Biden nears unprecedented action to limit US investments in China

US President Joe Biden is expected to sign an executive order before the G-7 summit on May 19 which will limit investments by American businesses in China. The Biden administration will impose the curbs on national security ground and not as a purported move to limit China's economic rise as Beijing often argues, Bloomberg reported.

Biden's executive order will limit US-China economic engagement as the measures would entail US businesses restricting their investments in key parts of China's economy, the Bloomberg report added while citing people familiar with the matter.

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The executive order will reportedly cover fields of semiconductors, Artificial Intelligence, and quantum computing.

Some types of investment will be barred outright, while others will require companies to notify the government, Bloomberg reported.

On economic engagement with China: US takes G-7 countries into confidence

The US has reportedly been briefing G-7 countries [Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, European Union] on the investment curbs it intends to formalise in the coming weeks, thereport added.

What does it mean?

The move is set to mark a new phase in Washington's campaign against Chinese economic belligerence coming up with national security threats in the United States and elsewhere.

Previously, the US imposed tariffs on Chinese imports under ex-President Donald Trump. In more recent past, exports of key American technologies to China were restricted too.

Why does the US wants to curb American investments in China?

On Thursday, during a speech delivered in Washington, US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen, addressed US-China ties. She said that restrictions on China-bound US investments will affect "specific sensitive technologies with significant national security implications."

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"These national security actions are not designed for us to gain a competitive economic advantage, or stifle China’s economic and technological modernisation," Yellen said. The US will pursue its security concerns regarding China "even when they force trade-offs with our economic interests," and will "engage and coordinate with our allies and partners" over the policies, she said.

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