A New On-Ramp for Foreign Capital: Strategic Investment in A-Share Listed Companies in 2026
- The June 2026 “Action Plan for Stabilising and Improving Foreign Investment” opens the door for eligible foreign equity investment institutions to participate as strategic investors in securities issuance by listed companies in “non-related industries” — removing the industry-relevance test that previously limited foreign PE participation.
2026 年 6 月《利用外资固稳促优行动方案》允许符合条件的外资股权投资机构以战略投资者身份参与”非相关行业”上市公司证券发行，取消了此前限制外资 PE 参与的行业相关性要求。
- The same Action Plan commits to accelerating the revision of the rules on foreign investors’ acquisition of domestic enterprises (the “2006 Measures”, known as Order No. 10), promising streamlined procedures and more flexible consideration-payment requirements.
同一《行动方案》承诺加快修订《关于外国投资者并购境内企业的规定》（2006 年 10 号令），优化并购管理流程和对价支付要求。
- The revised Strategic Investment Measures (effective December 2024) already lowered the minimum shareholding threshold for strategic investment via agreement transfer and tender offer from 10% to 5%, added the tender-offer route, and allowed cross-border share swaps using shares of unlisted overseas companies in private placements and tender offers.
修订后的《外国投资者对上市公司战略投资管理办法》（2024 年 12 月施行）已把协议转让、要约收购方式战略投资的最低持股比例由 10% 降至 5%，新增要约收购路径，并允许定向发行、要约收购中以境外非上市公司股份实施跨境换股。
- Together, these moves create a clearer pathway for foreign PE, sovereign funds and long-term capital to invest in A-share listed companies without needing a same-industry strategic partner narrative.
综合来看，这些举措为外资 PE、主权基金和长期资本投资 A 股上市公司开辟了更清晰通道，不再需要”同行业战略资源”的叙事前提。
- Practical implications: review the capital-investor versus industrial-investor distinction under CSRC rules, prepare governance-participation and lock-up undertakings, and align cross-border share-swap structures with the still-pending revision of Order No. 10.
实操要点：对照证监会规则区分”资本投资者”与”产业投资者”，准备参与治理与锁定期承诺，并将跨境换股架构与仍在修订中的 10 号令做好衔接。
A New On-Ramp for Foreign Capital: Strategic Investment in A-Share Listed Companies in 2026 | 外资入市新通道：2026 年 A 股上市公司战略投资
Overview
For years, foreign equity investment institutions seeking to take meaningful stakes in Chinese listed companies faced a structural mismatch. The strategic-investment regime under the Measures for Strategic Investment by Foreign Investors in Listed Companies required either a “same or related industry” relationship or a path through the narrower private-placement rules, and the legacy rules on foreign M&A (the 2006 Measures, commonly called “Order No. 10”) had not kept pace with the market. Foreign PE funds that could bring capital, governance discipline and global resources often found themselves unable to fit the strategic-investor mould because their “strategic resources” did not map to the target’s industry.
That mismatch is now being dismantled from two directions. First, the revised Strategic Investment Measures, effective December 2024, lowered the minimum stake for strategic investment via agreement transfer and tender offer from 10% to 5%, added tender offers as a permitted route, extended eligibility to foreign natural persons, relaxed asset requirements for non-controlling investors, and — critically — allowed cross-border share swaps using shares of unlisted overseas companies in private placements and tender offers. Second, the “Action Plan for Stabilising and Improving Foreign Investment” (《利用外资固稳促优行动方案》), issued by the Ministry of Commerce, the NDRC and the Ministry of Finance in June 2026, explicitly states that eligible foreign equity investment institutions may participate as strategic investors in securities issuance by listed companies in “non-related industries,” and commits to accelerating the revision of Order No. 10.
What the “non-related industry” change means
Under the CSRC’s refinancing rules, strategic investors in a lock-up private placement are split into two categories: industrial investors and capital investors. Industrial investors must hold “important strategic resources in the same or related industries” of the listed company. Capital investors — long-term institutional investors that hold a prescribed threshold, participate in corporate governance and contribute strategic resources in practice — were defined without clearly including foreign equity investment institutions.
The Action Plan’s language cuts through this uncertainty. By allowing eligible foreign equity investment institutions to participate as strategic investors in securities issuance of non-related industries, it signals that foreign PE and sovereign-wealth-type investors can qualify as capital investors without needing an industry-adjacent story. In practice, this is the clearest regulatory recognition to date that professional long-term capital — willing to hold, participate in governance and integrate resources — is itself a legitimate form of strategic value.
The Shanghai Foreign Affairs Office’s August 2026 briefing on foreign-investment policy describes this as the “crossing of boundaries” for strategic investment, noting that the change opens the A-share market to incremental foreign capital and reserves policy space for long-term investors such as foreign sovereign funds.
The pending revision of Order No. 10
The Action Plan also promises to “accelerate the revision and promulgation of the provisions on foreign investors’ acquisition of domestic enterprises, optimise M&A procedures and consideration-payment requirements, and strengthen cross-departmental regulatory coordination.” The reference is to Order No. 10, the 2006 Measures on the Acquisition of Domestic Enterprises by Foreign Investors.
Three frictions make the revision consequential. First, the cross-border share-swap clause in Order No. 10 still requires that shares used as consideration be shares of an overseas listed company, whereas the revised Strategic Investment Measures already allow unlisted overseas company shares in private placements and tender offers — an inconsistency the revision is expected to reconcile. Second, the coordination between Order No. 10’s procedural requirements and the Foreign Investment Law’s information-reporting regime needs streamlining. Third, the interface between Order No. 10 and the strategic-investment regime overlaps and should be clarified.
For foreign investors structuring deals today, the practical guidance is to build transactions with the expectation that Order No. 10 will be revised, while complying with the current rules: foreign M&A continues to require information reporting, and the revised Strategic Investment Measures already govern strategic investment thresholds, lock-ups and payment methods.
Practical checklist for foreign investors
- Determine which regime applies. Strategic investment in a listed company (revised Strategic Investment Measures), M&A of an unlisted domestic target (Order No. 10, pending revision), and concentration filing under the Anti-Monopoly Law may all be triggered; map them before structuring.
- Classify the investor role. Under the CSRC’s strategic-investor framework for refinancing, document how the investor qualifies as a capital investor — long-term holding intent, shareholding threshold, governance participation and actual resource contribution.
- Prepare the lock-up and governance undertakings. Strategic investment typically entails a 12-month lock-up (or longer for controlling positions) and governance commitments; align these with the issuer’s board arrangements.
- Review consideration methods. Where cross-border share swaps are contemplated, confirm whether the consideration shares are listed or unlisted and which regime governs, given the divergence between Order No. 10 and the Strategic Investment Measures.
- Anticipate the Order No. 10 revision. Monitor the MOFCOM and SAMR consultation pipeline; the Action Plan signals that streamlined procedures and flexible consideration-payment requirements are coming.
Related reading
- The Strategic Investment Measures (revised, effective December 2024) and the CSRC’s refinancing rules on strategic investors.
- The “Action Plan for Stabilising and Improving Foreign Investment” (June 2026), including its M&A and strategic-investment commitments.
- The Anti-Monopoly Law’s merger-concentration filing thresholds, which apply to foreign M&A regardless of the strategic-investment route.
Sources
- 商务部 国家发展改革委 财政部《利用外资固稳促优行动方案》(中国政府网): https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/202606/content_7072838.htm
- 商务部《商务部、国家发展改革委、财政部联合印发〈利用外资固稳促优行动方案〉》: https://www.mofcom.gov.cn/syxwfb/art/2026/art_6321e5e42c6246319e12876d5a6786f2.html
- 上海市人民政府外事办公室《〈上海资讯周报〉涉外资讯一站式服务（2026 年 8 月第 3 期，总第 155 期）》: https://wsb.sh.gov.cn/ztzl/shzxzb/20260818/ce3cd5fcab334d1ea3a994e97d178583.html
- 天津市商务局《商务部 国家发展改革委 财政部关于印发〈利用外资固稳促优行动方案〉的通知》: https://shangwuju.tj.gov.cn/tjsswjzz/zwdt/wzdt/wzgl/zcfg/202608/t20260820_7355374.html
- 商务部《凌激副部长兼国际贸易谈判副代表出席国新办发布会介绍利用外资固稳促优有关政策措施》: https://www.mofcom.gov.cn:8443/zcjd/tzhz/art/2026/art_d0190837f61147258546c1bcc8f9be05.html
外资入市新通道：2026 年 A 股上市公司战略投资
概述
多年来，希望在中国的上市公司中取得有意义持股的外资股权投资机构一直面临结构性错配。现行《外国投资者对上市公司战略投资管理办法》下的战略投资制度要求”同行业或相关行业”关系，或只能走更窄的定向发行规则；而关于外资并购的旧规（2006 年《关于外国投资者并购境内企业的规定》，俗称”10 号令”）也未能跟上市场变化。能够带来资本、治理纪律和全球资源的外资 PE 基金，往往因为其”战略资源”无法对应标的企业所处行业，而无法契合战略投资者身份。
这一错配正从两个方向被拆除。其一，修订后的《战略投资管理办法》自 2024 年 12 月施行，把协议转让、要约收购方式战略投资的最低持股比例由 10% 降至 5%，新增要约收购路径，将外国自然人纳入投资者范围，降低非控股投资者的资产要求，并——关键之处——允许定向发行、要约收购中以境外非上市公司股份实施跨境换股。其二，商务部、国家发展改革委、财政部 2026 年 6 月印发的《利用外资固稳促优行动方案》明确表示，允许符合条件的外资股权投资机构以战略投资者身份参与”非相关行业”上市公司证券发行，并承诺加快修订 10 号令。
“非相关行业”突破意味着什么
根据证监会再融资规则，锁定价格定向发行中的战略投资者分为两类：产业投资者和资本投资者。产业投资者须持有上市公司”同行业或者相关行业重要战略性资源”。资本投资者——长期持股、达到规定持股比例、参与公司治理并实际导入战略资源的长期机构投资者——其定义并未明确包含外资股权投资机构。
《行动方案》的表述一举扫除这一不确定性。允许符合条件的外资股权投资机构参与”非相关行业”上市公司证券发行，意味着外资 PE 和主权基金类投资者可以在不编造行业相邻叙事的前提下，以资本投资者身份获得资格。实务上，这是迄今对”专业长期资本本身就是一种合法战略价值形态”最清晰的监管认可。
上海市人民政府外事办公室 2026 年 8 月的涉外政策简报将此举描述为战略投资的”跨界”，指出这一变化为 A 股引入增量外资打开通道，并为外国主权基金等长期资本预留了政策空间。
10 号令修订在即
《行动方案》同时承诺”加快修订出台关于外国投资者并购境内企业的规定，优化并购管理流程和对价支付要求，强化部门监管协同”。所指正是 10 号令——2006 年《关于外国投资者并购境内企业的规定》。
三处摩擦使修订势在必行。其一，10 号令关于跨境换股的条款仍要求作为支付手段的股权必须是”境外上市公司股权”，而修订后的《战略投资管理办法》已允许定向发行、要约收购使用境外非上市公司股份，两者存在规范冲突，预计通过修订实现制度衔接。其二，10 号令的程序性要求与《外商投资法》框架下的信息报告制度需要理顺。其三，10 号令与战略投资制度的适用范围存在重叠，应予以澄清。
对当前正在设计交易的外国投资者，实务指引是：在预期 10 号令将修订的前提下构建交易，同时遵守现行规则——外资并购继续需要信息报告，战略投资的持股门槛、锁定期与支付方式则已由修订后的《战略投资管理办法》规范。
外国投资者实操清单
- 确定适用制度。上市公司战略投资（修订版《战略投资管理办法》）、未上市境内标的并购（10 号令，修订在即）以及《反垄断法》下的经营者集中申报可能同时触发；构架前先逐项梳理。
- 界定投资者角色。按证监会再融资战略投资者框架，书面论证投资者如何符合资本投资者条件——长期持股意图、持股比例门槛、参与治理与实际资源导入。
- 准备锁定期与治理承诺。战略投资通常涉及 12 个月锁定期（控股地位更长）与治理承诺；与发行人的董事会安排对齐。
- 审查对价方式。在考虑跨境换股时，确认对价股份是上市还是非上市、由哪套制度管辖，注意 10 号令与《战略投资管理办法》的差异。
- 预判 10 号令修订。跟踪商务部、市场监管总局征求意见动态；《行动方案》已释放流程简化、对价支付要求灵活化的信号。
相关阅读
- 《外国投资者对上市公司战略投资管理办法》（2024 年 12 月修订施行）与证监会再融资战略投资者规则。
- 《利用外资固稳促优行动方案》（2026 年 6 月），含其并购与战略投资承诺。
- 《反垄断法》经营者集中申报标准，无论是否走战略投资路径，外资并购均须适用。
来源
- 商务部 国家发展改革委 财政部《利用外资固稳促优行动方案》（中国政府网）：https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/202606/content_7072838.htm
- 商务部《商务部、国家发展改革委、财政部联合印发〈利用外资固稳促优行动方案〉》：https://www.mofcom.gov.cn/syxwfb/art/2026/art_6321e5e42c6246319e12876d5a6786f2.html
- 上海市人民政府外事办公室《〈上海资讯周报〉涉外资讯一站式服务（2026 年 8 月第 3 期，总第 155 期）》：https://wsb.sh.gov.cn/ztzl/shzxzb/20260818/ce3cd5fcab334d1ea3a994e97d178583.html
- 天津市商务局《商务部 国家发展改革委 财政部关于印发〈利用外资固稳促优行动方案〉的通知》：https://shangwuju.tj.gov.cn/tjsswjzz/zwdt/wzdt/wzgl/zcfg/202608/t20260820_7355374.html
- 商务部《凌激副部长兼国际贸易谈判副代表出席国新办发布会介绍利用外资固稳促优有关政策措施》：https://www.mofcom.gov.cn:8443/zcjd/tzhz/art/2026/art_d0190837f61147258546c1bcc8f9be05.html