Foreign direct investment in China

From the beginning of China's gradual opening to the world 45 years ago, China has always exercised tight control over all aspects of FDI. It was not until 1986 that China first allowed wholly foreign-owned enterprises in a limited range of sectors. Following its accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), China has steadily increased the range of activities open to sole foreign investment without the need for a Chinese partner. Along the way, China has developed a robust legal and regulatory framework particular to foreign investment.

The new foreign investment law

The FIL (中华人民共和国外商投资法) is the basic law governing FDI in China, establishing core principles for the promotion, protection and market access of foreign investment.

Read more from our 2023 foreign direct investment report

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• Foreign direct investment in Singapore
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One key innovation of the FIL is that it promises foreign enterprises "national treatment", on a par with domestic enterprises, for permitted investments. However, the FIL does not provide national treatment with respect to market access. FDI is still prohibited and restricted in a number of areas, through the use of a so-called ‘Negative List’. To implement the principle of national treatment, the FIL abolished long-standing separate laws on wholly foreign-invested enterprises and Sino-foreign joint ventures. With that, in areas where FDI is permitted, foreign invested enterprises of all types will be subject to the same legal frameworks as domestic Chinese companies, e.g. the Company Law.

FDI controls under the new FIL

Under the FIL regime, the applicable Chinese FDI rules, i.e. rules for investments in greenfield ventures as well as acquisitions of all or parts of a domestic companies' equity or assets, largely depend on whether the intended investment activity is on the Negative List. 

Foreign investment under FIL

The FIL covers several types of foreign investment:

• establishment of a foreign invested enterprise ("FIE") in China, independently or jointly with any other investor;
• acquisition of shares, equities, property or any other similar rights and interests of an enterprise in China;
• in a new project in China, independently or jointly with any other investor; and
• investment in any other way as may be stipulated by laws, administrative regulations or provisions of the State Council.

Companies registered in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macao are treated as "foreign" for the purposes of most Chinese regulations governing foreign investments.

Main FDI oversight authorities

FDI oversight and administration is primarily managed by the following organisations:

• the National Development and Reform Commission ("NDRC"), also responsible for industrial policy generally;
• Ministry of Commerce ("MOFCOM"), also responsible for international trade, antitrust regulation and other areas; and
• the State Administration for Market Regulation ("SAMR"), also responsible for company registration generally.

Restricted, prohibited and encouraged activities

The Negative List, officially "Special Administrative Measures for Foreign Investment Access" (外商投资准入特别管理措施), is a document that is jointly issued by MOFCOM and the NDRC. It is updated periodically and has been steadily shrinking over the years.

In addition to the national Negative List, there are two other documents relevant to foreign investors:

• a Negative List particular to the Free Trade Zones ("FTZ"), with a narrower range of prohibited and restricted activities. As of November 2022, China has 21 FTZ in operation, e.g., Shanghai FTZ, Guangdong FTZ, Tianjin FTZ, Fujian FTZ, Zhejiang FTZ, Henan FTZ, Sichuan FTZ, Shaanxi FTZ, Hubei FTZ, Chongqing FTZ, Liaoning FTZ, and Hainan FTZ; and
• an Encouraged List of activities that the government wishes to promote (and for which various incentives are offered), with separate categories for activities encouraged either nationally or (even more liberally) in less developed Central-Western areas ("List of Industries Encouraged for Foreign Investment", 鼓励外商投资产业目录).

One of the first steps in contemplating any investment is a thorough review of the relevant investment catalogues.

Items included in the Negative List may be either prohibited outright to foreign investment, or may be restricted. Prohibited activities include tobacco wholesale/retail, stem cell and genetic treatments, social surveys, film and TV production, compulsory education, and others. Restricted activities include automotive manufacturing, basic and value-added telecommunications services, transportation, energy, utilities, banks and financial institutions, agriculture, and others. Where an activity is restricted, approval is expressly at the discretion of the competent authorities. The authorities may approve of, ask for modification of or deny the investment. In any case, a joint venture with a Chinese party will be required for any restricted venture, often with the Chinese party holding a controlling interest.

The items in the Encouraged List include wine grape breeding, aquaculture, oil exploration, cotton yarn production, etc. Governmental incentives include, for example, tax incentives and duty free-import of production equipment. Local authorities may also offer rent reduction, local tax relief, salary subsidies and other incentives for investments in local priority industries, whether or not on the Encouraged List.

Activities not on the Negative List or the Encouraged List are in principle permitted to FDI. However, this is subject to the discretion of the local authorities. Moreover, there are a number of areas where foreign investment should be permitted in practice, but in fact are not. Approvability needs to be confirmed with the local officials at SAMR and NDRC.

National security review

Besides the restrictions on FDI that falls under the Negative List, a foreign investment will also be subject to a national review if it "affects or may affect national security". The rules expressly apply to JVs with Chinese parties, as a major clarification compared with the previous regulations.

Under the existing review system, the security review applies to acquisitions of all or parts of domestic military industrial enterprises and tertiary enterprises, enterprises located near major and sensitive military facilities, and other entities related to national defence or security. The review mechanism is also triggered by acquisitions in other national security related sectors such as major agricultural products, major energy and resources, infrastructure, transportation services, key technologies and key equipment manufacturing, etc.

If an acquisition by a foreign investor is likely to trigger national security concerns, the foreign investor should notify the foreign investment security review working mechanism office the NDRC ('working mechanism office') of the transaction. Upon receiving the required materials, if the working mechanism office determines that a national security review is required, it will issue a decision within 15 working days. Depending on the sensitivity of the transaction, the working mechanism office will conduct a ‘general review’ or ‘special review’. If the working mechanism office determines that the transaction affects or may affect national security after a general review, it will conduct a special review. If, after special review, the working mechanism office determines that the transaction will have a major impact on national security, it may require the applicant to terminate the transaction, or approve the transaction conditionally.

Data protection and cross-border data compliance

In recent years, China has devoted considerable efforts to data protection law reform. On 10 June 2021, China’s Data Security Law was published and took effect. The Personal Information Protection Law of the People's Republic of China took effect on 1 November 2021. New safety review principles apply to the transfer of important data overseas.

Other approval requirements

There are further approval procedures and formalities to take into consideration depending on the individual investment. 

Acquisition of (parts of) a listed company

Complex approval requirements by the China Securities Regulatory Commission and MOFCOM apply where an investor intends to acquire parts of a listed company, for example in the context of major acquisitions and changes of control of listed companies. Particular care may be required to avoid the need to make a general tender offer when acquiring more than 30% of the shares of a listed company.

State-owned enterprises and state assets

Foreign investors can acquire equity or assets of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) or their subsidiaries. The governmental process is administered primarily by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) at central and lower levels. It is overall a quite cumbersome and burdensome process. The process is designed to ensure that state assets are not undervalued and to minimise the impact on employees.

In any transaction potentially involving SOEs or state assets, it is critical to ensure that the seller complies with the mandatory procedures for state asset transfers. These include use of a local state asset clearinghouse, internal approval and approval by the relevant SASAC, auditing, evaluation, publication of and invitation to bid, and undertaking a bidding process if two or more interested parties respond.

Co-written by Johnny Yin of Pinsent Masons.