To tackle complex administrative licensing processes, US companies in China are refining their government affairs efforts to focus on transparency and communication challenges, as well as obstacles stemming from the anticorruption campaign. The US-China Business Council (USCBC) pinpointed several Chinese government affairs-related licensing issues during interviews with more than 30 member companies in fall 2015 to better understand how companies address them.

American companies are seeing small benefits from China’s national administrative licensing reform agenda, but a number of obstacles continue to challenge companies in licensing and government approvals. Licensing ranked sixth in the list of challenges this year for US-China Business Council (USCBC) member companies in China.