Fresh investment opportunities will take place in telecommunications and urban infrastructure, such as heating and water supply and treatment.

This breakthrough in China's foreign investment policy was included in the nation's newly revised foreign investment directory.

The directory, which will take effect on April 1, was recently set down by the State Development Planning Commission (SDPC), the State Economic and Trade Commission and the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation.

It was based on investment guidance approved by the State Council last month stating how China will expand cooperation with foreign investors.

In the new directory - which is available at www.sdpc.gov.cn - the government has made public the State's investment priorities, and what sectors are open to foreigners with restrictions and what areas are still forbidden to overseas investors.

In particular, it appeals for capital in agricultural technology, transportation, energy and the new materials industry.

The service industry - including banking, telecommunications, securities, insurance and tourism - will gradually become another focal point of cooperation.

In the past two decades, China has mainly opened its manufacturing industry to overseas investors, and the nation will continue to encourage foreigners to invest in basic industries, infrastructure construction and environmental protection.

The new foreign investment directory is tailored to the commitments China made when becoming a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), said an official with the SDPC, the country's highest economic planning authority.

Compared with the old foreign investment directory which has been in effect since the end of 1997, the government has opened more sectors for foreigners to invest in.

China's WTO entry has boosted economic co-operation with foreign countries and investors, and the government should grasp the opportunity, said Bai Hejin, president of China Academy of Macroeconomics Research under the SDPC.

(China Daily March 19, 2002)