China's National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Commerce on Monday released a revised industry catalog that names more sectors encouraging foreign investment.
Compared with the current version, the new list has 127 more items, a rise of 10 percent in the number of sectors encouraging foreign investment, said the commerce ministry.
Meanwhile, up to 88 existing items have been modified to expand their coverage.
The increase is relevant particularly in the context of items related to manufacturing, producer services, and those in the central and western regions, according to the commerce ministry.
The sub-catalog of competitive industries in central and western regions encouraging foreign investment has introduced 62 new items and modified 37, it said.
New sectors added to the national-level sub-catalog include respirators, ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) devices, online education service and 5G mobile telecommunication technologies.
The revision aims to give better play to the positive role of foreign investment in industrial and supply chains, further encourage foreign investment in advanced manufacturing, producer services and competitive industries in the central and western regions, said the ministry.
Foreign investors entering industries on the catalog will benefit from preferential policies in fields such as taxation and land use subject to laws and regulations.
The new catalog will come into effect on Jan. 27, 2021, the ministry said.
To further open up its market, China unveiled new, shortened negative lists for foreign investment in late June, and until now the number of sectors that are off limits to foreign investors has been slashed to 33 from 40 in 2019.
Building on effective containment of the COVID-19 epidemic and measures to stabilize foreign investment, foreign direct investment in the Chinese mainland, in actual use, expanded 5.5 percent year on year in November, marking the eighth consecutive month of growth, official data showed.
