China’s broadly defined export control law came into effect on Tuesday, expanding Beijing’s arsenal of countermeasures to trade restrictions imposed by other countries, reported the South China Morning Post.
The law, first drafted in 2017 and approved in late October, bears resemblance to US Export Administration Regulations, including a list of controlled items like sensitive technology, military goods, dual-use items that have both civil and military uses, and a licence requirement for anyone who intends to export or re-export these goods, said the SCMP.
“I see the Export Control Law as a milestone for China because this new law provides [it] with the first comprehensive regulatory framework for restricting exports of military and dual-use products and technology for national security and public policy reasons,” said Julien Chaisse, a law professor at City University of Hong Kong
“Virtually all major economies already had similar laws and framework to regulate foreign export control practice in place, so China is filling a major gap and catching up with what has been done in many other places.”
