China Cut Off Data After US Research Spurred Alarm, WSJ Says

tech.hindustantimes.com:

Beijing curtailed access by overseas firms to Chinese data sources at least in part because of a series of reports penned by US research institutions that alarmed officials, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

Senior officials grew concerned about research by American think-tanks based on public local data sources that focused on sensitive issues such as collaboration between the military and private organizations, the Journal reported. Those reports emanated from sources such as the Center for Security and Emerging Technology at Georgetown University and the Center for a New American Security, co-founded by the White House's Indo-Pacific coordinator, the newspaper said.

Beijing is moving to tighten its grip on sensitive data as tensions with Washington mount. Despite the Xi Jinping administration's push to improve global ties, investors in China continue to grapple with a lack of transparency and information across swaths of the world's No. 2 economy. Think-tanks, research houses and consultancies seeking information on the world's No. 2 economy have long relied on domestic sources to dive deeper into specific issues and industries.

But Chinese services such as Wind Information Co. in recent months stopped providing detailed data on the nation's companies to overseas clients. That coincided with a clampdown on foreign firms that regularly gather information on businesses in the country. Consultancies are under the microscope in particular, with Beijing in recent weeks targeting the local offices of Bain & Co., Mintz Group and Capvision, according to media reports. And the government just last month passed a counter-espionage law that expanded the list of activities that could be