China tightens export rules for sensitive tech, boosts power to retaliate against foreign sanctions
- China’s new export controls allow it to take action against any country that violates restrictions or endangers national security
- The regulation, which came into effect on Tuesday, is widely viewed as a response to US curbs on Chinese technology firms
China’s broadly defined export control law came into effect on Tuesday, expanding Beijing’s arsenal of countermeasures to trade restrictions imposed by other countries.
The law, first drafted in 2017 and approved in late October, bears resemblance to US Export Administration Regulations, including a list of controlled items like sensitive technology, military goods, dual-use items that have both civil and military uses, and a licence requirement for anyone who intends to export or re-export these goods.
“I see the Export Control Law as a milestone for China because this new law provides [it] with the first comprehensive regulatory framework for restricting exports of military and dual-use products and technology for national security and public policy reasons,” said Julien Chaisse, a law professor at City University of Hong Kong
Virtually all major economies already had similar laws and framework to regulate foreign export control practice in place, so China is filling a major gap
“Virtually all major economies already had similar laws and framework to regulate foreign export control practice in place, so China is filling a major gap and catching up with what has been done in many other places.”