Experts Comment on China’s Suspension of Meta’s $2 Billion Acquisition of Manus: “Shell Replacement and Relocation for Arbitrage to Evade Regulation—Ultimately, the Goal Cannot Be Achieved”

Zhou Mi, a researcher at the Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation of the Ministry of Commerce, stated that Manus’s practice of relocating projects to Singapore via capital and corporate transfers before selling them to U.S. enterprises raises suspicions of deliberate regulatory evasion. If such practices remain unregulated, more companies may follow suit, undermining national development interests and security. Zhou emphasized that China has consistently maintained an open stance toward foreign investment but adopts a cautious position on sensitive investments involving critical technologies and data security: “Attempting to evade regulation through malicious means will ultimately fail to achieve its intended purpose.”