The retreat will please the Ministry of Finance, which wants Chinese standards and practices to move closer to international ones without adopting them outright.

ECONOMIST: Big-five audits are no longer the standard to aspire to

Frank Couvares, a professor of history and American Studies at Massachusetts' Amherst College, said that rather than something new, Hollywood's readiness to cater to Chinese demands on content reflects business practices the American film industry has had in place for more than seven decades.

NPR: Hollywood Yielding To China's Growing Film Clout

Korean and Chinese restaurants have been given trouble about traditional practices with kimchi and Peking ducks, respectively.

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Labor does not flow as easily across international borders as does capital and IP, but even so, we are seeing a change in cross-border labor practices, with the shift again coming from Chinese companies.

FORBES: China Invests In Foreign Talent

But more and more Chinese firms are trying to build their WTO or foreign trade practices, said Judy Wang, an international trade lawyer at Troutman Sanders and a former member of the Shanghai WTO Affairs Consultation Center's training program.

FORBES: A Series: China's Trade Offensive

Huang Shengming, secretary-general of the China National Food Industry Association, says that Chinese people associate foreign brands with quality, and that foreign management practices have sharpened up local companies.

ECONOMIST: It's tough but worth it

Last week a Chinese regulator said that it would heighten supervision over Apple and other electronics companies' consumer-rights practices, in the first public signal from the government that it would take concrete steps in response to the media reports.

WSJ: Apple CEO Tim Cook Apologizes for China Warranty Policies