On January 1, the China-Nicaragua Free Trade Agreement (FTA) entered into force. In this piece, we examine the details of the schedules of tariff concessions under the FTA, and the provisions on services trade and investment.

In recent weeks, Beijing has invoked the Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law and imposed sanctions on U.S. companies and individuals for supporting "Taiwan independence" and Xinjiang-related sanctions. This is one of the few times when the invocation of China's anti-foreign sanctions law has led to concrete measures.

Last Friday, in response to a petition by the domestic industry, China's Ministry of Commerce announced the launch of an anti-dumping investigation on brandy from the EU. A few details of the petition are summarized below.

Last December, China's General Administration of Customs (GACC) published sanitary requirements for various food imports from Uruguay, Finland, Vietnam, and Kazakhstan.

On December 21, China's Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Science and Technology released an updated control list of technologies for which exports are banned or subject to licensing requirements, covering technologies related to rare earth, laser radar, drones, and cybersecurity.

A recent report by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace examines the impact of China's Belt and Road Initiative through the lens of eight experts from Southeast Asian countries.

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.