On June 30, 2019, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Commerce released the Special Administrative Measures for Foreign Investment Entry (Negative List) (2019 Edition) and Special Administrative Measures for Foreign Investment Entry in the Pilot Free Trade Zone (Negative List) (2019 Edition), which will be implemented on July 30, 2019.
Q: What are the main features and changes in the negative list of foreign investment entry in the 2019 edition?
A: The 2019 edition negative list of foreign investment entry maintained the structure of that of the 2018 edition. This year’s revision has further shortened the length of the negative list and introduced a number of new measures for opening up. Among them, the number of items on the negative list for foreign investment entry has reduced by 16.7% from 48 to 40; the number of items on the Pilot Free Trade Zone’s negative list for foreign investment entry has reduced by 17.8% from 45 to 37.
(1)To promote the opening up of service industries. In the transportation sector, the restriction that the domestic shipping agents must be controlled by the Chinese side will be scrapped. In the field of infrastructure, the restriction that gas and heat pipelines must be controlled by the Chinese side will be lifted. In the culture industry, the restriction that cinemas and performance brokerage institutions must be controlled by the Chinese side will be rescinded. In the field of value-added telecommunications, the restrictions on foreign investment in domestic multi-party communications, store-and-forward and call center services will be cancelled.
(2) Market access will be eased in agriculture, mining and manufacturing industries. In the agricultural industry, prohibition on foreign investment in the exploitation of wildlife resources will be abolished. In the mining industry, the restrictions that the exploration and development of petroleum and natural gas are limited to Chinese-foreign equity joint ventures or non-equity joint ventures will be cancelled; and the prohibition on foreign investment in the exploration and exploitation of molybdenum, tin, antimony and fluorite will be cancelled. In the manufacturing industry, the ban on foreign investment in the production of Xuan paper and ink ingots will be lifted.
(3) The Pilot Free Trade Zone will continue to play the role of “test field”. The opening measures on the performance brokerage institutions, oil and gas exploration and development in the 2018 edition negative list of the Pilot Free Trade Zone for foreign investment entry will apply all over the country. On the basis of the national opening up measures, in this revision, the 2019 edition negative list of the Pilot Free Trade Zone for foreign investment entry has lifted restrictions on foreign investment in areas such as aquatic products fishing and publication printing, and continues to expand the opening up.
