On October 7, 2022, the US Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) issued the much anticipated rules aimed at restricting China’s ability to obtain advanced computing chips, develop and maintain supercomputers, and manufacture advanced semiconductors (“Rule”) (87 FR 62186). In addition to formalizing the licensing requirements included in the recent BIS “is informed” letters issued to certain US companies on related matters, the Rule imposes a wide range of new and enhanced restrictions…
More than one year since China’s new Export Control Law (“ECL”) became effective, the Ministry of Commerce (“MOFCOM”) has finally released the long-awaited Regulations on Dual-use Item Export Control (“Draft Regulations”) draft, for public comments on 22 April 2022. The Draft Regulations can be found here: 关于《两用物项出口管制条例（征求意见稿）》公开征求意见的通知 (mofcom.gov.cn). We highlight below the key takeaways from our review of the Draft Regulations. 1. Scope of items subject to controls Although the Draft Regulations relate specifically to the…
The Ministry of Commerce of China (“MOFCOM”) released its first Export Control White Paper (“White Paper”) on December 29, 2021. Simultaneously, it launched a dedicated “China Export Control Information” website, where it publishes export control related FAQs, case studies and training videos. The White Paper places great emphasis on criticizing the abuse of discriminative, unilateral export controls, and the activity of “building export control small circles in the name of multilateralism”. It also reiterates China’s…
On November 2, 2021, Ministry of Commerce of China (“MOFCOM”) officially released the revised Catalogue of Technologies Subject to Import Prohibition and Restriction (“Technology Catalogue”), effective immediately, which identifies, among others, foreign “data encryption technology employing a key length greater than 256 bits” as a technology that requires import permit when transferred to a Chinese party. This new development may significantly impact multinational corporations’ supply chain operations that involve cross-border transfer of encryption technologies. As…