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Ashwin Kaja

With over a decade of experience in China, Ashwin Kaja helps multinational companies, governments, and other clients understand and navigate the complex legal and policy landscape in the country. He plays a leading role in Covington’s China international trade and public policy practices and, outside of Covington, serves as the General Counsel of the American Chamber of Commerce in China.

Ashwin helps clients solve acute problems that arise in the course of doing business in China and position themselves for longer-term success in the country’s rapidly evolving legal and policy environment. He is an expert on Chinese industrial policy and has worked on matters related to a wide range of sectors including technology, financial services, life sciences, and the social sector. Ashwin has also counseled a range of clients on data privacy and cybersecurity-related matters.

As the General Counsel of the American Chamber of Commerce in China (AmCham China), Ashwin serves as a senior officer of the organization and as an ex officio member of its Board of Governors, supporting nearly one thousand member companies in developing their businesses in China and advocating for their needs with China’s central and local governments.

The field of artificial intelligence (“AI”) is at a tipping point. Governments and industries are under increasing pressure to forecast and guide the evolution of a technology that promises to transform our economies and societies. In this series, our lawyers and advisors provide an overview of the policy approaches and regulatory frameworks for AI in jurisdictions around the world. Given the rapid pace of technological and policy developments in this area, the articles in this series should be viewed as snapshots in time, reflecting the current policy environment and priorities in each jurisdiction.

The following article examines the state of play in AI policy and regulation in China. The previous articles in this series covered the European Union and the United States.

On the sidelines of November’s APEC meetings in San Francisco, Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping agreed that their nations should cooperate on the governance of artificial intelligence. Just weeks prior, President Xi unveiled China’s Global Artificial Intelligence Governance Initiative to world leaders, the nation’s bid to put its stamp on the global governance of AI. This announcement came a day after the Biden Administration revealed another round of restrictions on the export of advanced AI chips to China.

China is an AI superpower. Projections suggest that China’s AI market is on track to exceed US$14 billion this year, with ambitions to grow tenfold by 2030. Major Chinese tech companies have unveiled over twenty large language models (LLMs) to the public, and more than one hundred LLMs are fiercely competing in the market.

Understanding China’s capabilities and intentions in the realm of AI is crucial for policymakers in the U.S. and other countries to craft effective policies toward China, and for multinational companies to make informed business decisions. Irrespective of political differences, as an early mover in the realm of AI policy and regulation, China can serve as a repository of pioneering experiences for jurisdictions currently reflecting on their policy responses to this transformative technology.

This article aims to advance such understanding by outlining key features of China’s emerging approach toward AI.Continue Reading Spotlight Series on Global AI Policy — Part III: China’s Policy Approach to Artificial Intelligence

On July 3, 2023, China’s Ministry of Commerce (“MOFCOM”) and General Administration of Customs (“GAC”) announced restrictions on the export of gallium and germanium. Starting August 1, 2023, Chinese exporters of gallium, germanium, and certain related chemical compounds must obtain export licenses from MOFCOM before exporting these materials.

Gallium and germanium are “minor metals” produced as a byproduct during the refining process of other metals, such as zinc and aluminum. Gallium and germanium are integral to producing semiconductor wafers, integrated circuits, light-emitting diodes, electric vehicles, solar cells, fiber-optic cables, and other electronic components. The United States classifies both metals as critical to U.S. economic and national security.

While China’s announcement does not explicitly target any country, the government has said the restrictions are necessary to protect China’s national security, leading many observers to believe they may be a response to export controls on semiconductors imposed by the United States in October 2022 and similar measures undertaken by U.S. allies, including Japan and the Netherlands. The China Daily quoted a former Chinese vice minister of commerce as saying, “This is just the beginning of China’s countermeasures, and China’s tool box has many more types of measures available. If the high-tech restrictions on China become tougher in the future, China’s countermeasures will also escalate.” 

China’s Latest Export Measures

These new export restrictions are partly based on China’s Foreign Trade Law and, in particular, the 2020 Export Control Law, which authorizes the government to impose restrictions on exports of certain items to “safeguard national security and interests, fulfill international obligations such as non-proliferation, and strengthen and standardize export controls.”  According to the announcement, beginning August 1, 2023, exporters of gallium metal, germanium metal, and 12 associated compounds will be required to obtain licenses from MOFCOM prior to export from China. The announcement of the export restrictions details the specific customs classification codes of covered commodities to help exporters determine whether an item will be subject to the new restrictions. Notably, the new rules apply only to these specific commodities, not to finished products that incorporate them.Continue Reading China Slaps Export Restrictions on Two Critical Metals

As discussed in our previous article on the topic, China’s new 14th Five-Year Plan is a vast document that outlines the country’s ambitious plans for the 2021-2025 period. Technology and the environment are two main themes of the plan, with several chapters dedicated to describing how China’s leaders hope to steer the country into an

As discussed in our previous article on the topic, China’s 14th Five-Year Plan (“FYP”) is a vast document that outlines the country’s ambitious plans for the 2021-2025 period. Technology is a core focus of the plan, with several chapters dedicated to describing how China’s leaders hope to transform the country into an innovation powerhouse. The

On March 13, 2021, China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) approved the outline of the country’s 14th Five-Year Plan, covering the period 2021-2025. The plan’s economic and social development targets provide critical signposts that companies—both foreign and domestic—would be wise to heed when determining their own plans for the coming months and years in the Chinese market. The full text of the plan can be accessed here in its original Chinese. This article will be updated with a link to an English translation once it becomes available.

The five-year plan is the centerpiece of the Chinese system of industrial planning and policy. Reflecting the transformation of the country over the past 70 years, the content and purpose of the five-year plan has changed substantially since the first plan was issued in Mao Zedong’s China in 1953. As the economy has evolved from a pure command economy to one in which the market plays a greater role, albeit with substantial engagement and interventions by the government, the five-year plan has evolved as well. Early plans set production targets; modern plans are a mixture of principles, guidelines, and targets designed to steer the country’s development. This evolution has not reduced the importance of the five-year plan—it remains a central feature of the Chinese economic system—but it does affect how it should be interpreted and how its guidance is implemented in practice. Ultimately, the five-year plan’s purpose is to set strategic goals, focus government work, and guide the activities of market and non-market entities in China. In developing the 14th Five-Year Plan, China’s leaders set an ambitious agenda to “promote high-quality development in all aspects, including the economy, environment, and people’s livelihood and wellbeing, and realize the rise of China’s economy in the global industrial chain and value chain.”
Continue Reading China’s 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025): Signposts for Doing Business in China

As the incoming Biden Administration prepares to assume office and fulfill campaign promises to support significant spending in the zero emission vehicle industry—including in the construction of hundreds of thousands of electric vehicle chargers, and in the development of stringent new fuel economy and greenhouse gas emission standards for cars and trucks—it is worth considering

As tensions continue to rise between China and the United States, the Chinese government has taken a step forward in actualizing the “Unreliable Entity List,” first announced by China’s Ministry of Commerce on May 31, 2019, following the addition of Huawei and affiliates to the U.S. Commerce Department’s “Entity List.” Now, as the U.S. government

China has set out on an ambitious agenda of aiming to become the world leader in artificial intelligence by 2030. Policy experiments for a critical part of China’s AI development strategy, and to that end multiple government think tanks have set out formulating standards that may impact AI innovation in China.

The China Electronics Standardization

Through a newly published foreign investment negative list, the Chinese government is offering incrementally greater market access to foreign investors in China. The 2018 Special Administrative Measures on Access to Foreign Investment (“2018 Foreign Investment Negative List” or “2018 FI Negative list”), issued by the Ministry of Commerce and the National Development and Reform Commission

The Chinese government has announced that it is raising tariff duties on 128 products imported from the United States into China in retaliation for the Trump Administration’s Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum imports into the United States. The new Chinese tariffs went into effect on April 2.

The 128 targeted products fall into