China to support equity incentives for foreign employees

BEIJING — China has rolled out new rules to support equity incentives for foreign employees at domestic listed firms in its latest efforts to further open up the capital market.

Procedures will be streamlined as the money involved will be managed in a registration-based manner, according to a statement released on Feb 12 by the country’s central bank and forex regulator.

Related operations such as cross-border payment and remittance can be conducted after registration without having to apply for approval.

The new rules also allow foreign workers to choose the resource of the money involved in equity incentives. It can come from their legal domestic income or be remitted from overseas, the statement said.

China allowed foreign employees to enjoy equity incentives from domestic listed firms in 2016 and extended the beneficiaries from those working in the mainland to all working for the company in 2018.