Sending a message: Beijing issues documents without Word format amid US tensions
For the first time, China’s Ministry of Commerce issued policy announcements in documents only accessible via domestic software last week
China’s expansion of its rare earth export controls appeared to mark another escalation in the US-China trade war last week. But the announcements were also significant in another way: unusually, the documents could not be opened using American word processing software.
For the first time, China’s Ministry of Commerce issued a slew of documents that could be directly accessed only through WPS Office – China’s answer to Microsoft Office – as Beijing continues its tech self-reliance drive.
Developed by the Beijing-based software company Kingsoft, WPS Office uses a different coding structure to Microsoft Office, meaning WPS text files cannot be opened directly in Word without conversion.
Previously, the ministry primarily released text documents in Microsoft Word format.
