China Central Committee approves foreign investment reforms

BEIJING - China will ease restrictions on foreign investment, including a further opening-up in sectors such as services, manufacturing and mining, according to a news release issued after a key Party meeting on Tuesday. A revised version of the Catalogue for the Guidance of Foreign Investment Industries was approved by the Communist Party of China Central Committee's Central Leading Group for Deepening Overall Reform.

China should press ahead with opening up priority areas by expanding the use of negative lists, according to the official release of the meeting. Negative lists are those where foreign investment is not permitted — other areas are understood to be open to investment.

China Daily reported that the move came as utilisation of foreign capital in the first four months of 2017 reached RMB286.4 billion (US$41.6 billion), a slight drop of 0.1% on-year, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

During the same period, China saw 9,726 new enterprises built with foreign investment, a year-on-year increase of 17.2%.  www.webershandwick.cn (ATI).