Monday was a small win for technology companies in the United States. A senior U.S. Treasury official explained China has agreed to delay implementation of some bank technology rules, igniting heavy lobbying by the U.S. government and tech companies due to protectionist concerns. However, it is unclear how long China will delay the rules and if it will agree to suspend them as the U.S. is requesting, according to the Wall Street Journal article. It is also unclear how many of the rules will be deferred.
The rules set forth by the government this month require banks to buy “safe and controllable” technology products. If tech companies do not want to be shut out as suppliers to Chinese banks, the guidelines force them to submit to invasive inspections and give up trade secrets, U.S. trade groups say. Groups have petitioned the hardest against one rule that requires companies to hand over source code.
U.S. officials pressured China on the issue by filing a “communication” to the World Trade Organization on Wednesday, questioning the new guidelines. The U.S. claimed it was concerned that the new rules would “severely limit access to China’s commercial banking sector for many foreign services and technologies,” the article said.
China is investing billions of dollars into important technology sectors such as semiconductors and software to reduce its dependence on U.S. companies.
Source: http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-treasury-secretary-presses-china-on-bank-technology-rules-1427711315
It seems that these measures could be a form of tax to foreign companies. In your last sentence it says that China is looking to become less dependent on the U.S. They could relax these rules for now until Chinese companies can take over for foreign companies.
The CBRC said in February it would take different opinions into consideration before implementing the rules. Banks were required to submit initial plans this month for meeting the goals. The requirements will be phased in over the next four years.
To me this sounds like a tit-for-tat policy as the US tries to discourage or outright restrict certain types of firms from buying Chinese IT products citing fears that they may not be “safe and controllable” due to backdoors in embedded software and chips. Now firms do check software, but few check chips, a big security hole globally.