By Hao Zhou (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2007-11-08 15:19

Foreign investment can go to Chinese futures companies from December 1, but the biggest stakeholder must be Chinese, according to the latest Catalogue of Industries for Guiding Foreign Investment. The Shanghai Securities News reported today.

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The catalogue, jointly revised by the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Commerce, will enter into force at the beginning of next month.

Futures companies moved to the restricted financial industry list from the forbidden list, in the last version of the catalogue. But it stressed that Chinese shareholders of these futures companies must overwhelm foreign shareholders.

Guo Tianyong, director of the China Banking Research Center under the Central University of Finance and Economics, said China's futures market was still at its infancy several years ago.

However, as futures products diversify and grow larger and mature and are joined by stock index futures and gold futures, it is accordant to remove the ban on foreign investment in the futures industry, he said.

In the meantime, the new catalogue also adjusts foreign investment conditions on securities and insurance firms, both coming in the restricted industries list.

With no more than one third possession by foreign capital, a joint securities venture is restricted to underwriting A shares, as well as underwriting and trading B shares, H shares, and governmental and corporate bonds.

With respect to the insurance industry, the 51 percent limit in investing non-life insurers is eliminated, while the 50 percent limit in venturing life insurance companies remains valid.