The Ministry of Commerce (“MOFCOM”) of the People’s Republic of China (“China”) published the draft Export Control Law (“ECL”) for public comments via a circular on 16 June 2017. If enacted, the ECL will be the first set of comprehensive and unified export control legislation in China, which is aimed at upgrading the country’s existing regime consisting of various administrative regulations and rules. The ECL is still in the draft form and no further update has been announced since its publication last year, but it is widely expected to be introduced in the National People’s Congress within 2018.

Background On 18 February 2017, China’s Ministry of Commerce and General Administration of Customs jointly issued Announcement [2017] No. 12 (“Announcement No. 12”),  imposing a blanket suspension on imports of coal produced in North Korea for the rest of the year. The suspension includes imports for which applications have been made, but not yet processed by Customs. Announcement No. 12 takes effect from 19 February 2017, and will be effective till 31 December 2017. Announcement…

China has banned exports to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (“DPRK”) of technology and materials that might be used in weapons production. The new list of items banned for export to DPRK adds to a list of technologies and goods banned for export released in 2013 by the Commerce Ministry, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the China Atomic Energy Authority 2013 after DPRK had carried out its third nuclear test that…