MORE REGULATORY PRESSURE
Regulators also pressure foreign
companies to help potential Chinese
rivals develop technology.
Global companies in engineering, software,
pharmaceuticals and other fields have set up
research centers with Chinese partners. Many
say they are to take advantage of China’s
scientific talent pool, but such arrangements
benefit potential Chinese competitors and are
unusual abroad.
This month, Microsoft Corp. opened an artificial
intelligence research lab in Shanghai with the
state-owned Zhangjiang Group.
Other prominent examples include General
Motors Co.’s Pan-Asia Technical Automotive
Center with state-owned SAIC Motor. SAIC is
the main Chinese manufacturing partner for
GM and Volkswagen AG but also sells its own
auto brands.
AND MORE REGULATORY PRESSURE
Companies complain regulators use patent,
safety and other official examinations to learn
about technology, often including employees of
Chinese rivals in review panels.
Companies are required to provide what they
say is an unusually large amount of information
about products and industrial processes,
including competitive secrets, to obtain patents
or approval for operations.
The Wall Street Journal in September cited an
employee of a foreign automaker as saying
there was “clear evidence of collusion” between
regulators and Chinese automakers.