President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the 'Building a Better America' innovation and competition bill, April 14, 2022, in North Carolina. Credit: The White House via Flickr
The U.S government is poised to increase its scrutiny of the billions of American investment dollars flowing into Chinese high tech firms. But putting the policy into practice may be harder than many in Washington expect.
The idea behind what is known as outbound investment screening is simple: while Washington has processes to review and block investment from China into the U.S., through the interagency body called the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS), the government can’t do much to screen and prevent the likes of American private equity firms or large multinationals from pouring money into Chinese companies.
An excerpt from the letter sent to Biden regarding outbound investment executive action. Credit: Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey
Support for a new review process is strong in Congress, where lawmakers from both parties have voiced concerns about U.S. venture capital firms and others from funding technological development in "countries of concern" li
Exclusive longform investigative journalism, Q&As, news and analysis, and data on Chinese business elites and corporations. We publish China scoops you won't find anywhere else.
A weekly curated reading list on China from David Barboza, Pulitzer Prize-winning former Shanghai correspondent for The New York Times.
A daily roundup of China finance, business and economics headlines.
We offer discounts for groups, institutions and students. Go to our Subscriptions page for details.
Robert Lighthizer, the U.S. Trade Representative under Donald Trump, reflects on his decision to launch the trade war with China and begin the process of "strategic decoupling" — a process he says the U.S. must see through to the end.