#46 Understanding China's Export Controls

In short:

• Export controls have evolved to mechanisms to maintain strategic economic advantages.
• China is a primary target and user of export controls.
• Responding to China is a complex and comprehensive task for European governments.
• There are no easy diplomatic solutions, choices demand tough trade-offs and have costly consequences.

About the authors:

• Dr. Guangyu Qiao-Franco is an Assistant Professor of International Relations at Radboud University. Her research focuses on China, AI in warfare, the strategic use of export controls, and techno-nationalist statecraft.
• Dr. Rogier Creemers is an Assistant Professor of Modern Chinese Studies at Leiden University. He leads projects on China’s digitisation and the international impact of Chinese digital policy, with a focus on cybersecurity, smart state development, and digital governance.
• Dr. Dechun Zhang is a Postdoctoral Researcher in Media and Communication studies at the University of Copenhagen, focusing on Chinese legal frameworks, political communication, digital politics, propaganda, online participation, and digital society.
• Ruoxin Su PhD is a Researcher of Law at Vrije Universiteit Brussel, examining Chinese digital laws and policies, and cybersecurity.
• Dr. Haotian Qi is an Associate Professor at Peking University, Senior Research Fellow of the Institute of International and Strategic Studies (IISS), and Secretary-General of the Institute for Global Cooperation and Understanding (iGCU), specialising in technology politics, conflict management, and international security.
• Dr. Ewan Smith ia an Associate Professor of Public Law at University College London and Associate of Oxford University China Centre, specialising in comparative public law, with a focus on foreign relations and national security.
• Dr. Cong-rui Qiao is the Founder and Director of Law4Sustainability, specialising in human rights due diligence, access to (e-) justice, and governance accountability across Europe and China.
• Dr. Douglas Fuller is an Associate Professor at Copenhagen Business School, researching the intersection of Chinese technology policy, corporate technology strategy, and the geopolitics of the technology industry.
• Dr. Qiaochu Zhang is a Max Weber Fellow at the European University Institute (EUI), specialising in Chinese foreign policy, norm contestation, and global governance.
• Dr. Chenghao Sun is an Associate Professor and Head of the U.S.-Europe Program at the Center for International Security and Strategy (CISS), Tsinghua University, specialising in U.S.-China relations, transatlantic diplomacy, artificial intelligence governance, and international security.
• Chong Wang PhD is a Researcher at Sichuan University, examining China’s countermeasures to international technology controls and policy adaptation in global trade.