In the January edition of GC Agenda China, (subscription required), Morrison & Foerster partner Paul McKenzie commented on the new measures issued by MOFCOM.
"These two industrial catalogues, together with the foreign investment negative list, which was updated in June 2020, are key tools for the Chinese government to drive industrial policy, helping direct investment into priority sectors and controlling market access in sensitive sectors. Changes to both documents are fairly modest this year. Changes to the negative list evidence a continuing effort to streamline and reduce industry licensing requirements. Changes to the catalogue are diverse, involving among many other changes a new emphasis on telemedicine, online education, e-commerce and remote work tools," said Paul.