Recently, the State Council issued the “Notice on Several Measures for Actively and Effectively Utilizing Foreign Investment to Promote High-Quality Economic Development” (hereinafter referred to as the “Notice”), which sets forth policy measures for actively and effectively utilizing foreign investment from six different perspectives.

　　The Notice proposes significantly easing market access and enhancing the level of investment liberalization. We will steadily expand financial sector opening-up, refine the Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) system, actively encourage overseas traders to participate in futures trading of crude oil, iron ore, and other commodities, and support foreign-invested financial institutions to take greater part in underwriting local government bonds. We will continue to advance service sector opening-up and deepen opening-up in agriculture, mining, and manufacturing. We will remove or relax foreign investment access restrictions in agricultural sectors such as seed industry, mining sectors such as coal and non-metallic minerals, and manufacturing sectors such as automobiles, ships, and aircraft.

　　In January of last year, the State Council issued the “Notice on Several Measures for Expanding Opening-up and Actively Utilizing Foreign Investment,” also known as the “20 Measures for Attracting Foreign Investment.” Two of these measures directly address the opening up of the mining industry to foreign investment. One is: “Revise the ‘Catalogue of Industries for Foreign Investment Guidance’ and related policies and regulations, and relax restrictions on foreign investment access in sectors such as services, manufacturing, and mining.” The other is: “In the mining sector, relax restrictions on foreign investment access in unconventional oil and gas resources—including oil shale, oil sands, and shale gas—as well as in mineral resource exploration and development. For overseas cooperation projects in the oil and gas sectors, the approval system will be replaced by a filing system.”

　　In June of last year, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Commerce jointly issued the “Guidelines for Foreign Investment Industries (Revised 2017),” which, compared to the “Guidelines for Foreign Investment Industries (Revised 2015),” made adjustments aimed at further opening up the service sector, manufacturing sector, and mining industry. In particular, in the mining sector, access restrictions have been significantly lifted in areas such as unconventional oil and gas, precious metals, and lithium mines.

　　The Notice also proposes deepening the “delegation, regulation, and service” reform to enhance the ease of investment; strengthening investment promotion to improve the quality and level of attracting foreign investment; raising the standard of investment protection to create a high-standard investment environment; optimizing the regional opening-up layout to guide foreign investment toward central and western regions as well as other areas; and promoting innovation and upgrading in national-level development zones to reinforce their role as key platforms for utilizing foreign investment.