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The State Council of Nanjing has recently approved a temporary adjustment in the implementation of regulations such as the Interim Regulations on the Registration Administration of Private Non-enterprise Units, Regulation on Travel Agencies, Regulation on the Administration of Entertainment Venues, Regulations on the Administration of Commercial Performances, and the Special Administrative Measures (Negative List) for the Access of Foreign Investment (2021) in Nanjing and five other pilot cities for expanding the opening-up of the service sector. The adjustments related to Nanjing involve six items, including outbound tourism business, performing arts and cultural tourism, and telecommunication services.
According to the Nanjing Municipal Bureau of Commerce, the adjustments related to Nanjing are mainly divided into two categories: one is the elimination of access restrictions, allowing foreign-funded travel agencies that meet certain conditions to engage in outbound tourism business except for Taiwan region, opening up domestic internet VPN services to foreign investment (with a foreign shareholding ratio not exceeding 50%), and removing the foreign shareholding ratio restrictions on value-added telecommunications services such as information service business and internet access services. The other category involves delegating approval authority, mainly including the delegation of approval rights for “entertainment venues established by foreign investors and investors from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan to apply for entertainment venue operation activities”“performance venues and performance brokerage institutions operated by foreign investors and investors from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan” and “commercial performances participated by foreign or Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan regions’ cultural and art performance groups and individuals” to municipal authorities.
Jiangsu has a solid foundation for outbound tours, and allowing foreign-invested travel agencies in Nanjing that meet relevant requirements to engage in related outbound tourism business will further activate the province’s outbound tourism market. This also means that consumers will have a more diverse range of outbound tour products to choose from in the future. Moreover, several opening-up measures for entertainment venues and commercial performances will further promote the prosperity of Nanjing’s cultural and entertainment performance market, facilitating the introduction of excellent domestic and international performance plays and performances into Jiangsu, and boosting its cultural consumption.
To ensure foreign capital can “come in”, it is also essential to improve the “comfort level” of foreign investment. The pilot policy of expanded opening-up aims to further facilitate foreign investment. A responsible person from the Nanjing Communications Industry Administration Office explained that the clearly opened domestic internet VPN services, for example, would facilitate remote access to companies’ internal networks by foreign enterprise employees.
Industry insiders believe that the introduction of these pilot measures for expanding the opening-up of the service sector will not only help Nanjing attract more foreign investment but will also accelerate the internationalization process of Nanjing’s service industry, bringing new momentum to Jiangsu’s economic growth.
