China Issues Updated Telecommunications Services Catalogue

China has for the first time in 12 years issued a new edition of the Telecommunications Services Catalogue to replace the badly outdated 2003 version issued shortly after China's WTO accession. The texts of the Catalogue and a helpful Q&A are available here and here.

The new 2015 edition, issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in its capacity as industry regulator on December 28, 2015, is to enter into effect on March 1, 2016. The Catalogue remains the basis for China's implementation of a licensing system for telecommunications business in accordance with the classification of telecommunications businesses under the Telecommunications Regulations of the PRC (2014 rev.). It constitutes an effort to modernize the classification system and encourage private investment, but it is unclear to what extent foreign investors will be allowed to participate more widely in dynamic telecoms services.