On June 3, President Biden issued Executive Order 14032 on "Addressing the Threat from Securities Investments that Finance Certain Companies of the People's Republic of China" (the CMIC EO or Executive Order 14032), modifying Executive Order 13959 issued by President Trump in November 2020 (the CCMC EO or Executive Order 13959), which had generally restricted certain investments in the public securities of designated Chinese military-affiliated companies. See Exec. Order No. 14032, 86 Fed Reg. 30,145-49 (June 3, 2021); Exec. Order No. 13959, 85 Fed. Reg. 73,185-89 (Nov. 17, 2020). The new CMIC EO clarifies the criteria for designating companies that are subject to investment restrictions, moving away from a prior focus on "Communist Chinese Military Companies" (CCMCs) in favor of "Chinese Military-Industrial Complex Companies" (CMICs) operating in China's defense or surveillance technology sectors. The nature of the prohibitions under the new CMIC EO largely are the same as under the prior CCMC EO, though there are significant substantive differences as to the mechanics of designation and the scope of their reach.

The View From Washington

The Biden Administration, with bipartisan support from Congress, has continued to describe China as a strategic economic and national security threat, specifically noting in its March 2021 Interim National Security Strategic Guidance that China is the "only competitor" to the United States' "economic, diplomatic, military, and technological power." The White House, Interim National Security Strategic Guidance 8 (March 2021). There is a particularly heightened concern about China's military-civil fusion strategy, i.e., China's use of civil technology development for military purposes.