On 16 December 2020, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) jointly published the 2020 Version of the Market Access Negative List. The Negative List indicates the 123 categories of businesses that are not allowed to be conducted in China – as well as the legal basis of these regulations.
After three rounds of revisions, the 2020 Version of the Market Access Negative List was officially published and put into effect in December 2020. Compared with the previous version, the number of items on the 2020 version of the Negative List was reduced from 151 to 123, a reduction of 18%. The reduction is particularly significant if compared to the first ever version of the Negative List published in 2016, which contained 328 items.
The introduction of the 2020 List will lead to reduced market entry restrictions; it will also integrate more effectively markets with competent governments, and accelerate the formation of a single domestic market that is efficient, standardized, and fair in competition.
According to NDRC, the Negative List will be further revised in 2021 (2021 version), to introduce new relaxed market access measures applying to the Hainan Free Trade Port. The future version will further promote fair competition, strengthen the rigid constraints of the review system for fair competition, abolish regional segmentation and local protection, and ultimately contribution to the establishment of a unified market.
The full table of the Negative List to the Chinese Market is available at:
https://www.ndrc.gov.cn/xwdt/tzgg/202012/t20201216_1252995.html
By Haley WU
