China released a final draft of its new Export Control Law (ECL),^[1] a sweeping piece of legislation that has many similarities with the United States’ Export Administration Regulations while also containing very important differences. The law was announced Oct. 17 and goes into effect Dec. 1.

The law is in many respects a response to the U.S.-China trade conflict, in which the U.S. has refined various export control lists and pursued other legislation^[2] that targeted Chinese chipmakers and other technology companies, most notably Huawei Technologies Co. The law expressly states that China has the right to take reciprocal measures against any country abusing export controls to endanger China’s national security and interests, which, to many commentators, sounds directed at the United States. It also established a list that works together with the Regulations on the Unreliable Entity List^[3] to target specific entities for violations.