- The FTZ negative list stands at 27 items in 2026, two fewer than the 29-item national list, giving pilot zones a wider opening.
2026年自贸试验区负面清单为27条，比29条全国版少2条，使试点区域开放更宽。- Free-trade zones and the Hainan Free Trade Port serve as the “testing ground” where opening measures are tried before any national rollout.
自由贸易试验区与海南自由贸易港充当”试验田”，开放举措先在此试行再向全国推广。- Hainan launched full-island customs closure operations at the end of 2025, marking a new stage in its free-trade-port build-out.
海南于2025年底启动全岛封关运作，标志自贸港建设进入新阶段。- The 15th Five-Year Plan commits to an FTZ upgrade strategy, expanding first-of-their-kind trials in the digital economy, innovation and offshore trade.
十五五规划提出实施自贸试验区提升战略，围绕数字经济、科技创新、离岸贸易扩大首创首试。- Sector-specific pilots inside FTZs — value-added telecom, biotech, wholly foreign-owned hospitals — are the practical face of “opening beyond the list.”
自贸区内行业试点——增值电信、生物技术、外商独资医院——是”清单之外开放”的实际体现。- Investors should map their sector to the right FTZ, because pilot scope and supporting rules differ by zone and by city.
投资者应将自身行业对应到合适的自贸区，因试点范围与配套规则因区、因城而异。
China’s 2026 Free Trade Zone Negative List: Pilot Openings and Regional Advantages | 中国2026年自贸试验区负面清单：试点开放与区域优势
Why Free-Trade Zones Get Their Own List
China does not apply a single uniform screen to foreign investment. On top of the nationwide negative list, a separate — and shorter — negative list applies inside the pilot free-trade zones (FTZs). The logic is deliberate: the FTZs are sandboxes where the state trials liberalisation that is not yet ready for national application. A foreign investor locating inside an FTZ may therefore face fewer ownership caps than the same investor would outside the zone, provided the activity falls within the FTZ list’s narrower restrictions. For a market entrant, choosing the right zone can be as consequential as choosing the right sector.
The 2026 FTZ List: 27 Items
As confirmed by the State Council Information Office in June 2026, the foreign investment access negative list stands at 29 items nationwide and 27 items for the pilot free-trade zones. The two-item gap is the structural expression of “opening the door wider” inside the zones. Historically, the FTZ list has lifted a further subset of restrictions relative to the national list — concentrating the extra opening in services and selected secondary industries — and then, once a measure is proven, folding it into the national list at the next revision. The 2024 national revision that “zeroed out” manufacturing followed exactly this path: several manufacturing caps were first relaxed inside FTZs before being removed nationally.
| Dimension | National list (2026) | FTZ list (2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Item count | 29 | 27 |
| Manufacturing | Fully open (zeroed out) | Fully open (zeroed out) |
| Services | Opening in progress | Wider pilot openings |
| Role | Baseline for the whole country | Sandbox before national rollout |
FTZs as the Testing Ground
The “testing ground” role is now explicit in national planning. The 15th Five-Year Plan outlines an FTZ upgrade strategy that pushes zones to attempt more first-of-their-kind trials in the digital economy, scientific and technological innovation, and offshore trade. In practice this means an investor can often obtain, inside a qualifying zone, approvals that would be refused elsewhere — for example a value-added-telecom licence at a higher foreign-equity share, or a wholly foreign-owned hospital. The quid pro quo is closer regulatory supervision: zones run their own access pre-check systems and expect investors to operate within clearly scoped pilots. The reward is a head start on a measure that may later become national, plus the clustering benefits of being among like-minded foreign firms.
Hainan Free Trade Port: The Deepest Opening
The Hainan Free Trade Port is the most ambitious opening vehicle of all. At the end of 2025, Hainan formally launched full-island customs closure operations (封关运作), a milestone that reclassifies the entire island as a special customs zone with a “first-line open, second-line controlled” regime. For foreign investors this means a substantially liberalised market-access environment, with the negative list applied in its shortest form and the cross-border services-trade negative list trimmed further. Hainan is also one of the designated pilot locations for biotech and wholly foreign-owned hospital openings, and it is explicitly named in the 2026 Action Plan as a place where opening measures are to be “steadily implemented.” Investors in tourism, health, aviation, and tropical agriculture should weigh Hainan alongside the eastern FTZs.
Sector Pilots Running Inside FTZs
Beyond the list itself, the zones host the sector pilots that constitute “opening beyond the list.” Three are especially relevant in 2026:
- Value-added telecom. By the end of 2025, more than 90 foreign-invested enterprises had been approved for value-added-telecom pilot licences, many inside FTZs, covering cloud, internet data, and related services with foreign equity above the standard 50% cap in qualifying cases.
- Biotechnology. Pilot scope covers the Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong FTZs plus the Hainan Free Trade Port; by end-2025 over 100 foreign firms had brought piloted biotech business within their scope.
- Wholly foreign-owned hospitals. The pilot spans nine locations — Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Nanjing, Suzhou, Fuzhou, Guangdong, Shenzhen and Hainan island — and the first such hospital (Tianjin鹏瑞利) opened in February 2025.
These pilots are the concrete mechanism by which services — where the national list still binds — are opened incrementally and under observation.
The FTZ Upgrade Strategy Under the 15th Five-Year Plan
The 15th FYP framing shifts the FTZ mission from “more openings” to “better institutions.” The upgrade strategy calls for higher innovation-led development, deeper alignment with international high-standard rules (CPTPP, DEPA), and new platforms such as national services-trade innovation demonstration zones and digital-trade demonstration zones. For a foreign investor this signals that future liberalisation will be delivered less through deleting list entries and more through regulatory reforms inside the zones — data-flow rules, professional-services qualification mutual recognition, and cross-border settlement facilitation. The zones thus become not just looser lists but different regulatory ecosystems.
How to Use the FTZ List for Market Entry
- Benchmark both lists. Confirm your sector is open on the national list, then check whether the FTZ list — or a zone-specific pilot — removes a remaining cap.
- Match the zone to the pilot. Biotech fits Beijing/Shanghai/Guangdong/Hainan; hospitals fit the nine pilot cities; digital and offshore trade fit Shanghai, Hainan and others.
- Use the pre-check system. FTZ “one-network” platforms auto-generate an access pre-check report; file early to surface hidden licence needs.
- Plan for supervision. Pilots come with reporting and scope conditions; build compliance into the operating model from day one.
- Watch for nationalisation. A measure proven in a zone often moves to the national list at the next revision — position to scale when it does.
For most service-sector investors, the FTZ list and its accompanying pilots — not the national list — are where the real 2026 opportunity lies.
中国2026年自贸试验区负面清单：试点开放与区域优势
自贸区为何拥有独立清单
中国对外资并非实行单一统一筛查。在全国版负面清单之外，自贸试验区（FTZ）适用一份更短的独立负面清单。这一逻辑是刻意的：自贸区是试行尚未具备全国推广条件之开放措施的沙盒。因此，落户自贸区的外国投资者，若业务落入自贸区清单更窄的限制范围，可能面临少于区外投资者的持股上限。对市场进入者而言，选对区域与选对行业同样关键。
2026年自贸区清单：27条
据国务院新闻办公室2026年6月确认，外商投资准入负面清单全国版为29条、自贸试验区版为27条。这2条之差，正是”区内大门更宽”的结构性体现。历史上，自贸区清单相对于全国版进一步解除了若干限制——将额外开放集中于服务业与部分 secondary 行业——待举措成熟后，再于下一次修订时并入全国版。2024年全国版制造业”清零”正是沿此路径：若干制造业上限先在自贸区放宽，后在全国取消。
| 维度 | 全国版（2026） | 自贸区版（2026） |
|---|---|---|
| 条目数 | 29 | 27 |
| 制造业 | 全面放开（清零） | 全面放开（清零） |
| 服务业 | 开放进行中 | 试点开放更宽 |
| 角色 | 全国基准 | 全国推广前的沙盒 |
自贸区作为试验田
“试验田”角色现已写入国家规划。十五五规划提出自贸试验区提升战略，推动有条件自贸区围绕数字经济、科技创新、离岸贸易开展更多首创首试。实践中，符合条件的区内投资者往往能获得区外会被拒绝的批准——例如更高外资股比的增值电信牌照，或外商独资医院。对应的代价是更紧密的监管：区内运行自身准入预检系统，并要求投资者在清晰界定的试点范围内经营。回报则是抢先于可能全国化的举措，以及与同类外资企业集聚的红利。
海南自由贸易港：最深层次的开放
海南自由贸易港是最具雄心的开放载体。2025年底，海南正式启动全岛封关运作，这一里程碑将全岛重新界定为特殊海关监管区，实行”一线放开、二线管住”制度。对外资而言，这意味着大幅放宽的准入环境：负面清单以最短形式适用，跨境服务贸易负面清单进一步压缩。海南同时也是生物技术、外商独资医院开放的指定试点区域之一，并在2026年行动方案中被明确列为”稳妥实施”开放举措之地。旅游、健康、航空、热带农业的投资者应将海南与东部自贸区一并权衡。
区内运行的行业试点
除清单本身外，自贸区承载构成”清单之外开放”的行业试点。2026年尤具相关性的有三项：
- 增值电信。 截至2025年底，90多家外资企业获批增值电信业务试点牌照，多位于自贸区，涵盖云、互联网数据及相关服务，符合条件者外资股比可高于标准50%上限。
- 生物技术。 试点范围覆盖北京、上海、广东自贸试验区及海南自由贸易港；至2025年底，百余家外资企业已将试点生物技术业务纳入经营范围。
- 外商独资医院。 试点横跨9地——北京、上海、天津、南京、苏州、福州、广东、深圳及海南全岛；首家此类医院（天津鹏瑞利）于2025年2月开诊。
这些试点是国家清单仍收紧的服务业得以渐进、可控开放的具体机制。
十五五规划下的自贸试验区提升战略
十五五规划将自贸区使命从”更多开放”转向”更好制度”。提升战略要求提升创新引领发展能级，深化与国际高标准规则（CPTPP、DEPA）对接，并建设国家服务贸易创新发展示范区、国家数字贸易示范区等新平台。对外国投资者而言，这预示着未来开放将更少通过删除清单条目、更多通过区内监管改革来落地——数据流动规则、专业服务资格互认、跨境结算便利。自贸区由此不仅是更松的清单，更是不同的监管生态。
如何利用自贸区清单进行市场准入
- 对照两份清单。 先确认行业在全国版开放，再查自贸区版或区试点是否解除剩余上限。
- 将区域匹配试点。 生物技术适配北京／上海／广东／海南；医院适配9个试点城市；数字与离岸贸易适配上海、海南等。
- 使用预检系统。 自贸区”一网通办”自动生成准入预检报告；尽早提交以暴露隐性许可需求。
- 为监管做准备。 试点附带报告与范围条件；从第一天起将合规嵌入运营模式。
- 关注全国化。 区内验证的举措常于下次修订进入全国版——为其规模化做好准备。
对多数服务业投资者而言，真实的2026机遇所在，是自贸区清单及其配套试点，而非全国版清单。
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