As more than a thousand Chinese tech companies prepare to showcase their latest products at the CES (formerly known as the Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas, the world’s leading tech exhibition, many employees are reporting being denied US visas despite holding invitations to attend.
Analysts said that such CES visa denials were unprecedented and signalled a further deterioration in bilateral relations.
First held in 1967, CES is a global platform for the technology industry and a business-to-business hub that sets the stage for the year ahead in trade and innovation. The next show takes place from January 7 through 10, days before US president-elect Donald Trump assumes office on January 20.
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Around 4,000 exhibitors from around the world have registered to attend, with more than 30 per cent estimated to be from China.
The visa rejections come as US-China tensions escalate, with Trump vowing to impose a 10 per cent tariff on all Chinese imports and pledging to protect American manufacturers by imposing stricter restrictions on Chinese companies’ access to the US market.
“There’s so much disappointment,” said a 28-year-old tech marketer in Beijing, who requested anonymity because she plans to reapply at a different US consulate in China.
At her visa interview at the US embassy, she recounted, she told her interviewer that “I would visit my clients in the States and attend the CES. I showed her the invitation letter, which clearly states that I’m attending the CES.
“I don’t think she considered that.”
After speaking with industry colleagues, she said, she learned that many other tech companies were facing the same issue. “They told me that if you mention attending CES, there’s a 90 per cent chance you’ll be denied a visa.”
The US State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Shenzhen-based virtual reality headset maker EmdoorVR showcasing its Apple Vision Pro-inspired device at CES in January 2024. Photo: EmdoorVR alt=Shenzhen-based virtual reality headset maker EmdoorVR showcasing its Apple Vision Pro-inspired device at CES in January 2024. Photo: EmdoorVR>
Chris Pereira, the founder of iMpact, a New York-based consultancy, posted this month on LinkedIn that during a cross-cultural leadership training programme for Chinese companies expanding abroad, he learned that “half of the 40 companies in attendance reported their staff were being denied visas, despite holding official invitation letters from CES”.
Since his post, Pereira said in an interview, at least three more clients had reported employees had been denied visas to attend CES.
“They were immediately refused with no reason given. And that’s relatively unheard of for CES to have that type of visa refused,” he said.
“Even during Covid, if you were applying, you could get” a visa to attend CES, Pereira said.
In an email, a CES spokesperson said that “we are aware of some CES attendees and exhibitors from China whose business travel visa applications are being denied”.
“We encourage the US government to expedite and approve visas for individuals who are travelling to the US for legitimate business reasons,” the statement added.
Chinese companies have maintained a strong presence at CES since 1991. However, in recent years, participation has fluctuated, influenced by the US-China trade war that began in 2018 during Trump’s first administration, as well as strict Covid measures in China.
In 2018, a record 1,551 Chinese firms took part in CES, making up more than a third of all exhibitors. The number dropped to 1,213 in 2019, then a little over 1,000 attended in 2020 before the onset of the worldwide pandemic.
In 2021, attendance plummeted to just 210 in 2021, 159 in 2022, and 493 in 2023 as US President Joe Biden continued to target Chinese tech companies like Huawei Technologies over national security concerns.
Following Biden’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Apec forum in California in November 2023, CES saw a significant increase in Chinese participation in the 2024 show in January, with 1,114 Chinese companies – out of 4,314 exhibitors – showcasing their products.
Liu Pengyu, spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, called CES “an important platform for exchanges and cooperation between Chinese companies and companies from all over the world. Chinese companies are the main force of exhibitors over the years”.
“We hope that the United States will work with China to reduce policy obstacles such as visa and entry, take concrete actions to encourage and support more exchanges between people from business, science and technology and other sectors of the two countries,” Liu added in an email statement.
Pereira said that the CES visa rejections reflected US efforts to reduce exchanges, including flights, trade, and dialogue.
“The more connections we remove from the relationship, the easier it is for conflict to arise,” he said. Exhibitions like CES, he said, were “wonderful opportunities for business exchanges between companies from China, the US and the rest of the world”
“It is frustrating to see even events like this being impacted,” he said.
This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP’s Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2024 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
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