China expands opening-up of telecommunication services

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, China's top industry regulator, on Wednesday issued a notice regarding the launch of pilot programs to expand the opening-up of value-added telecommunications services.

The move marks the latest push by China to expand high-standard opening-up and to offer more opportunities for foreign companies.

According to the notice, the pilot programs will be initially launched in several key regions, including Beijing's comprehensive demonstration zone for expanding the opening-up of the services industry, Shanghai's Lin-gang New Area within the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone, Hainan Free Trade Port and a special zone in Shenzhen, Guangdong province.

The notice outlines measures to remove foreign ownership restrictions in certain areas, specifically in internet data centers, content delivery networks (CDNs), internet service providers (ISPs), online data processing and transaction processing, as well as foreign investment limits in information services, such as information publishing platforms and delivery services (excluding internet news information, online publishing, online audiovisual, and internet cultural operations), and information protection and processing services.

This policy aims to proactively align with international high-standard economic and trade rules, stimulate market competition and vitality, and contribute to the construction of a new development pattern, sharing the dividends of China's digital economic development with the global community, MIIT said.

The notice also indicates that based on the implementation of the pilot programs, the scope of the pilot regions may be expanded in due course.