Last month, the Beijing government issued a ruling that imposes a US$1.5 million penalty on due-diligence firm Mintz, and provided some details on the legal reasoning behind the investigation that shocked many western businesses and observers.

Today, China and Nicaragua signed a free trade agreement after four rounds of negotiations that took place over the past year. The agreement has 22 chapters, including four chapters on services trade and investment.

During this week's trip to China, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo discussed export controls, China's business environment and U.S.-China trade relations at meetings with Chinese officials and made additional statements in media interviews. Here are some highlights of her statements.

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo is visiting China this week and meeting with her Chinese counterpart. The meeting offered both sides a chance to discuss contentious issues, including export controls, and to create four new mechanisms for communication.

At last week's China-Africa Leaders' Roundtable Dialogue, leaders on both sides discussed future collaboration with the goal of regional integration in Africa. Chinese President Xi Jinping put forward measures to support the industrialization and agricultural development of Africa.

Earlier this month, China's Ministry of Commerce launched expiry reviews on anti-dumping measures imposed on chlorobutyl rubber from the United States, the European Union, and Singapore.

As Japan started discharging its treated radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean today, China’s General Administration of Customs (GACC) announced that it is banning all imports of aquatic products from Japan.