China: Trade Regulation & Practices

President Trump's May 2026 state visit to China yielded agreements on trade boards, agricultural purchases, and tariff stability, but tensions persist over export controls and military company designations. As both nations pursue "strategic stability," multinational companies face increasing compliance conflicts from competing regulatory frameworks. Will the planned bilateral forums successfully navigate friction points in semiconductors, rare earths, and defense sectors?

China's Supreme People's Court released ten landmark intellectual property cases from 2025, covering trademark distinctiveness, patent infringement in chip technology, trade secret theft, unfair competition through employee poaching and data scraping, and criminal prosecution of counterfeiters. These decisions establish important precedents for balancing innovation incentives with public interests while demonstrating China's commitment to strengthening IP protection in the digital economy.

Merger Control Comparative Guide for the jurisdiction of China, check out our comparative guides section to compare across multiple countries

On March 24, 2017, the PRC National Development and Reform Commission ("NDRC") issued draft Guidelines for Price-Related Behavior of Industry Associations ("Guidelines").

Entering into the 7th year of the Anti-Monopoly Law in force, the enforcement by China's antitrust authorities has moved up a gear.

As part of the settlement, ZTE will remain under probation for an additional seven-year period and submit itself to active auditing and monitoring by the US government.

The National Development and Reform Commission's investigation into the eyeglass industry found that some major manufacturers had restricted resale prices.

China is growing into its role as a major economic power, and the competition regulators are stepping up to the plate.

The State Administration for Industry and Commerce released a series of measures to further strengthen the regulation of online transactions.