SZ to pilot lifting foreign ownership limit in value-added telecom services

Shenzhen, along with Beijing, Shanghai, and Hainan Province, have been chosen to pilot expanding opening up in value-added telecom services, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced yesterday. The pilot program will allow foreign investors to operate wholly owned businesses such as internet data centers and engage in online data processing and transaction processing. They can also gain greater access to China’s cloud computing service and computing power service markets. Previously, foreign investors were only allowed to hold a 50% share of electronic data interchange and networked electronic devices data processing businesses.