China mulls easing restrictions on foreign investment

2016-12-08
Xinhua

The country’s top economic planner, the National Development and Reform Commission, on Dec 7, published a revision draft on its website to seek public opinion on the changes.

The easing rules on foreign investment came amid government efforts to push use of the “negative list” approach, which identifies sectors and businesses that are off-limits or restricted for investment.

The “negative list” approach is a common practice adopted in many countries to manage foreign investment. China first piloted the rules in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone in 2013.

Earlier official data showed foreign direct investment (FDI) to the Chinese mainland rose 4.2 percent year on year to reach 666.3 billion yuan (around $96.8 billion) in the first ten months of the year.