unreliable entities list

MNCs in the News-2021-June

China adopts law for countering foreign sanctions, which some in foreign business community in China fear may be applied against it. Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in China releases report highlighting anxieties about uncertainties created for Japanese firms by a slew of new, ambiguous laws and regulations such as the unreliable entities list and national security review law. Current data do not support the thesis that China’s national security law for Hong Kong has damaged Hong Kong’s status as an international financial center. Chinese firms are expanding their overseas operations to escape home country competition, gain local knowledge, and so on. Chinese outward foreign direct investment in Belt and Road Initiative countries shows respectable growth over first five months of 2021 versus prior year period. Japan continues along the path of greater regulation of internet giants and their potential abuse of market power. South Korean district court dismisses wartime labor compensation lawsuit brought by a group of Koreans against 16 Japanese companies. Korean firms substantially increase their lobbying activities in the United States for various political and economic reasons. Korean consortium’s hopes to win nuclear power plant bid rise with Czech government’s decision to rule out the involvement of Chinese and Russian companies.

MNCs in the News-2020-September

China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) issues rules relating to China’s long-discussed “unreliable entities” list. MOFCOM tells foreign companies not to worry about unreliable entities list as it is not targeted at any specific country or company. China’s State Administration for Market Regulation is preparing to launch an antitrust investigation into Google relating to Google’s alleged abuse of the Android mobile operating system’s dominant position. MOFCOM, China’s National Bureau of Statistics, and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange issue report showing Chinese outward foreign direct investment (FDI) fell 4.3 percent year-over-year in 2019. Chinese outward FDI (OFDI) in the United States (US) plummets to record lows because of Covid-19 and US-China political frictions. Indian Minister says there will be no blanket ban on all Chinese mobile apps, nor will Chinese companies be excluded from 5G contracts for wireless equipment. The tightening of US restrictions on the export of semiconductors will have potent adverse effects on Japanese companies. Frictions relating to the fees Apple takes in conjunction with its App stores have sparked regulatory attention in Japan. Covid-19 and the resignation of former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo are hindering the expansion of Japanese OFDI in Africa. Hitachi may terminate its multi-billion-dollar project in the United Kingdom (UK) to build two nuclear reactors because of a failure to obtain UK government support to cover rising project costs. Korean semiconductor firms will suffer big loss of business due to new US restrictions on the export of semiconductors to Huawei. Korea Fair Trade Commission apparently sends signal to Google that it is being watched for its app store fee collection practices. Korea’s Hyundai Engineering & Construction led consortium wins $573 million railway project in the Philippines.

MNCs in the News-2020 July

Chinese President Xi Jining courts foreign direct investment (FDI) in encouraging letter to the Global CEO Council. China plans to impose sanctions on United States (US) company Lockheed Martin because of the latter’s weapons sales to Taiwan. China’s new, strict cybersecurity laws and regulations have driven Morgan Stanley, a US investment banking firm, to block its interns in China from remotely accessing its virtual network. The recent border clash with China has increased the pressure on New Delhi to reduce the country’s dependence on Chinese solar goods. Various special interest groups have called for the US to sanction China’s CRRC after the US Pentagon labeled it as backed by the Chinese military, saying it represents a security threat. Despite calls for a boycott in the wake of India’s border clash with China, many are skeptical Chinese smartphones can be displaced from the India market. Japanese and British trade negotiators agree they will not require encryption keys or the localization of data. Japan’s Mizuho Financial Group faces growing shareholder pressure to stop financing coal projects. Japan helps Japanese companies move to Vietnam and also helps them shift production lines to Japan as well as various Southeast Asian countries. Myanmar gives three Japanese firms permission to build a mega-liquified natural gas power plant. Korea to spend billions to promote an innovation-based economy. European Union to restart review of the merger of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering and Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings. Incheon Port Authority joins the United Nations Global Compact. The backlash against Huawei creates some openings for Samsung, though it is unclear if the Korean firm can exploit them.

MNCs in the News-2019-12-06

Per Chinese media, the Chinese government is on the verge of promulgating its “unreliable entities” list which will identify foreign companies that may be subject to sanctions. Beijing municipality moves to open its service sector to a wide variety of firms, though limitations will remain in some areas. Pledged foreign direct investment (FDI) from China into Vietnam surges to record levels over first 11 months of 2019. Online survey suggests that individuals in major Latin American countries have a generally positive view of Chinese FDI, though Japanese and German firms rank higher. Japan’s Internal Affairs Ministry proposes public-private team involving foreign and domestic players to develop mechanisms to fight fake news. Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) survey finds Japanese companies overseas increasingly pessimistic about effect of global events on their revenues. United States (US) chip firm Qualcomm fails to win overturning of record anti-monopoly fine by Korea’s Fair Trade Commission (FTC and will take its case to Korean Supreme Court. SK Innovation, spurred by changing Chinese government policies regarding electric vehicle (EV) batteries, increasing EV manufacturing presence in China.

MNCs in the News-2019-08-30

China’s plan to apply its social-credit system to foreign companies is raising concerns about possible abuses. China’s State Council announces it will establish pilot free trade zones (FTZs) in Shandong, Jiangsu, Guangxi Zhuang, Yunnan, Hebei, and Heilongjiang. United States (US) companies likely to stay in China despite trade war, a problematic regulatory environment, and US President Donald Trump’s call for them to leave. Although frictions over maritime issues remain unsettled, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposes joint oil & gas development in Reed Bank area to visiting Philippines’ President Rodrigo Duterte. Japan is paying more attention to tax shifting activities by high-tech companies and has recently forced Facebook to pay more in taxes for some questionable tax shifting activities. After the 7th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), Japan and 53 African countries signed the Yokohama declaration which stressed “‘quality infrastructure investment.’” South Korea’s new policy for network fees has led to frictions with Facebook and service problems that led to fines which Facebook fought successfully in court. The Korea Startup Forum, the Korea Internet Corporations Association, and local and foreign content providers have called upon the South Korean government “to completely overhaul its network fee calculation structure.”