反向CFIUS揭晓:聚焦中国、半导体、人工智能和量子计算

本文作者:J. Scott Maberry, Reid Whitten, Fatema Merchant, Jonathan Wang, Lisa Mays

本文翻译:美国盛智律师事务所上海办公室

Shanghai Office Contact Person: Michael Zhang

On August 9, 2023, President Biden issued an Executive Order (E.O.) ordering the issuance of outbound investment restrictions. This E.O. comes after nearly a year of anticipation (as we have documented on several occasions over the past year). This is the start of the reverse Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) process that has been mostly speculation (and blog articles) until yesterday. In conjunction, the Treasury Department issued a press releasefact sheet, and Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) seeking comments from the public on the proposed restrictions by September 28.Continue Reading Reverse CFIUS Unveiled: Focus on China, Semiconductors, Artificial Intelligence, and Quantum Computing

Year 2020 definitely is a milestone year for China in building up and strengthening its regulatory legislation in the field of international trade.  Following the Regulations on Unreliable Entity List (“UEL”), the Export Control Law came out on October 17 and will come into effect on December 1, 2020.  Obviously, this Export Control Law of the PRC (“Export Control Law”) is one of the most important bricks to China’s regulatory Great Wall in the ongoing trade war to protect its key national security and interests.

Here is our quick bird’s-eye view of this new Export Control Law and some preliminary thoughts on its possible impact to the future cross-border transactions and multinationals’ China operations.
Continue Reading New Export Control Law: China Strengthens its Regulatory “Great Wall”

On September 19, 2020, China took a new strategic position in its ongoing trade confrontation with the United States. The Ministry of Commerce of the PRC (“MOFCOM”) issued Regulations on Unreliable Entity List (“UEL”) and drew wide public attention to the beginning of the PRC government’s retaliation against the Trump Administration’s recent restrictions on Chinese entities including Huawei, TikTok and WeChat. It is notable that MOFCOM deliberated with more than a year of internal discussion before implementing the UEL.
Continue Reading Certainties and Uncertainties Under China’s New Unreliable Entity List

On Tuesday, May 19, the U.S. Commerce Department published a regulation (effective May 15, 2020) that prohibits sale to Huawei of a microchip made to a Huawei specification, made outside the United States with non-U.S. materials, sent from a foreign country, by a foreign person.

To quote the philosopher, hol’ up.

How is that even possible?
Continue Reading Huawei Whack-A-Mole: The U.S. Takes Another Swing at the Chinese Semiconductor Industry

Following the depreciation of Chinese currency RMB and the reduction in China’s foreign exchange reserves[1], foreign companies and individuals in China have met hurdles in moving their money out of China, and overseas companies have experienced delays of payments by their Chinese business partners. This article will discuss the recent tightened controls over capital outflows from China to overseas and offer the best practical solutions to accelerate the funds transfer progress.
Continue Reading China Capital Controls: Best Practices for Accelerating International Payments

The State Administration of Industry and Commerce (“SAIC”) has promulgated the Measures for Supervision and Administration of the Product Quality in the Circulation Sector (流通领域商品质量监督管理办法) (“Measures”) on March 21, 2016, and these Measures will be effective on May 1, 2016.
Continue Reading China Continues Intensifying Supervision on Product Quality

China Premier Li Keqiang presided over a State Council executive meeting on February 14, 2016 in which it was decided that China would commence a new pilot program (the “Pilot Program”) in ten cities and provinces along with five new districts to provide more flexible rules to boost service trade. On February 22, 2016, the State Council issued the Official Reply of the State Council on Approving the Commencement of Service Trade Pilot Program (Guohan [2016] No. 40) (国务院关于同意开展服务贸易创新发展试点的批复) which disclosed more details about this Pilot Program.
Continue Reading State Council Approved Pilot Program to Promote Service Trade

Summary

On November 17, 2014, China and Australia completed their negotiations for a China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (“ChAFTA”) by signing a Declaration of Intent which contained the essential elements of the free trade deal and commits both countries to draft the legal text of the agreement for signature at a later date.  This agreement ends almost a decade of free trade negotiations between China and Australia.  The ChAFTA is significant because it will initially lower and ultimately eliminate tariffs on a wide range of exports between the two countries boosting bilateral trade between the world’s second largest economy and a significant U.S. free trade partner in Asia.Continue Reading China and Australia Conclude Landmark Free Trade Agreement Negotiations

The China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone (PFTZ) officially launched on September 29th, granting 25 Chinese and overseas companies licenses to register in the PFTZ on its first day. The General Plan for the PFTZ was announced on September 27th, with implementation rules and specific regulations to come in October. It was first approved on August 22nd, 2013 by the State Council, promising favorable currency, tax, interest rate, and other policies that will promote business activity in Shanghai and Greater China, particularly in finance, shipping, trade, logistics, and real estate industries. The PFTZ covers a total of 28 km2, encompassing four existing bonded zones in Shanghai- Yangshan Free Trade Port, Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone, Waigaoqiao Bonded Logistics Zone and Pudong Airport Comprehensive Free Trade Zone.
Continue Reading Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone (PFTZ)