Research & Analysis

Last summer, Chinese tech giants Tencent and Alibaba announced investments into cloud computing services worth US$1.57 billion and US$1 billion, respectively. In 2014, cloud computing sales accounted for only five percent of China’s total IT market compared to 11 percent globally, but Bains predicts this number will increase to 20 percent by 2020.

This summer, the US Congress introduced a bill aimed at stemming the country’s regular flow of discarded electronics to China. The United States exports large amounts of e-waste to the Middle Kingdom—albeit often unintentionally—contributing to health and environmental problems and leading counterfeit electronic goods being fed back into the global market.

Premier Li Keqiang addressed important issues in the US-China economic relationship before more than 700 guests, three members of China’s Ministerial delegation, Dr. Henry Kissinger, chairs and presidents of the host organizations, and ranking business executives from USCBC, NCUSCR, and ECNY this week.

The Chinese government issued new dietary guidelines recommended by the Health Ministry that aim for a 50 percent reduction in the country’s meat consumption by 2030. China consumes about 30 percent of the world’s meat, including half of its pork, even though average per capita meat consumption is half that of the average American or Australian. China’s guidelines recommend eating 40-75 grams of meat per day, similar to recommendations by the UK Department of Health.

China’s State Administration of Taxation (SAT) issued the Announcement on the Administration of Related-party Transactions and Contemporaneous Documentation (SAT Announcement [2016] No. 42), which introduces a three-tiered documentation framework that will replace its current transfer pricing documentation rules. The June 29 announcement followed the publication of the opinion-seeking draft by the tax bureau in September 2015, and is largely consistent with the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project launched by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Compared to the 2015 Draft, the announcement revised some terms and further clarified the requirements for reporting companies, as well as the information they need to submit.

Accounting fraud in China seldom made headlines until the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) began probing Alibaba, China’s e-commerce giant. Although accounting fraud is a global issue, China’s investment climate presents higher risk because local companies often want to tank up capitals and increase marketing power from foreign entities.