China’s New Law Legalizes Stealing Foreign IP

Beijing could steal as much foreign technology and intellectual property as it can as foreign businesses flee the country.

Motorists ride past a screen showing China’s gross domestic product (GDP) in the Jing'an district of Shanghai, China, on April 9, 2025. Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images

Commentary

It appears that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) knows that China’s heyday as the world’s manufacturing hub will be coming to an end sooner rather than later. That may explain its new policy, which enables and promotes the blatant intellectual property (IP) theft from its foreign partners.

What the New Law Says

In March this year, the Regulations on the Implementation of the Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law granted China broad powers to seize and take ownership of foreign-owned assets, including IP rights. The legal cover used by the CCP is outlined in Article 7 of the law, which allows for the confiscation of property held by companies that Beijing has identified as participating in or assisting in drafting sanctions against China.