
The high-level negotiations between the United States and China this week made limited progress on some of the key bilateral trade issues, but few details have been announced beyond a new planned purchase of US soybeans. Despite the lack of tangible outcomes, both countries agreed to continue their discussions in February, potentially concluding with a meeting between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping before the end of the month.
January 30th, 2019
Trade talks to date have touched on a wide range of issues, but have not narrowed differences on structural issues like IP protection, forced tech transfers, and subsidies to China’s state-owned enterprises.
January 30th, 2019
Further information on the Ministry of Public Security’s 2018 Personal Information Standard may provide clarity for companies on data management measures.
Regulations on Critical Information Infrastructure and Measures on Cross Border Data Flow are expected to come into effect in 2019.
January 25th, 2019
Liu He will visit the United States next week despite confusion about preparatory meeting
