New MOFCOM rules promote expansion in overseas markets

Recently, the PRC government issued a series of important rules and regulations to promote outbound investment by Chinese companies. Among these are new regulatory measures issued by two of the primary authorities responsible for approving overseas investments.

On 6 September 2014 the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) issued a new version of its Measures on the Administration of Overseas Investment (MOFCOM Measures), which went into effect on 6 October. The MOFCOM Measures supplant the Measures for the Administration of Overseas Investment issued in 2009 (2009 Measures). The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) also issued the Measures on the Administration of Approval and Record-filing on Overseas Investment Projects (NDRC Measures) on 8 April 2014, which went into effect on 8 May.

This column focuses on the new changes introduced in the MOFCOM Measures. In the following issues, we will introduce the NDRC Measures and matters to be noted when completing the filing and application procedures for outbound investment projects in practice.

Compared with the 2009 Measures, the MOFCOM Measures contains a number of significant changes that generally relax previous approval requirements on PRC companies investing abroad.

Zhang Jida and Owen Yang are partners in the Beijing office of DaHui Lawyers