Service sectors, including tourism and elderly care, in some of China’s largest cities will be allowed to open to foreign investment, the State Council, the country’s cabinet, announced on Saturday.
The measures are part of a pilot project that will run until April 2024 and affect companies in Chongqing, Shanghai and Tianjin, as well as the island province of Hainan.
They form part of a wider plan announced in April 2021 to relax the rules on foreign investment for three years. It contained 203 pilot projects and covered 12 key service industries, including technological services, financial services, healthcare, education and e-commerce.
The latest details of the plan indicate that market access will be relaxed for private entities funded by foreign donors running non-profit nursing homes for the elderly in Tianjin, Chongqing and Hainan.
Qualified foreign-invested travel agencies in Shanghai and Chongqing will also be allowed to offer overseas tours, excluding Taiwan.
