China Reaffirms Commitment to Fair Competition for Foreign Companies

In his speech to the Second Session of the 13th National People's Congress last month, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, made clear the country's commitment to fair competition. “Fair competition is at the heart of a market economy, and impartial regulation is a safeguard for fair competition. We will reform and improve the fair competition review and impartial regulation systems, and move faster to do away with all regulations and practices that impede the functioning of a unified market and fair competition.”

Foreign companies operating in China may remain skeptical. A lack of real progress toward fairer competition has been a regular gripe of foreign companies operating in China, and is a key issue driving the current trade spat between the U.S. and China. “China has not fundamentally altered its unfair, unreasonable and market-distorting practices that were the subject of … our Section 301 investigation,” said U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer in November 2018.