July 2016? Are you sure? If I was a US company, I'd certainly be cautious of overseas investment from China. Everyone knows they don't respect IP or Copyright laws, steal technology, and more. You would want to very carefully weigh the risks before doing business with a non-democratic nation, even outside of this administration's policies. Anyone planning on doing business with the US Government would be very aware that China is not an ally.
The short version: that's when Xi Jinping took power and started very quickly undoing all kinds of moves toward moderation and reform that had been undertaken by the previous few leaders.
He ramped up control over the population, consolidated power for himself and cracked down on dissidents/party criticism.
The 2014 bit is more subjective, but going from memory that's when I started to regularly see semi-mainstream technology, business and politics publications focusing on problems/concerns with China.
Seems like many of those who provide services to the government are familiar with the Berry Amendment and the implications of the “qualifying countries” list.
