The United States will sharply restrict Chinese investment in artificial intelligence, biotechnology and other fields deemed critical to national security.
The U.S. Treasury Department released implementing rules for the Comprehensive Outbound Investment National Security Act on the 22nd, the Financial Times reported. The move follows passage of the law by Congress last year.
Under the rules, Chinese investment in AI — including advanced semiconductors — as well as brain-computer interfaces and biotechnology-related compounds will be subject to restrictions. Technologies that could be applied to military, intelligence and mass surveillance purposes will also face stringent review by U.S. authorities. The Financial Times said certain therapies that modify a patient's cells or genes, along with immunotherapies, are prohibited.
The measures come a month after U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in Washington, D.C., and agreed to extend their trade truce until January. They signal that Washington intends to keep checking China's advances in advanced technology even during the truce.
Separately, the U.S. Defense Department has secretly created a dedicated unit tasked with blocking or neutralizing adversaries' development of advanced military technology, the American outlet Politico reported the same day. The department established the Technology Support Office in April and has spent several months building it out. The exact budget has not been disclosed, but a former senior Pentagon intelligence official estimated that classified contracts alone for the unit would exceed $1.5 billion (about 2 trillion won).