
| China
More cities opened to foreign business ventures
BEIJING - China has opened more cities to overseas investors for joint commercial businesses, with new regulations from the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation and the State Economic and Trade Commission.
The Pilot Regulations Regarding Overseas Investment in Commercial Companies were released on June 25 and took effect the same day. They say that overseas investors can now set up equity joint or contractual joint commercial businesses with Chinese partners in the capitals of all provinces and autonomous regions and some other major cities. Previously, they were only allowed in Shanghai and Shenzhen and solely foreign-funded commercial companies are still not allowed.
The pilot regulations are intended to increase China's opening to the rest of the world and reforms and development of Chinese companies and to ensure the healthy and orderly establishment of overseas-backed companies on a trial basis.
Overseas-backed companies have to comply with the commercial development plans of the city they choose to locate in and can bring in advanced sales and management techniques and help China's commercial modernization drive and export increases.
The regulations say that overseas-backed commercial entities can operate for a period of 30 years and in central and western parts of the country for a period of 40 years.
(Asia Pulse/XIC)
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