- The revised Measures (six agencies, Order No. 3, 2024; published 1 Nov 2024, effective 2 Dec 2024) are the governing rule for foreign strategic investment in A-share listed companies.
修订后的《办法》（六部门，第3号令，2024；2024年11月1日公布，2024年12月2日施行）是外国投资者对A股上市公司战略投资的主管规则。- Qualifying methods are three: directed new issue, agreement transfer, and tender offer — all requiring medium-to-long-term holding of A-shares.
合格方式三种：上市公司定向发行新股、协议转让、要约收购——均须中长期持有A股。- The 2024 revision allows foreign natural persons, eases asset thresholds (USD 50m owned / USD 3bn managed for non-controlling; USD 100m / USD 500m for controlling), and permits overseas unlisted-company equity in directed issues and tender offers (cross-border share swap).
2024修订允许外国自然人、放宽资产门槛（非控股实有5000万美元/管理3亿美元；控股1亿/5亿美元），并允许定向发行与要约收购中使用境外非上市公司股权（跨境换股）。- The holding-ratio requirement for agreement transfer / tender offer is cut from 10% to 5% (and eliminated for directed issues); the lock-up is cut from three years to twelve months (or longer if other rules require).
协议转让/要约收购的持股比例要求由10%降至5%（定向发行取消比例）；锁定期由3年降至12个月（其他规则有更长要求从其规定）。- No commerce-department approval is needed; the deal runs through information reporting and securities-market rules, with interfaces to security review and merger control preserved.
无需商务部门审批；交易经信息报告与证券市场规则办理，安全审查与经营者集中接口保留。- Restrictions bind: no investment in negative-list prohibited sectors; restricted sectors must meet the list’s equity/management conditions; and security review applies where national security is or may be affected.
限制有效：不得投资负面清单禁止领域；限制领域须满足清单股权/管理条件；影响或可能影响国家安全的须通过安全审查。
Strategic Investment in Chinese Listed Companies by Foreign Investors (2024 Rules in Force for 2026) | 外国投资者对上市公司战略投资（2024规则2026年适用）
The rule that governs listed-company stake-building
For a foreign investor taking a strategic stake in a Chinese A-share listed company, the governing instrument is the revised *Measures for the Administration of Strategic Investment in Listed Companies by Foreign Investors*. Adopted at the 13th ministerial executive meeting of MOFCOM on 15 August 2024, agreed by CSRC, SASAC, the State Taxation Administration, SAMR and SAFE, it was promulgated as six-agency Order No. 3 of 2024 on 1 November 2024 and took effect on 2 December 2024, repealing the 2005 version. In 2026 it is the live framework, and every foreign strategic investment in a listed company routes through it.
“Strategic investment” here means a foreign investor acquiring and medium-to-long-term holding A-shares through a listed company’s directed new issue (定向发行), agreement transfer (协议转让) or tender offer (要约收购), or other legally permitted means. The statutory principles are clear: comply with law, no harm to national security or public interest, open/fair/just treatment, medium-to-long-term investment (no speculation), and no exclusion or restriction of competition.
Who qualifies, and how
A foreign investor is a foreign natural person, enterprise or other organisation. To qualify, the investor must be lawfully established and operating, financially sound, creditworthy, with mature management experience, sound governance and internal controls; a foreign natural person must have corresponding risk-identification and risk-bearing capacity. Asset thresholds were eased in 2024: a non-controlling investor needs owned tangible assets of no less than USD 50 million or managed tangible assets of no less than USD 3 billion; a controlling investor needs USD 100 million owned or USD 500 million managed. The investor must not have suffered criminal punishment or a major regulatory penalty at home or abroad in the prior three years.
Crucially, the 2024 revision allows foreign natural persons to make strategic investment (previously excluded). It also permits cross-border share swaps: where the investor uses equity in an overseas company, or its own newly issued shares, as consideration, the overseas company must be lawfully established in a jurisdiction with a sound company-law system and its management must not have had a major regulatory penalty in three years; for agreement-transfer structures, that overseas company must itself be listed.
Three methods and the relaxed thresholds
The three permitted methods each carry a tailored path:
- Directed new issue — the foreign investor subscribes new A-shares as a pre-determined or competitively determined issuer. The 2024 revision eliminates the prior 10% minimum holding requirement for this method.
- Agreement transfer — the acquired stake must be no less than 5% of issued shares (cut from 10%).
- Tender offer — the预定的 acquired stake must be no less than 5% (cut from 10%).
The lock-up was cut from no less than three years to no less than twelve months (longer if the Securities Law, the Acquisition Management Measures or the Securities Issuance Registration Measures require). Shares acquired via strategic investment may not be transferred within 12 months; transfers before expiry are permitted only for death, legal-person termination or court enforcement, subject to securities rules.
These changes directly lower the cost and raise the flexibility of a foreign strategic position — a 5% agreement-transfer stake with a one-year lock is a fundamentally different proposition from the old 10%/three-year regime.
Information reporting, not approval
Post-Foreign-Investment-Law, strategic investment no longer requires commerce-department approval. The investor and the listed company file foreign-investment information after completion (and after each shareholding change exceeding 5% or a change in foreign control/relative-control status). Securities-market disclosure and other obligations under the Securities Law and CSRC/ exchange rules apply.
Intermediaries (financial advisers, sponsors or law firms registered in China) must conduct due diligence and issue opinions on compliance — notably whether the investment affects national security, touches the negative list, and meets the qualification conditions. If the opinion finds non-compliance, the securities registration and clearing institution will not process the relevant procedures. This makes intermediary selection and a clean due-diligence file decisive to a successful closing.
Negative list and security interfaces
Two hard limits bind. First, the negative list: a foreign investor may not strategically invest in a listed company in a sector the negative list prohibits; where the list restricts a sector, the investment must satisfy the list’s equity and senior-management conditions. Second, security review: if the investment affects or may affect national security, the *Foreign Investment Security Review Measures* apply (see the dedicated article in this series). Third, merger control: if the strategic investment constitutes a concentration reaching the State Council thresholds, SAMR notification is required before implementation.
The 2024 revision also clarifies carve-outs: QFII/RQFII investments, Stock Connect (沪深港通) investments, shares obtained when a foreign-invested joint-stock company lists on A-shares, and certain foreign-natural-person secondary-market or incentive purchases are outside the Measures but remain subject to other rules. A foreign investor’s aggregate holdings through multiple channels (including QFII/RQFII and Connect) must still respect the sector limits and control caps.
What to do next
- Confirm the target’s sector against the negative list before structuring — prohibited sectors are out, restricted sectors need list-compliant conditions.
- Choose the method by intent: directed issue (no min ratio, flexible), agreement transfer or tender offer (≥5%, one-year lock).
- Prepare the asset-evidence package (USD 50m/USD 3bn, or USD 100m/USD 500m if controlling) and the three-year clean-record proof.
- Engage a China-registered intermediary early for the compliance opinion; non-compliant opinions block registration.
- Route the filing through information reporting, not commerce approval, and respect disclosure duties.
- Screen security review and merger control in parallel; they can override an otherwise clean strategic investment.
Post-investment obligations and the reporting cadence
After closing, the obligations continue. The investor and the listed company must file foreign-investment information upon completion, and again each time the foreign shareholding changes by more than 5% or the foreign control / relative-control status changes. Securities-law disclosure duties (change-of-interest reports, tender-offer documents, voting-right disclosures) run in parallel. The 12-month lock-up bars transfer except for death, legal-person termination or court enforcement; breaches can draw warnings, fines or a prohibition on exercising voting or disposing shares until cured.
Aggregation with QFII and Connect holdings
A subtle trap is aggregation. The Measures carve out QFII/RQFII and Stock Connect investments, but the intermediary’s due-diligence opinion must state the investor’s and its concert parties’ total holdings across all channels — including those carve-outs — to confirm the sector limits and control caps are respected. A foreign investor that holds 4% via QFII and seeks a 5% strategic agreement-transfer stake therefore approaches, and must plan around, the relevant sector ceiling and any control test. Modelling the combined position before signing avoids a last-minute structure change.
A short worked example
A foreign investment fund (not a natural person) wishes a 5% strategic stake in an A-share manufacturer via agreement transfer, with no board control. It must evidence USD 50m owned or USD 3bn managed, a clean three-year record, and engage a China-registered intermediary for the compliance opinion. Post-closing, it files investment information and respects the 12-month lock-up. Because it holds no board seat and under 50%, “actual control” is unlikely — but if the manufacturer is in a negative-list restricted sector, the investment must still meet the list’s equity/senior-management conditions, and the 5% stake plus any QFII holding must be aggregated for the sector ceiling. The structure is lawful and light, exactly the 2024 revision’s intent.
外国投资者对上市公司战略投资（2024规则2026年适用）
管辖上市公司入股的规则
外国投资者对中国A股上市公司进行战略入股，主管文件为修订后的《外国投资者对上市公司战略投资管理办法》。该办法于2024年8月15日经商务部第13次部务会议审议通过，并经证监会、国资委、税务总局、市场监管总局、外汇局同意，2024年11月1日以六部门2024年第3号令公布，2024年12月2日施行，同时废止2005年版。2026年它是现行框架，一切外国投资者对上市公司的战略投资均经此办理。
此处”战略投资”指外国投资者通过上市公司定向发行新股、协议转让、要约收购或其他法定方式，取得并中长期持有A股股份。法定原则明确：遵守法律，不危害国家安全与社会公共利益，公开、公平、公正，中长期投资（不得炒作），不妨碍公平竞争、不排除限制竞争。
谁合格、如何投资
外国投资者指外国的自然人、企业或其他组织。合格须依法设立经营、财务稳健、资信良好、具成熟管理经验、治理与内控健全；外国自然人须具备相应风险识别与承担能力。资产门槛在2024年放宽：非控股股东实有资产总额不低于5000万美元或管理实有资产总额不低于3亿美元；控股股东实有资产总额不低于1亿美元或管理不低于5亿美元。近3年未受境内外刑事处罚或监管重大处罚。
关键的是，2024修订允许外国自然人战略投资（此前排除）。亦允许跨境换股：投资者以持有境外公司股权或以其增发股份作为支付手段的，境外公司须依法设立、注册地具完善公司法律制度、管理层近3年未受重大处罚；协议转让方式下该境外公司须为上市公司。
三种方式与放宽门槛
三种允许方式各有路径：
- 定向发行——外国投资者作为董事会预先确定或竞价确定的发行对象认购新股。2024修订取消此方式原10%最低持股要求。
- 协议转让——取得股份比例不得低于已发行股份5%（由10%降至5%）。
- 要约收购——预定收购比例不得低于已发行股份5%（由10%降至5%）。
锁定期由不低于3年降至不低于12个月（若《证券法》《收购管理办法》《证券发行注册管理办法》有更长要求从其规定）。战略投资取得A股12个月内不得转让；期满前仅因死亡、法人终止或司法扣划等方可转让，并须遵守证券规则。
这些变化直接降低了外国战略持仓的成本、提升了灵活性——5%协议转让加一年锁定期，与旧制10%/3年全然不同。
信息报告而非审批
《外商投资法》后，战略投资不再需商务审批。投资者与上市公司在完成后（及每次持股变动超5%或外资控股/相对控股地位变化后）报送外商投资信息。证券法及证监会、交易所规则下的信息披露等义务适用。
中介机构（中国注册的财务顾问、保荐机构或律所）须尽职调查并就合规性出具意见——尤其是否影响国家安全、是否触及负面清单、是否符合资格条件。若意见认定不合规，证券登记结算机构不予办理相关手续。这使得中介机构选择与干净的尽调档案成为成功交割的关键。
负面清单与安全审查接口
两道硬约束。其一，负面清单：外国投资者不得对负面清单禁止领域上市公司战略投资；限制领域须满足清单股权与高管条件。其二，安全审查：影响或可能影响国家安全的，适用《外商投资安全审查办法》（见本系列专文）。其三，经营者集中：若战略投资构成达国务院门槛的集中，须在实施前通知SAMR。
2024修订亦明确排除情形：QFII/RQFII投资、沪深港通投资、外商投资股份公司A股上市取得股份、以及符合证监会规定的外国自然人二级市场或股权激励取得，不在本办法范围但仍受其他规则约束。外国投资者经多通道（含QFII/RQFII与互联互通）的合计持股仍须遵守行业限制与控制上限。
下一步
- 架构设计前将目标行业对照负面清单——禁止领域排除，限制领域须满足清单条件。
- 按意图选方式：定向发行（无最低比例、灵活）、协议转让或要约收购（≥5%、一年锁定期）。
- 准备资产证明包（5000万/3亿，或控股1亿/5亿）及三年无处罚记录。
- 尽早聘请中国注册中介机构出具合规意见；不合规意见将阻断登记。
- 经信息报告而非商务审批路径申报，并遵守披露义务。
- 并行筛查安全审查与经营者集中，二者可推翻原本干净的战略投资。
投资后义务与申报节奏
交割后义务仍在继续。投资者与上市公司须于完成后报送外商投资信息，并在外国持股变动超5%或外资控股/相对控股地位变化后再次报送。证券法下的披露义务（权益变动报告、要约收购文件、表决权披露）并行适用。12个月锁定期禁止转让，仅死亡、法人终止或司法扣划除外；违约可招致警告、罚款或暂停表决权与处分权直至纠正。
与QFII及互联互通持股的合并计算
一个隐蔽陷阱是合并计算。《办法》排除QFII/RQFII与沪深港通投资，但中介尽调意见须列示投资者及其一致行动人经所有通道（含上述排除）的合计持股，以确认遵守行业限制与控制上限。故通过QFII持有4%、又拟以协议转让战略持股5%的外国投资者，已逼近且须筹划相关行业上限与控制测试。签约前建模合并持仓，可避免临门更改结构。
简例演示
某外国投资基金（非自然人）拟以协议转让取得某A股制造商5%战略股，不谋董事会控制。它须证明实有5000万美元或管理3亿美元、三年无处罚记录，并聘请中国注册中介出具合规意见。交割后报送投资信息、遵守12个月锁定期。因其无董事席位且低于50%，”实际控制”大概率不触发——但若制造商处负面清单限制领域，投资仍须满足清单股权/高管条件，且5%持股与任何QFII持仓须合并计算行业上限。该结构合法且轻量，正是2024修订的用意。
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