In February 2022, commentators proclaimed the end of U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) China Initiative, a program created during the first Trump administration to combat Chinese economic espionage (i.e., the theft of trade secrets for the benefit of a foreign government, foreign instrumentality, or foreign agent). More than four years later, however, prosecutions related to Chinese interests continue, suggesting that reports of the China Initiative’s death may have been exaggerated.

The Birth and “Death” of the China Initiative 

During the 2016 campaign, President Donald Trump sharply criticized China, for instance stating that it was responsible for “the greatest theft in the history of the world.” Following his election, President Trump imposed a number of tariffs on Chinese goods in 2018 and 2019. In November 2018, the Attorney General at that time, Jeff Sessions, also announced new legal scrutiny of Chinese actions and actors in the United States through the China Initiative. As conceived by AG Sessions, the Initiative would pursue Chinese trade secret theft cases, review Chinese licenses in U.S. infrastructure and communications, consider Chinese-related filings under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, and recommend additional legislation as it deemed necessary. DOJ followed through on this initiative, reporting in November 2020 that it had charged five China-related economic espionage cases and more than 10 trade-secret-related cases with some alleged nexus to China, resulting in guilty pleas of three defendants. However, some critics noted that over time, the initiative’s focus moved away from economic espionage and hacking cases toward “research integrity” cases involving academics—involving, for example, alleged failures to fully disclose Chinese affiliations and sources of income on various forms—to limited success. 

In February 2022, more than two years after the election of President Joe Biden, DOJ announced that it would be taking a different tactic with regard to China, pivoting to a “threat driven” strategy that focused on a range of threats from various adversarial nation-states including Iran, Russia and North Korea (in addition to China). DOJ recognized concerns that the China Initiative had “fueled a narrative of intolerance and bias” and could “lead to a chilling atmosphere for scientists and scholars that damages the scientific enterprise in this country;” it accordingly concluded that grouping cases together under the China Initiative rubric was “not the right approach.” Many in the media reported this as the death of the China Initiative. DOJ’s actual statement, however, in fact emphasized that DOJ would continue to “be relentless in defending our country from China” and that China “stands apart” as a threat to the United States, with “brazen” and “damaging” threats through espionage, theft of trade secrets, malicious cyber activity, and transnational repression. And indeed, DOJ prosecutions “focused on the actions of the PRC government and its agents” continued throughout the Biden administration.

Continued Focus on China in the Second Trump Administration

In the second Trump administration, the President’s tough talk about China has continued, with criticism of the nation’s trade practices and the threat of additional tariffs. DOJ has accused Chinese state-sponsored hackers of targeting America’s critical infrastructure. And prosecutions and civil actions related to Chinese actors in the United States have continued. Although legislative efforts to formalize the revival of the China Initiative have failed to gain traction, the priorities underlying the initiative have remained a major focus for federal regulators, investigators and enforcement divisions.  

For example, in August 2026, a federal jury in Chicago convicted a former engineer at a medical systems company of conspiring to steal trade secrets and bring them to a Chinese competitor. The engineer worked at a facility that researched, developed and manufactured x-ray tubes used in medical imaging machines. The jury found that he shared confidential company documents with a Chinese company and recruited many of its employees to join that Chinese company with him. In announcing the conviction, United States Attorney Andrew S. Boutros emphasized that “[w]hen individuals, corporate entities, or nation states steal proprietary information, they are threatening our country’s technological edge” and his office would “continue to prosecute trade secret theft to protect innovation, ensure fair competition, and safeguard national economic security.”

Earlier that same month in the District of Utah, a Chinese national pleaded guilty to violating the Arms Export Control Act by attempting to purchase military-grade satellite modems and radios manufactured for the U.S. military by American companies. He faces up to 20 years in prison. In June 2026, an American citizen who had worked and lived in China similarly pleaded guilty in the Eastern District of Virginia to conspiring to obtain sensitive information from the U.S. government for China. Among other things, the defendant sold reports about U.S. technology and DOJ to Chinese individuals and coordinated meetings with potential intelligence assets. Similar prosecutions of Chinese agents were announced in the Eastern District of New York and the Central District of California in May of this year.

During the second Trump administration, DOJ has also investigated educational institutions under the False Claims Act for allegedly failing to disclose researchers’ Chinese affiliations on grant applications. In August 2026, Ohio State University agreed to a $2.1 million settlement to resolve civil allegations that it failed to disclose that certain employees working on grants from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the National Science Foundation also collaborated with and received funding from Chinese universities and state-run research organizations. A senior official at the NASA Office of Inspector General stated that “[t]he settlement and accompanying compliance agreement send a clear message: We will not tolerate institutions that conceal foreign ties and compromise national security. Our cutting-edge research must not fall into the hands of our adversaries.”

Conclusion

Despite the widely reported “death” of the China Initiative in 2022, Chinese companies and individuals continue to be a focus for federal investigations relating to economic espionage, national security, and sensitive technology. These actors and those who do business with them should continue to be vigilant about their compliance obligations and careful in their interactions with federal regulators and investigators.