More foreign investment welcomed as negative lists are cut again

Good news for foreign investors! China released two revised negative lists for foreign investment on June 30, allowing foreign enterprises to enjoy preferential policies in more industries and sectors.

“We will further shorten the negative list for market entry and promote across-the-board implementation of the policy of ‘entry unless on the list’,” this year’s government work report said.

The nationwide negative list is slashed from 48 items to 40, and the one for pilot free trade zones (FTZ) is cut from 45 to 37. They went into effect on July 30.

Let’s see what areas will be further opened.

The service sector will see substantial opening-up in transport, infrastructure, culture, and value-added telecommunications.

Restrictions on domestic shipping agencies to be controlled by the Chinese side will be scrapped.

Same for restrictions on gas and heat pipelines in cities with a population of more than 500,000, and for cinemas and performance brokerage institutions.

The restriction on foreign investment in domestic multi-party communications, store-and-forward and call center services will also be canceled.

Market access will be eased in agriculture, mining and manufacturing industries.

Prohibition on foreign investment in the exploitation of wildlife resources will be abolished.

Restrictions on the exploration and development of petroleum and natural gas being limited to Chinese-foreign equity joint ventures or non-equity joint ventures will be canceled.

Prohibition on foreign investment in the exploration and exploitation of molybdenum, tin, antimony and fluorite will be lifted.

In the manufacturing sector, the ban on foreign investment in the production of Xuan paper and ink ingots will be lifted.

In the meantime, FTZs will continue to play a role as a key test field for further opening-up.

The 2019 version of the pilot FTZ negative list for foreign investment lifted restrictions on foreign investment in areas such as aquatic products fishing and publication printing.

China also released a revised catalogue of industries that encourage foreign investment on June 30, to promote more foreign investment in modern agriculture, advanced manufacturing, technology, energy saving and environmental protection and modern services.

China attracted a record high foreign direct investment (FDI) of $138.3 billion in 2018, maintaining its place as the second-largest destination for global transnational investment.

You are welcome to invest in China!