An Oriented Opening: China’s 2025 Catalogue and the Governance of Foreign Investment

The new Catalogue of Encouraged Industries for Foreign Investment is not a mere technical update. It is a strategic policy instrument that clarifies how and where China intends to welcome foreign capital today.

1.⁠ ⁠The Catalogue as a governance tool, not a liberalisation measure

The Catalogue operates in conjunction with the Foreign Investment Law and the Negative List: a model of selective and guided opening, functional to the State’s industrial and strategic objectives.

Not “more market”, but an oriented market.

2.⁠ ⁠A broad and substantive revision

• Adopted by NDRC and MOFCOM on 15 December 2025

• Effective as of 1 February 2026

• 1,679 items in total

• ⁠205 new entries and 303 amended items

Figures that point to a deep recalibration, rather than a cosmetic revision.

3.⁠ ⁠The three key policy directions of the 2025 edition

• Advanced manufacturing: high-tech sectors, critical components of strategic value chains, advanced pharmaceuticals, medical devices, industrial robotics, new materials, and specialised marine engineering equipment.

• ⁠Knowledge-intensive services: R&D, digitalisation, advanced logistics, digital healthcare, and services linked to evolving consumer demand.

• Territorial dimension: greater emphasis on the regional catalogues, which are an integral part of the 2025 edition, with a focus on Central and Western China, Northeast China, and Hainan.

4.⁠ ⁠Incentives: why the Catalogue matters in practice

Inclusion in the Catalogue grants access to:

• ⁠targeted tax incentives

• customs benefits for machinery and equipment

• ⁠preferential land-use policies

• administrative simplifications

The Catalogue thus functions as a regulatory multiplier, not a neutral list.

5.⁠ ⁠The strategic context

Against a global backdrop marked by uncertainty and intensified competition for capital, China uses the Catalogue to strengthen its industrial base, support innovation and the green transition, move up global value chains.

Foreign direct investment is welcome, but only if aligned with this trajectory.

The 2025 Catalogue confirms a model of conditional and instrumental opening-up. China does not renounce foreign capital, but actively governs its quality, direction, and geographical allocation.

This is a document to be read not as a list of opportunities, but as a map of the priorities of China’s economic system.