HONG KONG (AP) — China indicated Friday that the door may be open for the United States to restore Hong Kong’s preferential trade privileges, after Washington confirmed it would not renew an executive order that had stripped the city of its special trading status.
According to China’s Commerce Ministry, the U.S. made commitments regarding Hong Kong and other issues during bilateral trade discussions held in Madrid last year. In a statement responding to media inquiries, the ministry said the U.S. had recently confirmed to China that the presidential executive order known as the Hong Kong Normalization order would be allowed to lapse.
“The U.S. side’s actions represent an important step in fulfilling the consensus reached during the bilateral economic and trade talks. China appreciates it,” the ministry’s statement read.
The full implications of the decision remain unclear. The White House directed reporters’ questions about the expiring order to the Treasury Department.
The U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control issued its own statement Friday, saying the national emergency declared under the executive order had expired and that individuals who had been sanctioned under it were being removed from that list. However, the agency noted that those who remain sanctioned under a separate Hong Kong-related law have been moved to a different sanctions list.
Among those affected, Hong Kong leader John Lee and his predecessor Carrie Lam were removed from the first sanctions list but added to the second one.
The decision comes roughly two months after President Donald Trump met with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing, and could help improve relations between the two countries ahead of Xi’s anticipated visit to the United States later this year. Earlier this month, a pastor from a well-known underground church who had been detained in China since October was freed after Trump raised the matter directly with Xi.
Trump originally signed the now-lapsed executive order in July 2020, during his first term in office, in response to Beijing’s imposition of a national security law in Hong Kong that same year. The order was most recently renewed for one year in July 2025.
The executive order declared that Hong Kong was no longer sufficiently self-governing to warrant different treatment from mainland China under certain U.S. laws. It removed Hong Kong’s preferential status to the degree allowed by law and in keeping with U.S. national security, foreign policy, and economic interests.
Beijing has maintained that the national security law was necessary to bring stability back to Hong Kong following widespread anti-government protests in 2019. That pro-democracy movement represented one of the most significant challenges to China’s Communist Party and the Hong Kong government since the former British territory was handed back to Chinese rule in 1997.
Six years after the law took effect, many prominent activists have been imprisoned under it, including pro-democracy former media mogul Jimmy Lai. Critics argue that the Western-style civil liberties Beijing pledged to preserve for 50 years following the handover have significantly eroded.
The Hong Kong government released a statement saying it took note of what it called a “positive shift in the U.S. policy” toward the city.
“Safeguarding Hong Kong’s prosperity and stability serves the common interests of China and the US, and also aligns with the general expectation of the international community,” the statement said.
Hong Kong officials expressed hope that the U.S. would respect China’s sovereignty and the rule of law in Hong Kong and move toward resuming normal trade and economic relations with the city.
