On May 25, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) issued the 2020 edition of the “Unfair Trade Report.” In regard to China, the report pointed out that “there is concern that China will, in effect, acquire various technological information.” Last spring, the Chinese government indicated its willingness to cooperate with efforts to protect intellectual property by implementing such measures as banning forced sharing of technological information held by overseas companies. However, METI believes there remain issues concerning the leakage of technological information to China.

The report highlights China’s draft export control law, which was announced last December. If enacted, the law would enable China to obtain technological information by making it mandatory for Japanese corporations to share technology that they developed in facilities in China with Chinese authorities when the corporations utilize it outside the country.