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Dec. 27 (UPI) — Ownership restrictions on foreign automakers will be lifted in 2022 under new economic “opening up” measures, the Chinese government said on Monday.
Two of Beijing’s “negative lists” that detail which sectors of China’s economy are off-limits for foreign investors next year showed that foreign automakers, for the first time, will be allowed to own 100% of their Chinese operations.
Overall, the number of items off-limits for foreign investors will be cut from 33 to 31 in China. In pilot-free trade zones, that number will be reduced from 30 to 27.
The new negative lists, designed to open up China’s economy to foreign investment, will come into effect on Jan. 1.
President Xi Jinping touted plans for the moves last month, calling them the fulfillment of pledges made to the World Trade Organization to more fully liberalize key sectors of the economy, such as telecommunications and healthcare, at a time when global economic integration is facing “headwinds.”
“Opening up is the hallmark of contemporary China,” Xi said Nov. 4 at the China International Import Expo in Beijing.
In addition to the auto change, the new negative lists also further ease foreign investment caps in the production of key communications equipment.
They could allow an array of foreign firms including Tesla, Volkswagen, Toyota, Sony, Canon and Ericsson to set up completely foreign-owned subsidiaries in China while paving the way for Beijing to join the 11-nation Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, the state-run Global Times reported.