U.S. Financial Services Committee holds hearing on policy tools to counter China and reviews related bills

The U.S. Financial Services Committee held a hearing titled “Examining Policies to Counter China,” focusing on challenges posed by China in areas including official lending, influence in international financial institutions, energy security, advanced technologies, and illicit fentanyl trafficking, and on policy tools intended to strengthen U.S. competitiveness with allies. As part of the session, the Committee reviewed multiple bills aimed at addressing China-related risks. Chairman French Hill framed tools such as sanctions, export controls, and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States as part of a broader U.S. economic and institutional system. Members highlighted specific concerns, including World Bank data cited by Rep. Young Kim showing external government debt of low- and middle-income countries rising from USD 1.7 trillion in 2011 to USD 3.5 trillion in 2021, which she linked in part to opaque Chinese lending programmes such as the Belt and Road Initiative. Rep. Monica De La Cruz emphasised fentanyl’s role in overdose deaths among 18- to 45-year-olds and called for efforts to disrupt its financing, alongside border security. Witness Nicholas McMurray argued that international financial institutions’ financing policies, including restrictions on nuclear power and other firm energy sources, have created an opening for China to dominate energy project financing over the past decade.