- The 2020 Foreign Investment Law replaced case-by-case approval with pre-establishment national treatment plus a negative list.
《外商投资法》（2020 年）以”准入前国民待遇加负面清单”取代了逐案审批。- The default foreign-investment pathway is now filing and information reporting, not commerce-department approval.
外资准入的默认路径如今是备案与信息报告，而非商务部门审批。- Only items on the negative list and certain controlling transactions still trigger a true prior-approval gate.
仅负面清单内的项目及部分取得控制权的交易仍触发真正的事前审批关卡。- The information-reporting system consolidates initial, change, deregistration and annual reports into one duty.
信息报告制度将初始、变更、注销与年度报告整合为一项义务。- National security review and SAMR merger control remain ex-ante gates for covered or controlling deals.
国家安全审查与 SAMR 经营者集中审查仍是受覆盖或取得控制权交易的事前关卡。- The 2026 direction is further simplification of cross-border investment procedures and wider data sharing between regulators.
2026 年的方向是进一步简化跨境投资手续，并扩大监管部门间的数据共享。- Investors should document the “no-approval” basis where their sector is off the list, to defend the position later.
对于清单外行业，投资者应留存”无需审批”的依据文件，以备后续佐证。
Foreign Investment Approval Reform: From Case-by-Case Approval to Filing | 外资审批改革：从逐案审批到备案报告
The pre-2020 approval world
For most of the reform era, entering China as a foreign investor meant a predictable but heavy sequence: the commerce department examined and approved the investment (or, for a shrinking set of items, accepted a record-filing), and only then could the investor incorporate and obtain a business licence. Three separate statutes — the equity joint venture law, the wholly foreign-owned enterprise law, and the cooperative joint venture law — anchored the system. Approval was sector-blind at the front end: almost every FIE touched the machinery regardless of how unrestricted its business was. The result was a uniform administrative hurdle and an approval clock sitting ahead of market entry.
The structural shift in 2020
The Foreign Investment Law, effective 1 January 2020, repealed the three legacy laws on the same day and replaced them with a single, principle-based statute. The organizing principles are pre-establishment national treatment and a negative list. Outside the list, foreign and domestic investment are managed on the same basis; the commerce department no longer issues FIE approval certificates, and the old joint annual inspection (联合年报) was abolished. The system moved from “approve first, then exist” to “exist like a domestic firm, report information, and clear only the specific gates that still apply.”
This was not a cosmetic change. It relocated the burden: instead of the state vetting every establishment, the investor self-assesses against the negative list and reports. The state’s role shifts to defining the list, conducting targeted reviews (security and merger control), and enforcing through information and inspection.
What “filing” means today
The term “filing” (备案) now appears in two related but distinct places. First, for investments outside the negative list, the foreign-specific step is the information report, not a filing of the investment itself for approval. Second, for items on the negative list that are merely restricted (an equity cap, a Chinese-control requirement), the investor satisfies the stated condition; where a permit is involved, the authority grants it only if the condition is met. There is no general “approve the investment” step. For a typical unrestricted manufacturing or services WFOE, incorporation runs through the normal company-registration channel with no commerce-department approval in the path.
The information-reporting regime
MOFCOM’s Measures on Foreign Investment Information Reporting (《外商投资信息报告办法》, 2020) operationalize the new model. The investor or FIE submits:
- an initial report at or around incorporation;
- a change report for material changes (investor, equity, business scope);
- a deregistration report on exit; and
- an annual report through the enterprise credit-information publicity system.
Reporting is not a precondition for incorporation and is designed to avoid duplicate asks where data can be shared between authorities. The obligation is real: failure to report as required can draw a rectification order and, if uncorrected, a fine of RMB 100,000 to 500,000. Reports must be true, accurate and complete.
The gates that survive
Reform removed the default approval, but three categories still require a genuine prior step, and an investor must map them:
- Negative-list restricted items. Fields on the 2024 negative list that are merely restricted require the investor to meet specific conditions (equity caps, Chinese-control, Chinese-national legal representatives). The condition is enforced at the licensing or registration stage.
- National security review. Investments in covered defence and important sectors that acquire actual control must undergo security review before implementation. The regime is administered by a inter-agency committee chaired by NDRC and MOFCOM.
- Merger control. Acquisitions meeting turnover or other thresholds must clear merger control with SAMR before closing.
In short, foreign access as such is now mostly a non-event outside the list; the live requirements are negative-list conditions, the two ex-ante reviews, and ordinary sector licences.
The 2026 reform direction
The evident 2026 trajectory is consolidation and digitization rather than a new liberalization shock. Expected continuities include: further shortening of cross-border investment procedures; deeper inter-departmental data sharing so that the same fact is not requested twice; and continued migration of eligible permit items onto the inform-and-commit and filing tracks under the 证照分离 framework. Free-trade zones continue to pilot faster channels, and several local “one-network” portals now fold the foreign-investment information report into the enterprise-setup flow.
Practically, this means the investor’s edge comes from preparation: a clean negative-list screen, complete information reports, and early sequencing of any security-review or merger-control filing. The approval reform has moved the hard work upstream — into the investor’s own assessment — and left the state to verify rather than vet.
Practical sequence
A typical unrestricted foreign investor in 2026 should: (1) screen the sector against the negative list; (2) incorporate via SAMR / the local market-regulation bureau; (3) submit the initial foreign-investment information report; (4) obtain any ordinary sector licence; and (5) maintain the annual report and credit-information publicity. A restricted-sector or control-acquiring deal instead sequences the negative-list condition, any licence, security review and merger control ahead of closing. The commerce department is no longer the gatekeeper of entry; it is one of several regulators that may apply a sector-specific rule.
外资审批改革：从逐案审批到备案报告
2020 年之前的审批世界
在漫长的改革时期里，外资进入中国意味着一套可预期却沉重的流程：商务部门审查并批准投资（或针对一小部分项目接受备案），之后投资者才能设立并取得营业执照。三部独立法律——中外合资经营企业法、外资企业法、中外合作经营企业法——构成这一制度的基础。审批在入口端是”行业盲”的：几乎每家外资企业都要走这套程序，无论其业务有多么不受限。结果是统一的行政门槛，以及横亘在市场准入之前的审批周期。
2020 年的结构性转变
2020 年 1 月 1 日生效的《外商投资法》于同日废止了三部旧法，代之以一部基于原则的单一法律。其组织原则是准入前国民待遇与负面清单。清单之外，内外资一体管理；商务部门不再核发外资企业批准证书，旧的联合年报被废止。制度从”先批后设”转向”如内资企业般设立、报告信息、仅清理由仍适用的特定关卡”。
这并非表面调整。它重新配置了负担：国家不再逐一审查每一次设立，而是由投资者对照负面清单自评估并报告。国家角色转变为界定清单、开展针对性审查（安全审查与经营者集中）并通过信息与检查执法。
当今”备案”的含义
“备案”一词如今出现在两个相关但不同的位置。其一，对清单外投资，外资专属步骤是信息报告，而非将投资本身报备案以待审批。其二，对负面清单中仅受限的项目（如股比上限、中方控股要求），投资者满足列明条件即可；涉及许可的，机关仅在条件满足时核发。不存在一般性的”批准投资”步骤。对典型的不受限制造业或服务业外商独资企业，设立经普通公司登记渠道办理，路径中无商务部门审批。
信息报告制度
商务部《外商投资信息报告办法》（2020 年）落实了新模式。投资者或外资企业须报送：
- 初始报告：于设立时或前后；
- 变更报告：重大事项变更（投资者、股权、经营范围）；
- 注销报告：退出时；
- 年度报告：通过企业信用信息公示系统。
报告并非登记前置条件，且制度设计上避免部门间重复索取同一数据。该义务是真实的：未按规定报告可被责令限期改正，逾期不改的处十万元以上五十万元以下罚款。报告须真实、准确、完整。
仍然保留的关卡
改革取消了默认审批，但有三类事项仍需真正的事前步骤，投资者必须逐一厘清：
- 负面清单受限项目：2024 年版清单中仅受限的领域要求投资者满足特定条件（股比上限、中方控股、中国籍法定代表人）。条件在许可或登记阶段被执行。
- 国家安全审查：在受覆盖的国防及重要领域取得实际控制权的投资，须在实施前通过安全审查。该制度由发改委与商务部牵头的部际联席会议管理。
- 经营者集中：达到营业额等阈值的收购须在交割前通过 SAMR 的经营者集中审查。
简言之，清单之外，外资准入本身如今大多已非事件；真正的活要求为负面清单条件、两项事前审查以及常规行业许可。
2026 年改革方向
2026 年可见的轨迹是整合与数字化，而非新一轮放开冲击。可预期的延续包括：进一步简化跨境投资手续；深化部门间数据共享，避免同一事实被重复索取；在”证照分离”框架下，将符合条件的许可事项持续迁移至告知承诺与备案通道。自贸试验区持续试点更快通道，若干地方的”一网通办”门户已将外商投资信息报告并入企业开办流程。
实务上，这意味着投资者的优势来自准备：干净的负面清单筛查、完整的信息报告，以及尽早排定安全审查或经营者集中申报。审批改革已将艰苦工作前移——置于投资者自身的评估之中，而把国家置于”验证”而非”审查”的位置。
实操顺序
2026 年典型的不受限外资投资者应：（1）对照负面清单筛查行业；（2）经市场监管局设立；（3）报送外商投资初始信息报告；（4）取得任何常规行业许可；（5）维持年度报告与信用信息公示。受限行业或取得控制权的交易，则须在交割前排定负面清单条件、相关许可、安全审查与经营者集中。商务部门不再是准入守门人，而是可能适用行业规则的若干监管者之一。
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