New 'negative list' to be launched in foreign investment sector

China will promote a management mode based on "negative list" this year, with its first application in foreign investment frontiers, Lian Weiliang, vice chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, said at a press conference on Friday.

The new mode refers to the method of employing lists of only banned or restricted practices. The existing foreign investment catalogue includes categories of encouraged, prohibited and restricted.

The latest version of the Catalog for the Guidance of Industries for Foreign Investment came into force from April 10. It has made the service and manufacturing sectors more accessible by cutting the number of restricted sectors from 79 to 38.

The negative-list management system has gained great traction after being promoted in the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone since its establishment in 2013, the country's first such zone. The number of sectors in which foreign investment was restricted in the Shanghai zone fell to 139 last year from 190 in 2013.

Lian said China will also adopt "negative list" domestically and the NDRC is studying related policies and will be applied first in pilot regions.