China Country Commercial Guide
Learn about the market conditions, opportunities, regulations, and business conditions in china, prepared by at U.S. Embassies worldwide by Commerce Department, State Department and other U.S. agencies’ professionals
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Investment Climate Statement
Last published date:

The U.S. Department of State’s Investment Climate Statements provide information on the business climates of more than 170 economies and are prepared by economic officers stationed in embassies and posts around the world. They analyze a variety of economies that are or could be markets for U.S. businesses.  The Investment Climate Statements are also references for working with partner governments to create enabling business environments that are not only economically sound, but address issues of labor, human rights, responsible business conduct, and steps taken to combat corruption.  The reports cover topics including Openness to Investment, Legal and Regulatory Systems, Protection of Real and Intellectual Property Rights, Financial Sector, State-Owned Enterprises, Responsible Business Conduct, and Corruption.”

Key ICS Themes:

  • China remained one of the world’s most closed major economies, despite rhetorical commitments by the Chinese government to open its economy to foreign investment.
     
  • Foreign investment into China fell 27.1 percent in 2024, the sharpest decline since 2008, continuing a downward trend.
     
  • U.S. and other foreign companies reported increased anxiety about operating in the Chinese economy for a host of reasons, including a sluggish Chinese economy, a restrictive business environment, and the Chinese government’s increasingly aggressive use of legal and regulatory tools to target foreign individuals and companies as diplomatic leverage or for crossing the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) political redlines.
     
  • General Secretary Xi Jinping continued promoting a long-term campaign to remake the country’s financial system under the auspices of “financial development with Chinese characteristics,” including by elevating CCP committees over China’s technocratic regulatory agencies; pushing ostensibly private financial institutions to allocate more credit and capital to strategic industries; imposing regulations to rein in speculative investments; and tightening control over financial sector information and analysis.
     
  • Beijing continued efforts to force foreign technology companies to bring manufacturing, research, and development to China in support of the CCP’s strategic goal to fully indigenize and dominate certain emerging technology sectors.  Relatedly, China remained on the USTR Special 301 Report Priority Watch List in 2025 for serious deficiencies in its intellectual property (IP) regime.
     
  • U.S. and other foreign companies reported ongoing unease as China continued to build out its expansive state control over the collection, storage, processing, and sharing of data, which is of particular concern given China’s already widespread surveillance of people and industry.  

To access the ICS, visit the U.S. Department of State Investment Climate Statements website.