Making the System Work: Chinese Export Control Reform

In 2002 China published new export control regulations relating to NBC and missile technologies. This paper explores how the Chinese export control system works and assesses the successes and failures of implementation a year after Beijing published the missile regulations. To illuminate the challenges of implementation, this essay examines the players in the export control system and analyzes progress based on an evaluation of ten key elements of a healthy export control system: licensing system, control lists, inter-agency process, customs authority, regime adherence, catch-all clause, information-sharing and -gathering, verification, training and penalties. Finally, the essay evaluates the significance of these changes and their likely impact on international non-proliferation efforts.