A new version of China's negative list for market access has been released, further opening up sectors to private and foreign enterprises. On the updated list, which specifies industries and business activities that are either prohibited or require government approval, the number of items has been reduced from 117 in the 2022 version to 106. Outside the list, all types of businesses can enter the market on an equal and lawful basis across the country, said the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). The list was jointly released by the NDRC, the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) and the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR). The NDRC emphasized that local governments and other departments shall not formulate any other negative lists for market access. The updated list also reduced the number of national-level market access management measures from 486 to 469, while local-level measures have been cut from 36 to 20. Specifically, eight national-level measures were removed, including those pertaining to the official seal engraving industry and specialized security products for computer information systems.
At the local level, 17 measures were scrapped in sectors such as transportation and logistics, freight forwarding and vehicle rental services, in order to break interregional market barriers. Meanwhile, new business models and emerging industries, such as civil unmanned aircraft and e-cigarettes, were included in the new negative list. Pan Helin, Member of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology’s Expert Committee for Information and Communication Economy, said the updated negative list would vitalize private enterprises by reducing transaction costs and dismantling hidden market entry barriers.
Huang Yanxiang, CEO of Shanghai CarbonNewture, a high-tech private enterprise serving as a decarbonization services platform, said the company is encouraged by the shortened list, which reflects China’s commitment to creating a level playing field for private businesses and lays a stronger foundation for the company to expand its footprint. China launched its first market entry negative list in 2018. After four rounds of revisions in 2019, 2020, 2022 and this year, the number of items on the list has been reduced to 106 from 151 in 2018, down by roughly 30%. Bai Wenxi, Vice Chairman of the China Enterprise Capital Union, said this process clearly signals that China will continue to advance market-oriented reforms to create a fairer, transparent and predictable market environment for all types of businesses, strengthening the appeal of the Chinese market for foreign investors, the China Daily reports.
