New Action Plan released to expand access for foreign financial institutions

Chinese government has reiterated its commitment to further opening-up the financial services sector in a recent high-level guideline to provide better business environment for foreign investment in China.

In the “new 24 measures”, referring to a previous 24-points documents issued in last August, China’s State Council vows to extend the access of foreign investment to banking and insurance sectors. The government seeks to broaden the business opportunities for foreign institutions in the domestic bond market and support their participation in bank card clearing services and domestic bond underwriting. Moreover, the plan aims to advance pilot projects for qualified overseas limited partners to invest in China.

Furthermore, the new measures propose to “facilitate the orderly cross-border flow of data for research and development, production, and sales for foreign-invested enterprises”. Zhou Yu, head of the International Department at the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), mentioned that the central bank is collaborating with several financial regulatory agencies to establish frameworks for the cross-border flow of financial data. This initiative involves clarifying essential data directories in the financial sector and standardizing regulatory compliance measures to offer clearer guidance to foreign institutions.