Foreign M&A Rules in China: The 2026 Update and What It Means for Inbound Deals
- China’s 2026 foreign-investment agenda puts foreign M&A management at the centre: the Action Plan (Shang Zi Fa [2026] No. 97) commits to revising the rules on foreign investors’ acquisition of domestic enterprises, streamlining the M&A process and consideration-payment requirements, and strengthening cross-departmental coordination.
2026 年外资议程将外资并购管理置于核心：《利用外资固稳促优行动方案》（商资发〔2026〕97号）承诺修订外国投资者并购境内企业规定、优化并购流程与对价支付要求、强化部门协同。
- At the 26th China International Fair for Investment and Trade (CIFIT) in Xiamen on 7 September 2026, MOFCOM’s Department of Foreign Investment delivered a systematic reading of the “bring in” and “go global” policies, while the Investment Promotion Agency outlined overseas service platforms and overseas industrial parks as promotion mechanisms.
2026 年 9 月 7 日厦门第 26 届投洽会上，商务部外资司系统解读”引进来””走出去”政策，商务部投资促进事务局介绍出海服务平台与境外产业园等促进机制。
- The 15th Five-Year Plan explicitly deploys “improving foreign M&A management and widening the channels for foreign capital to invest in the securities market,” embedding the M&A easing into the五年规划 framework.
“十五五”规划明确部署”完善外资并购管理，拓宽外资投资证券市场渠道”，将并购便利化写入五年规划框架。
- Every inbound deal should run three compliance screens in parallel — the negative-list admission test, the merger-control (concentration) filing, and the foreign-investment security review — rather than treating them as sequential steps.
每笔入境交易应并行推进三重合规核查——负面清单准入、经营者集中申报、外商投资安全审查——而非视为先后步骤。
- Practical readiness now centres on the due-diligence checklist, consideration-and-payment arrangements, deal-structure design and approval-timeline management, because the current 10-Order rules still govern deals signed before the revision is published.
实操准备当下聚焦于尽调清单、对价支付安排、交易结构设计与审批时间轴预期管理，因为现行 10 号令规则仍约束修订版出台前签署的交易。
- Services opening to Hong Kong and Macao under CEPA is being advanced first, giving the two special administrative regions a front-running role in the two-way cross-border investment corridor.
内地与香港、澳门 CEPA 服务业率先开放正加快推进，使港澳在双向跨境投资通道中扮演先行角色。
Foreign M&A Rules in China: The 2026 Update and What It Means for Inbound Deals | 中国外资并购规则：2026 年更新与对入境交易的影响
Overview
Foreign M&A has re-emerged as a priority instrument of China’s inbound-investment strategy in 2026. After a cycle dominated by negative-list cuts and the full removal of manufacturing access restrictions, the policy centre of gravity is shifting from “what is open” to “how smoothly capital can enter, combine and grow.” Three developments in 2026 give foreign acquirers a clearer map than at any point in the past two years: a concrete Action Plan commitment to revise the foreign-M&A rulebook, a high-visibility policy briefing at the September CIFIT in Xiamen, and a formal 15th Five-Year Plan deployment to improve M&A management and widen securities-market access for foreign capital.
This article focuses on the September 2026 dynamics and the practical deal-execution steps, pointing to companion pieces for the Action Plan text and the security-review filing details.
The September 2026 policy moment: CIFIT in Xiamen
The 26th China International Fair for Investment and Trade (CIFIT) was held in Xiamen, Fujian, from 8 to 11 September 2026. On 7 September, ahead of the main fair, the “Gateway to the World, Linking the Globe” two-way cross-border investment exchange and promotion session — a “Invest in China” themed side event — took place in Xiamen, hosted by MOFCOM and organised by the Investment Promotion Agency of MOFCOM and the Xiamen Municipal Commerce Bureau.
Two messages from that session matter for foreign M&A. First, MOFCOM’s Department of Foreign Investment gave a systematic interpretation of the “bring in” and “go global” policies. On the “bring in” side, it reaffirmed the measures taken since 2025 to optimise the foreign-investment environment, including the June 2026 Action Plan and the upgrade of the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) with Hong Kong and Macao to open the services sector to them first. On the “go global” side, it noted steady growth in outward investment and deeper mainland–Hong Kong cooperation.
Second, the Investment Promotion Agency outlined how it serves enterprises on both fronts: using the CIFIT national-level platform, relying on overseas industrial parks and other outbound-promotion mechanisms, and jointly building an outbound-service platform with leading clusters such as the Hong Kong International Business Hub in Shanghai, Suzhou Industrial Park and the Jimei district of Xiamen. The agency links Hong Kong’s financial, legal and professional-service strengths with the mainland’s projects, parks and enterprise resources, so that more foreign capital enters the mainland through Hong Kong and more mainland enterprises go global with Hong Kong’s support.
For foreign acquirers, the practical read is that the September 2026 policy narrative is explicitly two-way: inbound M&A is being eased and facilitated at the same time as outbound investment is being serviced through structured platforms.
The 15th Five-Year Plan deployment
The 15th Five-Year Plan, the first such plan of the 2026–2030 period, contains a dedicated passage on attracting and utilising foreign capital. Among its measures, it states the intent to “expand the ways of using foreign capital, improve foreign M&A management, and widen the channels for foreign capital to invest in the securities market.” It also calls for high-quality implementation of the foreign-investment security review and improvement of the full-calibre external-debt supervision system.
This language elevates foreign M&A from a transactional sub-topic to a plan-level commitment, pairs M&A management with securities-market access as a unified equity-investment channel, and — by placing the security review in the same paragraph — makes explicit that facilitation and gatekeeping advance together.
The Action Plan anchor for M&A modernisation
The Action Plan for Stabilising and Optimising Foreign Investment Utilisation (Shang Zi Fa [2026] No. 97), issued by MOFCOM, the NDRC and the Ministry of Finance with State Council approval on 16 June 2026, is the operative anchor for the M&A changes. Its M&A-relevant commitments are specific: accelerate the revision and promulgation of the rules on foreign investors’ acquisition of domestic enterprises, optimising the M&A management process and consideration-payment requirements; strengthen cross-departmental regulatory coordination on foreign M&A; and allow eligible foreign equity-investment institutions to participate, as strategic investors, in securities issuance by listed companies in industries unrelated to their own.
The first two commitments speak to the long-awaited revision of the 2006 Measures on M&A of Domestic Enterprises (the “10-Order”). The core frictions are well understood: obsolete ex-ante approval clauses that no longer apply after the Foreign Investment Law took effect in 2020, consideration and payment rules that need to operate without an approval gateway, and the interface between the 10-Order, the revised Strategic Investment Measures and the information-reporting regime. The 10-Order remains in force until the revised version is published, but the 2026 context reinforces the policy direction and gives deal teams a stable expectation.
Three compliance screens run in parallel
A recurring theme across the 2026 documents is that easing entry does not relax screening. Inbound M&A transactions should treat three checks as parallel workstreams from the earliest structuring stage:
- Negative-list admission test. Confirm whether the target sector is restricted or prohibited under the current negative list, including pilot negative lists in free-trade zones. A restricted sector may still be investable through a permitted structure, but the admission position must be cleared first.
- Merger-control (concentration) filing. Where the transaction meets the turnover or market-share notification thresholds under the Anti-Monopoly Law, a mandatory prior filing is required; plan it as a condition to closing.
- Foreign-investment security review. For investments in defence-related fields or in the ten categories of important sectors where the foreign investor would obtain actual control, a security-review filing may be mandatory before implementation.
These screens interact but are distinct. The negative list governs whether the sector is open; merger control governs competitive effects; the security review governs national-security effects. Running them in parallel prevents the common failure mode of discovering a blocking issue late in diligence. The detailed security-review filing practice — including the September 2026 local service mechanisms — is addressed in our companion article on the Zhengding pilot-zone filing guide.
Practical playbook for 2026 inbound deals
1. Build the due-diligence checklist around the three screens. Map the target against the negative list, the merger-control thresholds and the security-review scope before issuing a non-binding offer; flag any sector touching the ten important-sector categories or defence-related fields for early security-review screening.
2. Plan the consideration and payment structure. Under the current 10-Order, consideration may be cash, equity or a combination, subject to the pricing basis, payment period and valuation rules. Where a cross-border share swap is contemplated, confirm whether the consideration shares are of a listed or unlisted overseas company, because the 10-Order and the revised Strategic Investment Measures treat these differently. Do not assume the relaxed rules apply until the revision is published.
3. Design the deal structure for the right regime. A controlling acquisition of an unlisted domestic target, a strategic investment in a listed company, and a concentration filing may all be triggered by one transaction; determine which regime governs each leg and sequence the approvals accordingly.
4. Manage the approval timeline explicitly. Build a timeline reflecting information reporting (ongoing), merger-control filing (where thresholds are met) and security-review filing (where in scope). Treat the security-review period as a hard freeze during which the investment may not be implemented.
5. Use the strategic-investment channel where it fits. Eligible foreign equity-investment institutions may, under the Action Plan, participate as strategic investors in non-related-industry listed-company issuances; position around the qualification and lock-up conditions as the implementing rules mature.
6. Engage local service windows early. As the Zhengding pilot zone’s September 2026 guide illustrates, local investment-service bureaus increasingly offer pre-filing coaching and preliminary review, which can shorten the path to a complete, well-formed filing.
Related reading
- The 2026 negative list and sector-restriction map.
- The revised Strategic Investment Measures and the CSRC refinancing rules on strategic investors.
- Our companion article on the September 2026 foreign-investment security-review filing practice and local support mechanisms.
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》（商资发〔2026〕97号）：https://www.mofcom.gov.cn/zcfb/wgtzgl/art/2026/art_0cfe31a63f9c4bd3869517bc10908c10.html
- 商务部《第26届中国国际投资贸易洽谈会将于2026年9月8日至11日举办》：https://www.mofcom.gov.cn:8443/zwjg/sqfb/oy/art/2026/art_5268bb19fa5a4ad1a07056b791afb9d7.html
- 中国政府网《中国”十五五”规划，为世界提供新机遇》：https://www.gov.cn/yaowen/liebiao/202609/content_7081427.htm
- 国家发展改革委：https://www.ndrc.gov.cn/
- 商务部：https://www.mofcom.gov.cn/
中国外资并购规则：2026 年更新与对入境交易的影响
概述
2026 年，外资并购重新成为外资流入战略的关键工具。在经历以负面清单缩减、制造业准入限制全面取消为主的周期之后，政策重心正从”开放什么”转向”资本如何顺畅进入、整合与成长”。2026 年的三件进展为外国收购方提供了过去两年来最清晰的路线图：修订外资并购规则的《行动方案》具体承诺、9 月厦门投洽会上的高规格政策宣讲，以及将完善外资并购管理与拓宽外资证券市场渠道写入”十五五”规划的正式部署。
本文聚焦 2026 年 9 月的新动态与交易落地的实操步骤。我们刻意不再重复 6 月《行动方案》文本与 2006 年并购规定修订机理（相关姊妹篇已详述），并将安全审查申报细节指向另一篇专文。
2026 年 9 月的政策时刻：厦门投洽会
第 26 届中国国际投资贸易洽谈会于 2026 年 9 月 8 日至 11 日在福建厦门举行。9 月 7 日，在主体展会之前，”港通天下，链接全球”双向跨境投资交流宣介会暨出海企业高质量国际化发展对接会——投洽会”投资中国”系列专场活动之一——在厦门举办，由商务部主办，商务部投资促进事务局与厦门市商务局承办。
该场活动释放的两条信息对外资并购至关重要。其一，商务部外资司就”引进来””走出去”政策进行系统解读：在”引进来”方面，重申自 2025 年以来优化营商环境的一系列举措，包括 2026 年 6 月《行动方案》，以及升级内地与香港、澳门 CEPA、在服务业领域对港澳投资者率先开放；在”走出去”方面，指出对外投资稳步增长、内地与香港投资合作更加紧密。
其二，商务部投资促进事务局介绍了服务双向企业的路径：用好投洽会这一国家级平台，依托境外产业园等出海促进机制，并与上海虹桥国际商务区、苏州工业园区、厦门市集美区等头部集聚区共建出海服务平台，将香港的金融、法律与专业服务优势同内地的项目、园区与企业资源相连接，使更多外资借道香港进入内地、更多内地企业借助香港走向全球。
对外国收购方而言，2026 年 9 月的政策叙事是明确的双向并行：在放宽并便利入境并购的同时，通过结构化平台服务对外投资。
“十五五”规划的部署
“十五五”规划是 2026—2030 年期的首个五年规划，其中单列了吸引和利用外资的专章。在相关举措中，规划明确提出”拓展利用外资方式，完善外资并购管理，拓宽外资投资证券市场渠道”，并强调高质量实施外商投资安全审查、完善全口径外债监管体系。
这一表述将外资并购从交易层面的细分议题提升为规划级承诺，将并购管理与证券市场准入并置为统一的股权投资通道，并借由将安全审查置于同一段落，表明便利与把关同步推进。
并购现代化的《行动方案》支点
《利用外资固稳促优行动方案》（商资发〔2026〕97号）由商务部、国家发展改革委、财政部经国务院同意于 2026 年 6 月 16 日联合印发，是并购变革的操作支点。其并购相关承诺具体明确：
- 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；
- 强化外资并购监管的部门协同；
- 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。
前两项承诺指向市场期待已久的《关于外国投资者并购境内企业的规定》（”10 号令”，2006 年）修订。核心摩擦点已广为人知：2020 年《外商投资法》施行后已不再适用的部分事前审批条款；需要在无审批网关下运行的对价与支付规则；以及 10 号令、修订后的《战略投资管理办法》与信息报告制度之间的衔接。修订版出台前 10 号令仍然有效，但 2026 年的语境强化了政策方向，为交易团队提供了可稳定预期的依据。
三重合规核查并行推进
2026 年文件反复强调的主题是：放宽准入并不放松审查。入境并购交易应从最早的结构设计阶段起，将三项核查作为并行工作流：
- 负面清单准入测试。 确认标的行业在现行负面清单（含自贸区试点负面清单）下属于限制还是禁止。限制类行业仍可能通过合规结构投资，但准入立场须先予厘清。
- 经营者集中申报。 交易达到《反垄断法》营业额或市场份额申报门槛的，须履行强制事先申报，应将其设为交割先决条件。
- 外商投资安全审查。 对国防领域投资，或取得十类重要领域企业实际控制权的投资，可能须在实施前强制申报。
三项核查相互关联但彼此独立：负面清单管行业是否开放，经营者集中管竞争影响，安全审查管国家安全影响。并行推进可避免尽调后期才发现阻断性问题的常见失误。安全审查申报的详细实操——包括 2026 年 9 月的地方服务机制——见本站点关于正定片区申报指引的姊妹篇。
2026 年入境交易实操手册
1. 围绕三重核查构建尽调清单。 发出无约束力要约前，将标的对照负面清单、经营者集中门槛与安全审查范围逐一映射；凡触及十类重要领域或国防相关领域的，尽早启动安全审查筛查。
2. 规划对价与支付结构。 现行 10 号令下，对价可为现金、股权或二者组合，受定价依据、支付期限与评估规则约束。若考虑跨境换股，须确认对价股份是境外上市还是非上市公司股份，因 10 号令与修订后的《战略投资管理办法》处理不同。修订版出台前，切勿假设放宽规则已适用。
3. 为适用制度设计交易结构。 一笔交易可能同时触发未上市境内标的的控股式并购、上市公司战略投资与经营者集中申报；先判定各分支由哪套制度管辖，再安排审批顺序。
4. 显式管理审批时间轴。 构建涵盖信息报告（持续）、经营者集中申报（达标时）与安全审查申报（在范围内时）的时间轴。将安全审查期间视为硬性冻结期——审查期间不得实施投资。
5. 在契合处用足战略投资通道。 依《行动方案》，符合条件的外资股权投资机构可以战略投资者身份参与非相关行业上市公司证券发行；随实施规则成熟，围绕资格与锁定期条件提前布局。
6. 尽早对接地方服务专窗。 正如正定片区 2026 年 9 月指引所示，地方投资服务部门正越来越多地提供申报前辅导与初步预审，可缩短形成完整、规范申报材料的路径。
相关阅读
- 2026 年负面清单与分行业限制地图。
- 修订后的《战略投资管理办法》与证监会再融资战略投资者规则。
- 本站点关于 2026 年 9 月外商投资安全审查申报实操与地方服务机制的姊妹篇。
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》（商资发〔2026〕97号）：https://www.mofcom.gov.cn/zcfb/wgtzgl/art/2026/art_0cfe31a63f9c4bd3869517bc10908c10.html
- 商务部《第26届中国国际投资贸易洽谈会将于2026年9月8日至11日举办》：https://www.mofcom.gov.cn:8443/zwjg/sqfb/oy/art/2026/art_5268bb19fa5a4ad1a07056b791afb9d7.html
- 中国政府网《中国”十五五”规划，为世界提供新机遇》：https://www.gov.cn/yaowen/liebiao/202609/content_7081427.htm
- 国家发展改革委：https://www.ndrc.gov.cn/
- 商务部：https://www.mofcom.gov.cn/