- China’s unified Market Access Negative List (2025 edition) was cut to 106 items, down from 117 in 2022, while the foreign-investment access list stands at 29 national items with manufacturing fully zeroed.
中国统一市场准入负面清单（2025版）由2022版117项减至106项，外资准入负面清单全国版保留29项、制造业全面清零。- The 2026 policy emphasis has shifted from manufacturing to services: telecom, internet, education, culture and healthcare are the next opening fronts.
2026年政策重点由制造业转向服务业：电信、互联网、教育、文化、医疗成为下一开放重点。- The “Stabilise and Improve Foreign Investment” action plan (Shang Zi Fa [2026] No. 97) anchors services opening — vocational training, finance, pharmaceuticals — and the move from “access” to “operation.”
《利用外资固稳促优行动方案》（商资发〔2026〕97号）锚定服务业开放——职业培训、金融、医药——并从”准入”转向”准营”。- A cross-border services negative list and pilot zones (telecom, biotech, wholly-foreign-owned hospitals) are the operational channels for new openings.
跨境服务贸易负面清单与试点区域（电信、生物技术、外商独资医院）是新开放的操作通道。- Sector restrictions live in two lists: the market-access list (binds all entities) and the foreign-investment list (adds foreign-capital limits) — screen both.
行业限制存在于两张清单：市场准入清单（约束所有主体）与外资准入清单（叠加外资限制）——须双查。- Practical step: map the target sector against both lists, use pilot zones for services openings, and track the 2026 action plan’s rollout.
实操建议：将目标行业对照两张清单，服务业开放走试点区，并跟踪2026年行动方案落地。
Sector Restrictions After Manufacturing Zeroing: Where Foreign Capital Can (and Cannot) Go in 2026 | 制造业清零后的行业限制：2026年外资可进与禁区
China’s foreign-investment access regime now rests on a clear pivot: manufacturing restrictions are fully zeroed, and the policy centre of gravity has moved to services. For a foreign investor, the practical question is no longer “is manufacturing open?” but “which services sectors, through which channels, and under what pilots?” This article maps the current sector-restriction landscape.
The two-list architecture
Two parallel negative lists govern access:
- Market Access Negative List (市场准入负面清单) — binds every business form equally inside China. The 2025 edition (NDRC, MOFCOM, SAMR; Fa Gai Ti Gai Gui [2025] No. 466, issued 24 April 2025) cut items from 117 (2022) to 106, with national sub-measures falling from 486 to 469 and local measures from 36 to 20.
- Foreign Investment Access Negative List (外商投资准入负面清单) — adds foreign-capital-specific sector limits on top. As of 2026 it stands at 29 national items (27 in pilot free-trade zones). Critically, all manufacturing-sector restrictions are zeroed — the first industry fully liberalised.
The message of the 2025 market-access list is that items outside the list must be genuinely open; a barrier clean-up campaign publicly notifies typical cases and builds a rectification loop to remove “glass doors” beyond the list.
Manufacturing zeroed, services next
At a March 2026 State Council briefing, NDRC confirmed the foreign-investment list at 29 national / 27 FTZ items and signalled that the next phase focuses on services — telecom, internet, education, culture and healthcare to be opened “orderly.” The *15th Five-Year Plan* outline reinforces this: with the manufacturing access cleared, the focus is “expanding market access and opening in services.”
The 2026 action plan: services in detail
The *Action Plan for Stabilising and Improving Foreign Investment* (Shang Zi Fa [2026] No. 97) turns the services priority into concrete measures:
- Deepening services opening: steadily expand pilot opening of vocational-skill training institutions, vocational schools and high-level polytechnic/agricultural/medical universities; upgrade Beijing’s services-opening demonstration zone; broaden CEPA for Hong Kong and Macao.
- Financial services: more foreign institutions using risk-management tools (including government-bond futures), foreign-institution fund-investment advisory, cross-border financing facilitation, and pre-communication for onshore listings.
- Pharmaceuticals: drug segment-manufacturing rules, broader biotechnology and wholly-foreign-owned-hospital pilot zones, innovative-device insurance coverage.
A 22 June 2026 State Council Information Office briefing framed the plan as moving from “access” to “operation” — fixing the “big door open, small door closed” problem through services opening and national treatment.
Operational channels for new openings
New services openings proceed through defined channels:
- Cross-border services negative list. MOFCOM is improving the cross-border services-trade negative-list management system and orderly expanding autonomous opening in telecom, internet, education, culture and healthcare; value-added telecom, biotech and wholly-foreign-owned-hospital pilots continue and broaden.
- Pilot zones. Designated pilot free-trade zones and services-opening demonstration cities trial field-level data-export negative lists and sector openings; apply there rather than assuming nationwide access.
- National treatment. The plan commits to equal application of pro-enterprise support policies to foreign firms (except where laws clearly provide otherwise or national security is involved), and fair-competition review in government procurement and bidding.
Practical steps
- Screen both lists. Confirm the sector is outside — or acceptably inside — both the market-access and foreign-investment negative lists.
- Use the pilot pathway. Telecom, medical, education and biotech openings run via pilot zones; pursue them there.
- Watch CEPA and Beijing. Hong Kong/Macao investors and Beijing demonstration-zone players get earlier access.
- Plan for operation, not just access. Post-entry, align with data-security, Anti-Monopoly and tax obligations early.
- Track the action plan rollout. The 2026 plan’s measures phase in; monitor which zones are designated and when approvals open.
制造业清零后的行业限制：2026年外资可进与禁区
中国外资准入制度现已明确转折：制造业限制全面清零，政策重心转向服务业。对外国投资者而言，实际问题不再是”制造业是否开放？”，而是”哪些服务业、经哪些通道、在何种试点下开放？”。本文勾勒当前行业限制格局。
双清单架构
两张并行负面清单治理准入：
- 市场准入负面清单——对中国境内各类经营主体一体适用。2025版（国家发展改革委、商务部、市场监管总局；发改体改规〔2025〕466号，2025年4月24日印发）由2022版117项减至106项，全国性措施由486条减至469条，地方性措施由36条减至20条。
- 外商投资准入负面清单——在其上叠加外资专项行业限制。截至2026年全国版保留29项（自贸试验区版27项）。关键突破：制造业领域限制全面清零——首个全面开放的产业。
2025版市场准入清单的信号是：清单之外必须真放开；准入壁垒清理行动公开通报典型案例，并建立整改闭环以清除清单之外的”玻璃门”。
制造业清零、服务业接棒
在2026年3月国务院政策吹风会上，国家发展改革委确认外资准入清单全国版29项、自贸试验区版27项，并预示下一阶段以服务业为重点，推动电信、互联网、教育、文化、医疗”有序”扩大开放。”十五五”规划纲要强化此点：制造业准入清除后，重点转向”扩大服务业市场准入和开放领域”。
2026年行动方案：服务业的细节
《利用外资固稳促优行动方案》（商资发〔2026〕97号）将服务业优先转为具体措施：
- 深化服务业开放： 稳步扩大职业技能培训机构、职业院校、高水平理工农医类大学对外开放试点；提升北京服务业扩大开放综合示范区；拓宽对港澳CEPA。
- 金融业： 更多外资机构利用含国债期货的风险管理工具、外资机构依法开展基金投资顾问业务、跨境融资便利化、上市申报前预沟通。
- 医药： 药品分段生产细则、扩大生物技术与外商独资医院试点区域、创新药械纳入保险。
2026年6月22日国新办发布会将该方案定位于从”准入”转向”准营”——以服务业开放与国民待遇破解”大门开、小门不开”。
新开放的操作通道
新服务业开放经明确通道推进：
- 跨境服务贸易负面清单。 商务部完善跨境服务贸易负面清单管理制度，有序扩大电信、互联网、教育、文化、医疗自主开放；增值电信、生物技术、外商独资医院试点持续扩围。
- 试点区域。 指定自贸试验区与服务业开放示范城市试点字段级数据出境负面清单与行业开放；应在试点区申请，而非假设全国放开。
- 国民待遇。 方案承诺涉企支持政策对外资企业平等适用（法律明确规定或涉国家安全者除外），并在政府采购与招投标中落实公平竞争审查。
实操步骤
- 双清单筛查。 确认行业处于两张清单的”之外”或”可承受之内”。
- 走试点路径。 电信、医疗、教育、生物技术开放经试点区推进；应在试点区申请。
- 关注CEPA与北京。 港澳投资者与北京示范区主体获更早准入。
- 谋准营非仅准入。 进入后尽早对齐数据安全、反垄断与税务义务。
- 跟踪方案落地。 2026年方案措施分批推出；关注哪些区域被指定、何时开放审批。
Practitioner Quick Reference
- 106 vs 29: market-access list 106 items (2025); foreign-investment list 29 national, manufacturing zeroed.
106对比29：市场准入清单106项（2025）；外资清单全国29项，制造业清零。 - Services are the front: telecom, internet, education, culture, healthcare open “orderly” post-manufacturing zeroing.
服务业是前沿：制造业清零后电信、互联网、教育、文化、医疗”有序”开放。 - Shang Zi Fa [2026] No. 97: the plan that operationalises services opening and “access to operation.”
商资发〔2026〕97号：落地服务业开放、从准入到准营的方案。 - Two channels: cross-border services negative list + pilot zones (telecom, biotech, WFOE hospitals).
两条通道：跨境服务贸易负面清单加试点区（电信、生物技术、外商独资医院）。
Common Pitfalls
- Assuming nationwide services access: pilot-zone openings are not automatic national licences.
以为服务业全国放开：试点区开放非自动全国牌照。 - Screening only one list: missing the foreign-investment-specific limit risks a blocked entry.
只查一张清单：漏掉外资专项限制可能致准入受阻。 - Stopping at access: “big door open, small door closed” is solved by operation readiness, not approval alone.
止于准入：”大门开、小门不开”靠准营准备解决，非仅靠批文。
Sources