On February 20th, the State Council Information Office held a routine policy briefing where Yao Jun, Director of the Planning Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, introduced that by the end of 2024, 2,343 foreign enterprises have been authorized to operate telecommunications services in China. This brings more choices and differentiated services for telecom users.
Yao Jun stated that expanding the opening-up of the telecommunications industry is an important measure in deepening reform comprehensively and advancing institutional reform. It carries positive significance in promoting high-quality development of the industry, integrating into global division of labor and cooperation, and serving the establishment of a new development pattern.
In 2024, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, along with relevant departments, formulated the "Notice on Conducting Pilot Work for Expanding Foreign Access to Value-added Telecommunications Services," which specifies the pilot removal of foreign equity restrictions on several services such as Internet Data Centers (IDC) in Beijing, Shanghai, Hainan, and Shenzhen. This policy has garnered wide attention and positive feedback. Presently, these four locations have held several meetings with foreign enterprises to actively explain the policy, enhance communication and engagement with foreign enterprises, and dozens of foreign enterprises are actively applying to participate.
Yao Jun mentioned that the next step for the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is to accelerate the promotion of the pilot opening-up work, enhance policy interpretation, optimize service management, and support foreign enterprises in participating in the pilot. The goal is to explore more new business models and stimulate market vitality. Meanwhile, based on the pilot situation, the Ministry will continuously improve the opening-up policy and proactively align with high-standard international economic and trade rules to consistently enhance the level of opening-up in the telecommunications field, thereby assisting in the establishment of a higher-level open economy.