Reality Check (Part 16 of 21)

Falsehoods in US Perceptions of China

https://english.news.cn (June 19 2022)

Part 15 is at https://billtotten.wpcomstaging.com/2022/07/11/reality-check-part-15-of-21/

Falsehood 16

For too long, Chinese companies have enjoyed far greater access to our markets than our companies have in China. American companies operating in China have been subject to systematic forced technology transfer, while Chinese companies in America have been protected by our rule of law.

Reality Check

China is committed to fostering an enabling business environment that is based on market principles, governed by law, and up to international standards. While China's business environment keeps improving, the business environment for Chinese companies operating in the US continues to deteriorate.

* China has seen the most substantial improvement in business environment among all economies. In recent years, China has made continuous efforts to shorten the negative list on foreign investment, improved the institutions for investment promotion and protection and for information reporting, and stepped up intellectual property protection, becoming one of the most improved economies for ease of doing business. With the continuous improvement in business environment and its super-sized domestic market, China is a strong magnet for cross-border investment from around the world. The number of newly established foreign-invested enterprises is on a steady rise in China. From 2012 to 2021, the number of foreign-invested enterprises in China increased from 441,000 to 664,000, up by over 50 percent. According to the Doing Business 2020 report released by the World Bank Group, China ranked 31st on ease of doing business, moving up by 47 spots in two years. The European Business in China Business Confidence Survey 2021 released by the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China (EUCCC) shows that a majority of the European companies surveyed found intellectual property rights enforcement to be "adequate" or "excellent" in China, marking a record high in satisfaction levels.

* It is the foreign companies, including the US companies operating in China, that can best tell whether China's business environment is good or not. The 2022 China Business Climate Survey Report of the American Chamber of Commerce in China (AmCham China) shows that 58 percent of the US companies in China saw their operating revenue growing in 2021, 66 percent of the companies plan to increase their investment in China this year, and China remains a top-three priority of the global investment planning for 60 percent of the companies. The recently released USCBC 2021 Member Survey shows that 95 percent of the respondents remained profitable in their China operations and 74 percent of the companies took China as a top priority or a top-five priority market in their business strategy. In the first four months of 2022, the actual US investment in China rose by 53.2 percent year on year. These figures speak volumes about the optimism of foreign companies' economic prospects in China, as well as their recognition of China's sound business environment and confidence in building a long-term business in the Chinese market.

* To preserve its hegemony and economic interests, the US has abused its national power in violation of the principles of market economy and international trade rules, and resorted to every possible means to suppress and contain Chinese enterprises. The US government has fabricated all sorts of lies including "forced labor" in an attempt to bring down Xinjiang's cotton, tomato, and solar photovoltaic industries. According to preliminary statistics, in 2021, the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued seven Withhold Release Orders (WROs) on the exports of goods made with "forced labor" to the US, including apparel, textiles, tomato seeds, canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, and other goods made with cotton or tomatoes, silica-based products, and electronic products produced in Xinjiang, and detained or confiscated 485 million US dollars worth of goods, which are notably larger in both quantity and value compared to 2020. The current US administration has already outperformed its predecessor in terms of the scale and magnitude of sanctions imposed on China for Xinjiang-related issues.

* The US has imposed sweeping restrictions on the financing and operation of Chinese enterprises in the US through non-transparent and unfair administrative means. According to official US statistics, the US has up to now put 1,055 Chinese entities and individuals (overseas affiliated entities excluded) on various types of sanctions lists, including 467 on the Entity List, 306 on the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (SDN), 201 on the Unverified List (UVL), 68 on the Non-SDN Chinese Military-Industrial Complex Companies (NS-CMIC) List, and a few other entities. Last February, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) put WeChat and AliExpress on its latest Notorious Markets List, while Pinduoduo and other Chinese companies as well as nine physical markets located within China remained on the list.

Source: fmprc.gov.cnEditor: huaxia2022-06-19 22:19:29 https://english.news.cn/20220619/edf2556087954b8d90440b077a3c3c21/c.html https://billtotten.wordpress.com/ https://www.ashisuto.co.jp--- To unsubscribe: List help: