The Chinese government will rush a new foreign investment law through its rubber-stamp parliament in March, in a move that Beijing hopes will help…
The Chinese government will rush a new foreign investment law through its rubber-stamp parliament in March, in a move that Beijing hopes will help smooth over trade talks scheduled to open later today in Washington.
The official Xinhua news agency reported on Wednesday that the National People’s Congress would vote on the new law, which will supersede existing legislation governing foreign investments in China, when it convenes for its annual session in early March.
The new law, which was first reviewed by the NPC’s Standing Committee in December, formally bans “forced” technology transfers and other illegal interference by government officials in the operations of foreign-invested enterprises.
The report came just hours before Vice Premier Liu He and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer were due to begin two days of possibly make-or-break talks to avert an escalation in the two countries’ trade war.
If the negotiations do not go well, the two sides will struggle to reach an agreement by a March 1 deadline, after which President Donald Trump has said he will more than double the punitive tariff rate currently assessed on about half of all Chinese exports to the US.
