Co authored by Ciniya Huang, Kevin Mahal
The National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry
of Commerce jointly released the new Special Administrative
Measures (Negative List) for the Access of Foreign Investment
(2019) in China (the "2019 Negative
List") on 30 June 2019. The 2019 Negative List
reduces the number of "prohibited" or
"restricted" industries from 48 to 40 and will come into
force on 30 July 2019.
In particular, the 2019 Negative List removes the restrictions
that were previously in place concerning oil and gas exploration
and development in China. Before the 2019 Negative List, foreign
investors were only able to invest in the exploration and
development of oil and gas assets in China (excluding coalbed
methane, oil shale, oil sands, shale gas, etc.) with Chinese
investors as a joint venture or cooperation. The 2019 Negative List
removes the joint venture requirement for foreign companies looking
to invest in the upstream sector of the