In meetings that took place last week, officials from China and Nepal discussed ways to boost bilateral trade, and renewed commitments on Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects.

At a WTO meeting of the Council for Trade in Services on May 16, 2022, several trade issues involving China that had been raised previously were on the agenda again.

This past week, CTM covered the following issues. In China: * Trade discussions with South Korea; * Lower tariffs on imports from LDCs, and exports of pears to Ecuador; * China's concerns about the U.S. CHIPS Act. In the U.S.: * Charges against a Chinese tech company for violating Iran

High level officials of China and South Korea met this week and discussed ways to strengthen trade ties, including trade negotiations. This meeting came after South Korea expressed interest in the U.S.-led alliance Chip 4, which is designed to counter China's role in the semiconductor supply

As President Biden signed the CHIPS Act of 2022 yesterday, Chinese government officials and trade associations expressed their opposition to specific aspects of the law, calling it an example of "US’s practice of economic coercion" and raising questions as to whether it is consistent with WTO rules.

A U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs subcommittee held a hearing last month that focused on Chinese "Gray Zone Coercion in the Indo-Pacific."

China's Customs agency recently set out guidelines for its exporters to sell fresh pears to Ecuador.