As the result of a recently completed trade barriers investigation, Beijing announced that it would suspend tariff concessions to Taiwan under the Cross-Strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA). The scope of the suspension is very limited, although it may serve as an early warning for further restrictions down the road.

Last week, the bipartisan House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party made a recommendation to raise tariffs on China through a change in the U.S. tariff schedule. The political prospects for this proposal are unclear at this point, but if

Last week China and Honduras "substantially completed" an early harvest agreement; China's imports from the nation nearly tripled this year.

Last Friday, China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) issued the final ruling in the trade barrier investigation against Taiwan, and unsurprisingly found that Taiwan's trade restrictive measures constitute trade barriers. MOFCOM did not, however, discuss what the next steps might be.

At a press conference today, MOFCOM spokesperson Shu Jueting provided comments on export licensing for graphite, Italy's official withdrawal from the Belt and Road Initiative, the state visit to Vietnam, and November trade data.

During Chinese president Xi Jinping's state visit to Vietnam this week, the two nations signed 36 deals, ranging from infrastructure building to telecommunications and trade.

In a document outlining 18 measures to develop trade, China's State Council says it wants to integrate domestic and foreign trade, and sets out ways to boost both.