China published on Monday an action plan to strengthen foreign investment, including supporting qualified key foreign firms to list on domestic exchanges and allowing qualified foreign equity investment firms to participate in some listed firms' share issues.
The plan was jointly published by China's Commerce Ministry, the National Development and Reform Commission and Finance Ministry, with 15 specific measures.
Focusing on expanding market access in the service, financial, and pharmaceutical and other sectors, the plan calls for steadily launching more pilot opening-up programs for vocational skills training institutions, vocational colleges, and high-level universities spanning science, engineering, agriculture, and medicine.
It also encourages more foreign-funded institutions to leverage risk management instruments, including treasury bonds and futures, to enhance financial risk management and support them in conducting fund investment advisory business under the law.
Optimizing the exchanges' pre-communication services before filing for a listing to support eligible key foreign-invested enterprises in raising capital through domestic listings is included in the plan.
Regarding the foreign-funded mergers and acquisitions policies, the government will accelerate the refinement and streamlining of M&A management procedures and consideration payment requirements.
It will also allow qualified foreign equity investment institutions to participate as strategic investors in the share issuance of listed companies in non-related industries.
In other news, foreign investment flows into China in yuan terms were down 8.6 percent to 327.3 billion yuan (HK$378.82 billion) in the first five months of 2026 from the same period last year, data from China's commerce ministry showed on Monday.
During the period, nearly 4,000 foreign-funded companies added more investment in the country, said Ling Ji, Vice Minister of Commerce and Deputy China International Trade Representative
The number of foreign companies in China reached 533,000, with the stock of foreign investment reaching US$4 trillion (HK$31.2 trillion) as of the end of 2025.
Staff reporter and Reuters
