China’s new Provisions on the Protection of Trade Secrets, effective this month, mark a major overhaul of the administrative trade secret regime, by expanding protections to include algorithms, source code, and "failed" experimental data, and asserting new extraterritorial powers.

Beijing on Thursday sharpened its criticism of U.S. export controls and tariff actions that it says are disrupting global trade. It also reiterated its support for companies investing abroad while tightening oversight under the new outbound investment regulation.

Beijing has overhauled its outbound investment regime to enhance national security oversight and arm itself with stronger retaliatory legal tools. The updated regime also creates an explicit legal nexus between cross-border investments and existing data, export control, and technology transfer rules.

Last week, the European Commission announced that it had opened an in-depth Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) investigation to assess the proposed acquisition by JD.com, Inc. of German firm CECONOMY AG.

Today, China's new rules governing the registration of foreign food manufacturers take effect, reflecting a regulatory overhaul that replaces a five-year-old framework with a dynamic, risk-based vetting system designed to streamline access for countries maintaining food safety cooperation with Beijing.

One year after Beijing implemented export control measures on some critical rare earth elements and derivative products, the global trade landscape reflects a complex dynamic of sharp disruption followed by rapid adaptation. While shipments initially plummeted following the April 2025 announcement, exports of rare earths and products rebounded robustly soon

China is leveraging its 2026 APEC host year to position itself as the primary architect of the Asia-Pacific’s digital and services infrastructure, two commercial frontiers that Beijing has pushed to the top of its trade agenda in recent years.