As more than a thousand Chinese technology companies prepare to showcase their latest products at the CES (formerly known as the Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas, the world’s leading technology trade show, many workers are reporting that their US visas have been denied despite invitations to attend to be.
Analysts said such visa denials by the CES were unprecedented and signaled a further deterioration in bilateral ties.
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 coming year in trade and innovation. The next show will take place from January 7 to 10, days before US President-elect Donald Trump takes office on January 20.
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About 4,000 exhibitors from around the world have registered, with more than 30 percent estimated to be from China.
The visa rejections come as tensions between the US and China escalate, with Trump promising to impose a 10 percent tariff on all Chinese imports and promising to protect US manufacturers by imposing stricter restrictions on Chinese companies’ access to the American market.
“There is so much disappointment,” said a 28-year-old tech marketer in Beijing, who requested anonymity because she plans to reapply to another U.S. consulate in China.
During her visa interview at the U.S. Embassy, she said, she told her interviewer, “I was going to visit my clients in the United States and attend the CES. I showed her the invitation letter, which clearly states that I am attending the CES.
“I don’t think she thought about that.”
After speaking with industry colleagues, she learned that many other technology companies were facing the same problem. “They told me that if you mention you’re going to CES, there’s a 90 percent chance you won’t get a visa.”
The US State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Shenzhen-based virtual reality headset maker EmdoorVR shows off its Apple Vision Pro-inspired device at CES in January 2024. Photo: EmdoorVR alt=Shenzhen-based virtual reality headset maker EmdoorVR shows off its Apple Vision Pro-inspired device at CES in January 2024. Photo: EmdoorVR>
Chris Pereira, the founder of iMpact, a New York-based consulting firm, posted on LinkedIn this month that during a cross-cultural leadership training program for Chinese companies expanding abroad, he found that “half of the 40 companies in attendance reported that their staff had visas are refused, despite the fact that they are in possession of official invitation letters from CES”.
Since his post, Pereira said in an interview, at least three more customers had reported that employees had not been granted visas to attend CES.
“They were immediately denied without any reason given. And it’s relatively unheard of for CES to deny that type of visa,” he said.
“Even during Covid, if you applied, 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 visa applications for business travel are being denied.”
“We encourage the U.S. government to expedite and approve visas for individuals traveling to the U.S. for legitimate business reasons,” the statement said.
Chinese companies have had a strong presence at CES since 1991. However, participation has fluctuated in recent years, influenced by the US-China trade war that started in 2018 during Trump’s first administration, and strict Covid measures in China.
In 2018, a record number of 1,551 Chinese companies participated in CES, accounting for more than a third of all exhibitors. The number dropped to 1,213 in 2019, before reaching just over 1,000 in 2020, before the outbreak of the global 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 such as 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 – who presented their products.
Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, called CES “an important platform for exchange and cooperation between Chinese companies and companies from all over the world. Chinese companies have been the most important exhibitor group over the years.”
“We hope that the United States will work with China to reduce policy barriers such as visa and entry, and take concrete measures to encourage and promote more exchanges between the two countries’ business, science and technology and other sectors support,” Liu added. an email statement.
Pereira said the CES visa rejections reflected U.S. efforts to reduce exchanges, including flights, trade and dialogue.
“The more connections we remove from the relationship, the more easily conflict can arise,” he said. Exhibitions such as CES, he said, were “wonderful opportunities for business exchanges between companies from China, the US and the rest of the world”
“It’s frustrating to see even these types of events being affected,” he said.
