BEIJING: The United States’ latest move to restrict critical technology investments in China spells havoc for international economic and trade cooperation, severely undermines the stability of global industrial and supply chains, and hurts the interests of companies and investors of both countries, officials and experts said on Thursday.
Although Washington has shifted to the term “de-risking” from the earlier “decoupling” in key supply chains, what it actually is doing is repeatedly “decoupling and severing supply chains” from China, and attempting to contain the rise of Chinese high-tech sector even at a heavy cost to US companies, industry insiders noted.
Their comments came as US President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Wednesday to block and regulate US-based high-tech investments going toward China. The order, which is expected to be implemented next year, targets investment in semiconductors and microelectronics, quantum computing technologies and artificial intelligence. The Ministry of Commerce said in a statement on Thursday that China is seriously concerned about the order and reserves the right to take measures.
The US is restricting the outbound investments by its companies and is pushing for “decoupling and severing supply chains” in the investment field under the guise of “de-risking”, which seriously deviates from the market economy and fair competition principles the US has always advocated, and affects companies’ normal operation decisions, the ministry said on its official website.
“We hope the US side respects the laws of the market economy and the principles of fair competition, and does not artificially impede global economic and trade exchanges and cooperation, and does not create obstacles for the recovery and growth of the world economy,” the statement said.
Bai Ming, deputy director of international market research at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, said the new investment restrictions indicate that Washington is taking a “systematic” approach to contain China’s technological development, ranging from putting Chinese companies on its export control list and levying additional tariffs on Chinese goods, to restricting US investments in high-tech industry in China.
The US government has replaced “decoupling” with “de-risking”, but change in words does not mean a difference in action, he noted, emphasizing that any intention of “decoupling” from China is not feasible as the country is playing an irreplaceable and pivotal role in global industrial and supply chains. –The Daily Mail-China Daily exchange item
