An aerial view of Shanghai File photo: VCG

China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) and five other Chinese government departments on Friday released revised regulations for foreign investment in listed companies, making it much easier for overseas investors to invest in Chinese listed firms, in the country's latest move to further promote high-quality opening-up of the capital market. 

The move aims to attract more high-quality foreign investment for listed enterprises, which will not only help increase foreign investment, but is also conducive to advancing China's industrial upgrading and the sound and stable development of the capital market, according to a statement posted on the MOFCOM's website.

The revised measures mainly reduce the investment threshold in five aspects, aiming to further broaden the channels for foreign investment in the securities market, giving full play to the potential for attracting capital through strategic investment channels, and encouraging foreign investors to carry out long-term and value-based investment, the statement said.

In a major change, under the revised regulations, foreign individuals are now allowed to make strategic investments in listed companies. Previously, only legal entities were allowed to make such investments.  

The revised regulations also reduced the asset requirements for foreign investors. The asset threshold for non-controlling foreign investors has been lowered, now requiring $50 million instead of $100 million for their total assets, and $300 million instead of $500 million for their assets under management.

In addition, the revised regulations also added tender offer, private placement and negotiated transfer as approved investment methods. 

The move is part of China's institutional opening-up in the capital market, which will create more opportunities for global investors to enjoy the dividends of the Chinese market, Hu Qimu, a deputy secretary-general of the digital-real economies integration Forum 50, told the Global Times on Friday. 

Hu noted that the opening-up measure is also necessary from the perspective of China's domestic development, as the country is ramping up efforts to attract foreign investment with advanced technologies, equipment, and information exchanges, which is conducive to promoting domestic industrial development.

The MOFCOM and other government departments also stressed the need to guard against potential risks.   

The revised regulations strengthened supervision and risk prevention in various aspects, including firming up the responsibility of intermediaries, requiring investors to make compliance undertakings at the time of disclosure, and coordinating with foreign investment security review rules and anti-monopoly review rules.  

While steadily promoting opening-up, the strengthened regulation will effectively address management loopholes, prevent and resolve risks, and guard the bottom line of national security, read the statement released by the MOFCOM. 

Strategic investment is the direct acquisition and medium- to long-term holding of shares in a listed company by a specific foreign investor. Since the implementation of the previous measures in 2005, foreign investors have made strategic investments in more than 600 listed companies, per the statement. 

Foreign investors are becoming increasingly bullish on the Chinese market, bolstered by the country's recent incremental policies aimed at vitalizing growth momentum. For example, UBS Investment Bank has raised its China 2024 growth forecast to 4.8 percent from 4.6 percent, while Goldman Sachs has lifted China's GDP prediction this year from 4.7 percent to 4.9 percent, according to Xinhua.