As China's imports of Chinese medicine material grow this year, Beijing recently announced that it will allow two types of plant imports from Laos, both of which can be used in the making of Chinese medicine.

At a WTO meeting last week, China raised concerns about recent U.S. legislation involving industrial subsidies, and the United States pushed back.

This past week, CTM covered the following issues. In China: * Analysis of the 20th Party Congress * Trends in trade data * Taxes on e-cigarettes * National and local measures to support investment In Europe: * UK lawsuit relating to imports of products made with forced labor * UK Parliament discussion of supply chains * European

In a hearing before Britain’s High Court this week, a Uyghur rights group argued that the British government has failed to investigate the importation of cotton produced with forced labor in Xinjiang, in violation of UK law.

A district government in Shenzhen has rolled out new measures to support the development of cross-border e-commerce, focusing on "attracting investment, supporting logistical and technological development, strengthening financial services," and other areas, using incentives such as rewards, subsidies and other policy tools.

An Ireland-based company called Seagate confirmed that it received a letter from the U.S. government about violating U.S. export controls related to sales to Chinese firms.

As part of the transparency process under the WTO's SCM Agreement, China recently responded to questions from a number of governments on the subsidy programs it has notified.