China to raise penalties on IP theft in trade war compromise - BBG

In a weekend story, Bloomberg has reported on China saying that it will raise penalties on violations of intellectual property rights in an attempt to address one of the sticking points in trade talks with the U.S.

Opening paragraphs

The country will also look into lowering the thresholds for criminal punishments for those who steal IP, according to guidelines issued by the government on Sunday. It didn’t elaborate on what such moves might entail.

The U.S. wants China to commit to cracking down on IP theft and stop forcing U.S. companies to hand over their commercial secrets as a condition of doing business there. China said it’s aiming to reduce frequent Iviolations by 2022 and plans to make it easier for victims of transgressions to receive compensation.

Key notes

• "The two countries are working toward a partial trade deal and leaving the more controversial issues for later discussions;
• China’s chief trade negotiator spoke last week about its plans for reforming state enterprises, opening up the financial sector and enforcing intellectual property rights -- issues at the core of U.S. demands for change in China’s economic system;
• “Strengthening IPR protection is the most important content of improving the IPR protection system and also the biggest incentive to boost China’s economic competitiveness,” according to the guidelines. Local governments will be required to implement the strengthening of IP rights, it said;
• In May, the U.S. added Huawei Technologies Co. to what’s known as the entity list in an effort to block U.S. companies from selling components to China’s largest technology company. Huawei is accused of being a threat to America’s national security, and has denied those claims" - 

Bloomberg. 

FX implications

Positive trade headlines such as this are surely positive for risk on crosses, namely AUD/JPY: Chart of the week in Analysis: AUD/JPY at a critical juncture

As the above article highlights, the markets risk barometer is indeed at a critical juncture. Such positive news as this is likely to support the cross in the pen this week.