Washington [US], August 11: US President Joe Biden on Wednesday issued an executive order to regulate certain investments from the United States in China to protect sensitive technologies.
Biden announced the decree saying he was "declaring a national emergency to deal with the threat of advancement by countries of concern in sensitive technologies and products critical to the military, intelligence, surveillance, or cyber-enabled capabilities of such countries."
Under the executive order, Biden identified China, including Hong Kong and the special administrative region of Macau, as a "country of concern."
The US leader said the measure was designed to protect national security and was not meant to be a brake on investment. According to the US government, the tightened rules will affect semiconductors, certain artificial intelligence systems and quantum information technologies.The latter enable the calculation of algorithms that are too complex for today's computers.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce responded in a statement early Thursday that it has "serious concern" about the order and "reserves the right to take measures."
Strict reporting requirements are also to be introduced for certain investments.
The plan follows a similar mechanism whereby certain large foreign investments in the US are pre-screened in sensitive areas.
When Biden came into office in January 2021, he left in place the punitive tariffs against Beijing which his predecessor Donald Trump had put into force.
Biden also initiated large-scale investments in the US to bolster Washington's supply chains and secure more independence from China.
The US also imposed export restrictions to deny the country access to US technologies.
Source: Qatar Tribune