As 2018 moves into its last quarter, the White House continues to foster uncertainty in global markets while China responds tit for tat on trade sanctions and keeps a wary eye on capital flight risk by maintaining close scrutiny over outbound investment flows.

Notwithstanding protectionist trends on both sides of the Pacific (China’s rhetoric about "continued opening" notwithstanding) and ongoing cybersecurity issues, we continue to see high levels of interest from Chinese and other foreign investors looking to invest in U.S. companies and from U.S. companies seeking to explore expansion opportunities in China and elsewhere overseas. To succeed in the current environment, companies need to be aware of the latest developments affecting China-related investments and operations, in particular: (1) in China, tightened enforcement of regulations on Chinese outbound investment and new Chinese cybersecurity and data regulations, and (2) in the U.S., the most important reform to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States since 2007, justissued interim pilot rules thereunder, and soon-to-follow related export control regulations from the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Originally published in Law360 on October 22, 2018.