Chinanews, Beijing, Feb. 7 – China is considering drafting a regulation to strictly monitor foreign investors’ acquisition and merging activities in China. The new regulation will be unveiled soon, said Li Zhiqun, head of the Foreign Investment Department at the Ministry of Commerce (MOC), the China Business News reported.

 

He made the statement last Friday when attending a forum on Chinese economic situation and related regulation making.

 

At the forum, Wang Dong, deputy head of the Foreign Investment Department at the State Development and Reform Commission (SDRC) also said that the SDRC is working with MOC to revise the Industrial Guidelines for Foreign Investors in China. The guidelines' new version will be publicized during the first half of this year.

 

Last year, MOC worked with six ministerial departments to draft a law on regulating foreign enterprises’ M&A activities in China. The regulation stipulates that when foreign investors purchases and takes the controlling power of a Chinese enterprise in a field categorized as a key industrial sector, or if the acquisition might affect China’s national economic security, the parties involved should report the acquisition deal to related departments.

 

Since the regulation was published, many foreign investors have been greatly concerned about which industrial sectors are defined as “key industrial sectors”.

 

Earlier, MOC said that over the next five years, China will welcome foreign investors to make investment in five major areas, namely the high-tech, advanced manufacturing sector, modern service sector, modern agriculture, and environmental protection sector.