Others say China has access to many other sources of funding around the world and that blocking access would prevent US companies from benefiting from Chinese innovations.
“Getting the details right when screening foreign investments is easier said than done,” said Rory Murphy, vice president of government affairs for the US-China Business Council. “These are technical and complicated sectors and the details are crucial.”
He added that his group “wanted to help policymakers achieve their national security goals without going too far and putting US companies at a competitive disadvantage.”
Investment firms such as Blackstone, KKR, Sequoia, Carlyle Group, Bain Capital, Silver Lake, General Atlantic and Warburg Pincus all have notable exposure to China. According to Rhodium Group, a research firm focused on China, U.S. investors have conducted about 3,000 transactions in China annually, including both FDI and venture capital deals, about 500 of which are worth more than $1 million.
Bill Ford, the chief executive of General Atlantic, an investment firm, has offered his views on possible regulation directly to Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, a person familiar with the matter said.
General Atlantic says it has invested nearly $7 billion in China since 2000 with more than 34 portfolio companies in the country. One of the most prominent investments there, ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, has found itself in the crosshairs of the debate on how to manage the financial relationship between the US and China.
Depending on how it’s implemented, this new tool could fundamentally alter the country’s financial relationship with China, one of America’s largest trading partners but also a primary geopolitical rival.
