Foreign investment within the country’s Pilot Free Trade Zones has now been okayed in an additional 50 sectors. The change was revealed following the publication of the 2018 edition of the Special Administrative Measures for Foreign Investment Access in the Pilot Free Trade Zones (Negative List), which saw the number of proscribed investment sectors fall from its 2017 level of 95 to just 45.
The highlights of the new list, as recently issued by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), are as follows:
- In
the case of projects relating to seed production and the breeding of
new wheat / corn varieties, the maximum foreign equity level has been
raised from 49% to 66% - Foreign investors in petroleum and
natural gas prospecting and exploitation projects are no longer
restricted to participating in equity/cooperative joint ventures - Foreign
investors are no longer prohibited from funding the smelting and
processing of radioactive minerals nor the production of nuclear fuel - The Chinese majority ownership rule, as it applies to performing arts agencies, has been rescinded
- The
previous ban on all foreign investment in performers/groups of
performers has been superseded by the requirement that all such entities
retain a majority Chinese shareholding - The pilot opening-up measures related to value-added telecommunications services are to be extended from the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone to all Pilot Fee Trade Zones
