CHINA’S top legislative body yesterday began reviewing the first revision in more than two decades of the country’s foreign trade law, as Beijing seeks to give legal backing to countermeasures it can take in a trade conflict.
The revision would strengthen China’s trade countermeasures, allowing trade bans or restrictions on foreign individuals or organisations deemed a danger to China’s sovereignty or security, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
The draft also outlines the establishment of a “trade adjustment assistance” system and measures to stabilise supply chains, the report said.
The revision, the first since April 2004, was expected this year, but its deliberation had not appeared in the agenda for a scheduled meeting of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress this week.
China’s commerce ministry had previously mentioned that “other necessary measures” beyond trade bans and restrictions could be taken, without providing details.
Such open-ended language allows for a vast range of countermeasures deployed in the past, including export controls and investigations into foreign companies.
It was unclear if the revision would be passed this week. Bills, revisions and amendments typically require three readings by lawmakers.
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