The 2017 version of the 'negative list' lists 95 restrictions on foreign investment, with "further opening-up" pledged by the State Council. A total of 10 categories and 27 restrictions have been removed from the 2015 version of the negative list.
China began listing specific investment sectors as off-limits to foreign investors on a negative list in 2015 after trialling the approach in its Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangdong and Fujian free trade zones (FTZs). The negative list approach means that all sectors are opened up to foreign investment apart from those on the list, and there is no need for individual approval of businesses in non-listed sectors. Those whose sectors are on the list are still subject to national market access registrations.
The 2017 negative list comes into force next month.
Areas which have been further opened to investment in the 2017 version of the list include mining, manufacturing, transportation, information and commercial services, financial services, scientific research and culture. The new version of the list also makes "technical improvements" to the listed categories, to ensure that they better reflect the way in which economic industries are classified elsewhere in China, the State Council said.
The improvements will "give investors a clear idea about whether their investment area belongs to the negative list or not", the State Council said.
