Introduction: On March 13, 2015, the National Development and Reform Commission (the “NDRC”) and the Ministry of Commerce promulgated the Catalogue of Industries for Guiding Foreign Investment (2015 Revision) (the “2015 Catalogue”), which is the 6th amendment to the said catalogue since first promulgated in 1995. The 2015 Catalogue will take effect on April 10, 2015, and the 2011 Catalogue Amendment (the “2011 Catalogue”) will be repealed on the same date.
引言： 2015年3月13日，国家发展和改革委员会（下称“国家发改委”）和商务部正式发布了《外商投资产业指导目录（2015年修订）》(下称“2015年版《目录》”），这是《目录》自1995年公布以来的六次修订。2015年版《目录》将于2015年4月10日起施行。《外商投资产业指导目录（2011年修订）》(下称“2011年版《目录》”）同时废止。
This article will focus on the changes made in the 2015 Catalogue and its impacts on certain industries.
本文将分析2015年版《目录》所带来的变化及其对特定行业的影响。
A. Changes in the 2015 Catalogue
2015年版《目录》的变化
In comparison to the 2011 Catalogue, the number of restricted industries was reduced from 79 to 38, and the number of prohibited industries was reduced from 38 to 36.
与2011年目录相比，限制类行业的数量由79减少至38，同时禁止类行业的数量由38减少至36。
Chinese government continues relaxing foreign investment in manufacturing industry in the 2015 Catalogue. Foreign investors are also allowed to engage in real estate, E-Commerce, Financial, Wholesale, Retail and other service providing industries.
在2015年版《目录》中，中国政府持续在制造业领域的外资开放政策。外国投资者也被允许参与包括房地产、电子商务、金融、批发领售在内的其他服务业领域。
In addition, it is worth noting that only “laws and regulations” may restrict or prohibit foreign investment in certain industry. The “specific rule” or “industrial policy” promulgated by the State Council will not regulate foreign investment access.
另外，值得注意的是，目前只有“法律法规”方可限制或禁止外商投资特定行业。国务院的专项规定或产业政策将不再规定外资准入事项。
B. Encouraged Industry
鼓励类行业
We would like to bring your attention to the following with respect to the Encouraged Industry in the 2015 Catalogue:
2015年版《目录》中，关于鼓励类项目的如下内容值得关注:
- “Development and manufacturing of Traditional Chinese Medicine(TCM) electronic auxiliary teaching equipment based on Computer Information Technology such as Sound, Light, Electricity and Touch”, and “Development and manufacturing of Virtual pathology and physiological model”, “Development and application of Internet of Things (IOT) technology” and “Creativity Industries like Industrial Design, Architectural Design and Clothing Design ” are added into the Encouraged Industry.
2015年版《目录》新增了“基于声、光、电、触控等计算机信息技术的中医药电子辅助教学设备，虚拟病理、生理模型人设备的开发与制造”、“物联网技术开发与应用”、“工业设计、建筑设计、服装设计等创意产业”、“养老机构”等鼓励类条目。 - Certain original restricted industries are shifted into encouraged category, for example, “Construction and operation of grids (Chinese parties as controlling shareholders)”.
一些原本属于限制类的行业目前转移至了鼓励类，例如：“电网的建设、经营（中方控股）”。 - Limitations on the form and stake-holding proportion of foreign investment are also relaxed. For instance, items like “Planting or breeding of Chinese medicinal materials”, “Design and manufacturing of airborne equipment for civil aviation” , “Design and manufacturing of yachts”, and “Manufacturing of equipment for air traffic control systems”, are no longer limited to Sino-foreign equity or contractual joint ventures; “Comprehensive maintenance of infrastructures of high-speed railway lines, passenger railway lines and intercity railways” are no longer subject to the “Chinese parties as controlling shareholders” requirement.
大量放开了外商投资的形式和持股比例的限制，例如“中药材种植、养殖”、“民用航空机载设备设计与制造”、“游艇的设计与制造”、“空中交通管制系统设备制造”等条目取消了“合资、合作”的限制；“高速铁路、铁路客运专线、城际铁路基础设施综合维修”、“演出场所经营”等条目取消了“中方控股”的限制。
C. Restricted Industry
限制类行业
Most of the amendments in the 2015 Catalogue fall into the Restricted Industry Category. In the 2015 Catalogue, there are 38 industries in the Restricted Category, among which, only 8 industries are subject to the “Sino-foreign equity or contractual joint ventures” requirement, while 17 industries are subject to the “Chinese parties as controlling shareholders” requirement. The details of these changes are as follows:
2015年版《目录》的修订大多集中于限制类领域。在2015年版《目录》中，共有38个行业被认定为限制类，其中8个行业要求“合资、合作”，另外17个行业要求“中方控股”。具体修订细节如下:
- A substantial decrease in the number of restricted items. Restricted items in connection with the manufacturing industries, wholesale, retail and real estate industry are greatly reduced or removed in entirety. At the same time, in the NDRF draft of the 2015 Catalogue, “Printing of publications (Chinese parties as controlling shareholders)”, “Construction and operation of movie theaters (Chinese parties as controlling shareholders)”, “Construction and operation of large theme parks” were removed from the restrictive items. Nevertheless, these items remain in the Restricted Industry Category in the 2015 Catalogue.
限制类行业的数量大幅度减少。与制造业、批发和零售，以及房地产业相关的限制类条目显著降低或被整体移除。与此同时，在发改委关于《目录》的征求意见稿中，“出版物印刷（中方控股）”、“电影院的建设、经营（中方控股）”、“大型主题公园的建设、经营”曾被移除出限制类项目。但是，该等项目目前仍然保留在2015年版《目录》中。 - “Online sales” is removed from restricted items (together with the foreign shareholding ratio limitation), reflecting the recent fast growth of the Chinese E-commerce business.
“网上销售”（包括相应的外资持股比例限制）从限制类行业中移除，反映了中国近年来快速发展的电子商务业务。 - With respect to the financial industry, the 2015 Catalogue removed “finance companies, trust companies, currency brokerage companies and Insurance brokerage companies” from the Restricted Industry Category.
关于金融业，2015年版《目录》将“财务公司”、“信托公司”、“货币经纪公司”、“保险经纪公司”从限制类领域中移除。
A foreign shareholding limitation is added to the “Chinese Invested Commercial Bank”. On the other hand, for securities companies, relevant clause is now changed as “eligible companies operated over two year since establishment shall apply for expansion of business scope (with the proportion of foreign investment not exceeding 49%)”.
一项外资持股比例限制加入了“中资商业银行”项目。然而，就证券公司而言，其条目现在修改为“设立满2年后符合条件的公司可申请扩大业务范围；外资比例不超过49%”。 - Restricted items in connection with the real estate industry are entirely removed in the 2015 Catalogue.
2015年版《目录》中将与房地产业相关的限制类条目整体删除。 - Certain original encouraged items, such as “Higher educational institutions (limited to Sino-foreign equity or contractual joint ventures)”, are re-categorized into the Restricted Industry Category. These institutions are limited to “Sino-foreign contractual joint ventures with Chinese party playing the dominant role”.
特定的原鼓励类条目，例如“高等教育机构（限于合资、合作）”，现被重新归类为限制类行业。该等机构将限于中外合作形式，并且要求中方主导。
D. Prohibited Industry
禁止类行业
There are not many amendments to the prohibited industry in the 2015 Catalogue. Currently 36 items fall into the Prohibited Industry Category.
2015年版《目录》并未对禁止类行业进行过多修订，目前禁止类项目共有36条。
Certain items such as “Processing of green tea and special tea with Chinese traditional techniques (famous tea, dark tea, and etc.)” and “Manufacturing of open (i.e., acid mist directly coming out) lead-acid batteries, mercury-contained silver oxide button batteries, mercury-contained alkaline zinc-manganese button batteries, pasted zinc-manganese batteries, and nickel-cadmium batteries” are removed from the Prohibited Industry Category.
部分项目，例如“我国传统工艺的绿茶及特种茶加工（名茶、黑茶等）”、“开口式（即酸雾直接外排式）铅酸电池、含汞扣式氧化银电池、含汞扣式碱性锌锰电池、糊式锌锰电池、镉镍电池制造”被移除出禁止类行业。
Some previously restricted items are re-categorized to the prohibited industry. For example, the restricted item “Wholesale and Retail of tobacco” in the 2011 Catalogue is moved to be a prohibited item, and changed as “Wholesale and Retail of tobacco leaves, cigarette, threshed and re-dried tobacco leaves and other tobacco products”.
部分项目，例如“烟草的批发、零售”由2011年《目录》的限制类条目调整为2015年版《目录》的禁止类条目，并且修改为“烟叶、卷烟、复烤烟叶及其他烟草制品的批发、零售”。
E. Conclusion
结论
The 2015 Catalogue reflects Chinese government’s policy on continue encouraging foreign investments and lowering the market entry barriers. With the introduction of the 2015 Catalogue, we hope another wave of foreign investments in China can be boosted and promote the economic development of China in the future.
2015年版《目录》体现了中国政府进一步鼓励外商投资，降低市场准入门槛的政策导向。我们希望新版《目录》的出台，能够推动新一轮外商投资的热潮，并促进中国未来的经济发展。