Tests the selective opening of tourism to foreign investment in Tianjin, Shanghai, Hainan, and Chongqing

On 8 October 2022, the State Council issued a notice stating that service sectors including tourism and elderly care will be open to foreign investment in some of China’s largest cities, effective from the same day. The measures are part of a pilot project that will run until April 2024 and affect companies in Chongqing, Shanghai and Tianjin, as well as the island province of Hainan. They form part of a wider plan announced in April 2021 to relax the rules on foreign investment for three years. It contained 203 pilot projects and covered 12 key service industries, including technological services, financial services, healthcare, education and e-commerce.

According to the authority, qualified foreign-invested travel agencies in Shanghai and Chongqing will be allowed to offer overseas tours, excluding Taiwan. Market access will also be relaxed for private entities funded by foreign donors running non-profit nursing homes for the elderly in Tianjin, Chongqing and Hainan.

• Type:

  • Entry and establishment (Ownership and control)

• Industry:

  • Services (Human health activities, Other service activities)

• Sources:

  • china-briefing, China Relaxes Provisions on Foreign-Invested Travel Agencies and Care Homes, https://www.china-briefing.com/news/china-relaxes-provisions-on-outbound-chinese-tourism-and-care-homes/, 08 Oct 2022
  • Government of China, Travel agency regulations, http://www.gov.cn/zwgk/2009-02/26/content_1244055.htm, 08 Oct 2022
  • thestandard, China further opens doors to investors, https://www.thestandard.com.hk/section-news/section/2/246192/China-further-opens-doors-to-investors, 10 Oct 2022