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China bans companies from assisting EU JD.com probe under FSR
The Ministry of Justice said no organization or individual may execute or assist with the EU investigation, escalating tensions over information-sharing requirements under the foreign subsidies rules.
China has barred Chinese entities from assisting a European Union investigation into e-commerce company JD.com under the bloc’s foreign subsidies regulation, according to a statement from the Chinese Ministry of Justice. The ministry criticized the EU probe as what it called “undue extraterritorial jurisdiction measures,” and ordered that “no organisation or individual may execute or assist in the execution.” The move adds to a series of EU inquiries launched under the FSR, a competition tool that can require companies to provide large volumes of information on short deadlines.
The EU is also expanding broader efforts to address the impact of Chinese subsidies on its external trade balance, but the FSR is specifically designed to counter subsidies linked to companies already operating in the EU market. Businesses affected by the Chinese rules have previously complained about the nature of the information they must share, and the dispute has highlighted how difficult it can be for companies to comply with competing and tightening regulatory regimes in both the EU and China, the report said.