US restricts investment in Chinese technology

(Patria) - President Joe Biden's administration has finalized restrictions on American investments in sensitive technologies like semiconductors in China that pose a national security threat, the Treasury Department said, AFP reports.

The new rules, which take effect on January 2 next year, will prohibit US-based companies, citizens, and residents from engaging in transactions involving cutting-edge technologies such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence (AI), and quantum computing, the Treasury Department announced in a statement.

Investors will also be required to notify the Treasury of investments in some less advanced technologies "that could contribute to the national security threat of the United States," they added in the statement.

"Artificial intelligence, semiconductors, and quantum technologies are fundamental to the development of the next generation of military, surveillance, intelligence, and certain cybersecurity applications," said Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Investment Security Paul Rosen in a statement.

"This final rule takes targeted and concrete measures to ensure that American investments are not used to advance the development of key technologies by those who could use them to threaten our national security," he added.

The rules are the result of an executive order Biden signed in August to restrict certain US investments in sensitive high-tech areas in China, Hong Kong, and Macau.

China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the executive order an attempt to "engage in anti-globalization and de-sinicization," adding that Beijing was "strongly dissatisfied" and reserved the right to protect its interests.