There Are No Agreements in China, Only What the Government Chooses to Allow at Any Given Moment
Western financial information companies are learning this (Wall Street Journal link requires subscription):
China’s government issued sweeping restrictions on foreign news in China yesterday as it also moved to bar international financial-information companies from selling directly to Chinese customers.
The restrictions, announced by China’s official Xinhua news agency, make it illegal to distribute articles that “undermine China’s national unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity” and that “endanger China’s national security, reputation and interests.”
They also place curbs on access to a multimillion-dollar financial-information market for companies such as Reuters Group PLC and Bloomberg LP, which currently sell directly to Chinese banks, brokerage firms and corporations. Chinese traders rely on this information to buy and sell financial products in global markets.
The new rules appear to nullify a hard-fought agreement reached between U.S. and Chinese officials a decade ago that gave foreign financial-information companies direct access to the China market.
Under the new rules, Reuters and other companies will have to sell their products through the China Economic Information Service, an agency appointed by Xinhua, according to an official at Xinhua’s Foreign Information Administration Center. The rules take effect immediately.
