What regulatory measures does China have for foreign investment?

Drawing from over a decade of experience in handling such issues, Xu Baotong's legal team shares the following.

Currently, the regulatory framework for foreign direct investment (FDI) in China is as follows: the Ministry of Commerce and the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) are responsible for the filing or approval of foreign-invested enterprises; the market supervision administration is responsible for the registration and changes of foreign-invested enterprises, as well as the establishment of foreign-invested partnerships; the Anti-Monopoly Commission (under the Ministry of Commerce) is responsible for the concentration of operators' reviews for merger projects; and foreign investment in special industries (such as finance and aviation) also requires approval from relevant authorities.

(1) Negative List Review:

In addition to complying with the restrictions listed in the general corporate access negative list, foreign investment also needs to adhere to the regulations specified in the Special Management Measures for the Access of Foreign Investment (Negative List).

(2) National Security Review:

According to the Regulations on the Review of Foreign Investment in relation to National Security, investments involving national security areas should be reported to the office of the NDRC's working mechanism for review before implementation.

(3) Information Reporting System:

According to the Measures for the Reporting of Foreign Investment Information and the Announcement on Matters Related to the Reporting of Foreign Investment Information, foreign investors or foreign-invested enterprises should submit initial, change, cancellation, and annual reports to the competent commerce department through the enterprise registration system and the national enterprise credit information publicity system as required.