China to ease ownership rules on oil exploration, gas pipelines

China to ease ownership rules on oil exploration, gas pipelines

China is easing foreign access to a range of industries including oil, mining and city gas pipelines as the government follows through on pledges to open its economy to foreigners.

CNPC ‘nodding donkeys’ oil pumps pump oil during a storm in Daqing, Heilongjiang province, China. (Bloomberg pic)
SHANGHAI:
China is easing foreign access to a range of industries including oil, mining and city gas pipelines as the government follows through on pledges to open its economy to foreigners.

China will scrap the need for joint ventures in oil and gas exploration, and for domestic control of gas networks in cities with more than 500,000 people, the National Development and Reform Commission said on its website Sunday. The statement formed an update to the commission’s so-called negative list of industries where overseas investors are restricted or banned.

The new rules take effect on July 30. The commission said it will also scrap all the restrictions not mentioned in the negative list by the end of this year.

The announcement comes a day after the US and China struck a truce in their trade war and agreed to resume talks, while President Donald Trump said he’d delay restrictions against Huawei Technologies Co. China has already announced an easing of restrictions on ownership of banks, car manufacturing and insurance firms before the dispute with the US worsened.

The latest easing applies to a diverse group of sectors, from molybdenum mining, call centres and shipping brokers, to plants, cinemas and rice-paper manufacturing.

“China is sticking to the opening-up policy and continuing to ease market access, despite the fact that globalisation is currently hampered by unilateralism and protectionism, and cross-border investment is affected by trade frictions,” the commission said in its statement.

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