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China Issues New Export Control Law and

Related Policies



October 26, 2020

On October 17, 2020, the Standing Committee of China's legislature, the National People's Congress
(NPC), passed the Export Control Law of the People's Republic of China, which goes into effect on
December  1, 2020 (Chinese text and unofficial English translation).The passage follows three rounds of
legislative deliberations since China's cabinet, the State Council, first presented a draft to the NPC in June
2017. The law realizes a longstanding Chinese government goal of elevating and consolidating ministry-
level export control authorities under one national-level legal and policy framework. The new law defines
China's export control authorities as a joint mechanism of units under both the State Council and the
Central Military Commission that perform export control functions. The action is part of a broader effort
by China's President Xi Jinping to build out national security authorities and reflects themes-such as
China's right to development-as broad justifications for national security-related trade actions.
The final language includes several new provisions that appear aimed at creating a Chinese policy
counterweight to the U.S. government's use of export control authorities to restrict the transfer of U.S.
dual-use technology to China, including provisions for retaliatory action and extraterritorial jurisdiction.
(See CRS In Focus U.S. Export Control Reforms and China: Issues for Congress.) The United States and
other governments-such as those in Japan, Taiwan, and Europe-have tightened China's access to
sensitive technology through strengthened export control authorities and licensing practices over the past
two years. Relatedly, there has been a marked upswing over the past year in the number of countries that
have sought to ban or impose conditions on the participation of China's telecommunications firm Huawei
in their 5G networks, particularly in Europe.
The Export Control Law gives the Chinese government new policy tools and justifications to deny and
impose terms on foreign commercial transactions-both inside and outside of China-on the grounds of
China's national security and national interest. The Chinese government traditionally has sought to
restrict foreign investment and imports to advance national industrial goals, although there have been
prominent examples of China controlling the export of strategic commodities, such as coke, fluorspar, and
rare earth elements. China for some time also has used ad hoc import restrictions to create commercial
and political pressures on its major trading partners, a tactic that Beijing has used most recently with
Australia and Canada in restricting agriculture and commodity trade. The law gives China's government
new rationales and processes to impose terms on transactions among firms and within joint ventures and
                                                                 Congressional Research Service
                                                                   https://crsreports.congress. gov
                                                                                       IN11524

CRS INS GHT
Prepared for Members and


comrnittees of Congress

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