China strikes telecoms from list of “sensitive” outbound sectors

This article was authored by Dylan Bushell-Embling, and was originally posted on telecomasia.net.

The Chinese government has reportedly taken the telecoms sector off a list of “sensitive sectors” that require special approvals for outbound investment.

The list compiled by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) names the industries that Chinese planning to invest in an overseas company or project need to secure approval for.

Starting from next month, companies investing in overseas telecoms projects will instead only need to file the same records with authorities as required for investment in other non-sensitive sectors, Xinhua reported.

The telecoms sector has been considered sensitive since the previous list was published in 2014.

The change comes at a time that the Philippines government is courting Chinese investment in its mobile market through a proposed 60-40 venture that would become the nation’s third telco.

Xinhua noted that China’s outbound direct investment outside of the financial sector fell 29.4% in 2017 to $120 billion.

As part of the reforms to the sensitive sector list, the energy sector has also been removed while the arms industry, properties, hotels, cinemas, entertainment, sports clubs, and equity investment funds have been added.

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Categories: Government Regulations · Other Posts