By Hao Zhou (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2007-11-07 23:27

Approved by the State Council, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the Ministry of Commerce jointly promulgated the latest Catalogue of Industries for Guiding Foreign Investment, according to the official website of the NDRC.

The Catalogue will take effect on December 1 while the old version revised in 2004 is going to be abolished.

While continuing to encourage foreign investment to go to hi-tech, equip manufacture, and new material industries, the catalogue added "service-outsourcing" and "modern logistics" to the service industry, in an effort to fulfill China's commitment to the WTO.

Overseas investment targeting conventional manufacturing industries in which China has mastered advanced technologies and has competent production capacity is no longer encouraged.

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With respect to resource efficiency and environmental protection, the government advocates overseas investment in the development of circular economy, clean production, reproducible energy, and ecological protection. Foreign capital can not go to the field of exploring rare and non-reproducible mineral resources, or to high consumption and pollution industries.

Confronting a growing trade surplus and forex reserves, China won't simply spur the export-oriented industries any more.

In a bid to coordinate the country's regional development, the revised catalogue abandoned the article confining foreign investment in central and western China. Introducing foreign capital will be considered in rejuvenating northeast China and other old industrial bases.

The catalogue is modified under the guideline of "making innovations in the way of using foreign capital, improving the structure of foreign investment utilized, and letting the use of foreign capital play a positive role in facilitating independent innovation, industrial upgrading and balanced development among regions," proposed in Hu Jintao's report at the 17th Party Congress.