China Regulatory Brief: Lifted Restrictions on Foreign Investment into the Real Estate Sector

August 31, 2015 Posted by China Briefing Reading Time: 4 minutes

China Lifts Restrictions on Foreign Investment into Domestic Real Estate Market

On August 27, the Chinese government announced its plan to lift restrictions on foreign individuals and companies buying real estate property in China, in a move to lift its sluggish domestic property market. It is clarified that foreign individuals, as well as eligible foreign institutions (i.e., branch offices and representative offices that are not engaged in the real estate industry) may now freely purchase commercial real estate for self-use in most parts of China. However, foreign individuals and institutions will still be subject to the city-jurisdiction rules and local property control measures implemented in some cities.

Further, the limit for foreign-invested real estate enterprises to borrow money overseas and make foreign exchange settlements has also been removed. Previously, foreign real estate enterprises were required to pay up the registered capital prior to conducting the above-mentioned businesses.

Yunnan Adjusts its Minimum Wage Levels for 2015

On August 18, the Yunnan Government released its monthly and hourly minimum wage levels for 2015, which will take effect on September 1, 2015. Accordingly, the monthly minimum wage in Yunnan has been adjusted to RMB 1,570 for Class A cities, RMB 1,400 for Class B cities and RMB 1,180 for certain county-level cities (10.24 percent growth). Meanwhile, the hourly minimum wage has been adjusted to RMB 14, RMB 13 and RMB 12, respectively. A complete guide to 2015 minimum wage levels across China can be found here.

China Standardizes Naming of Healthcare Products

On August 25, the State Food & Drug Administration (SFDA) issued the “Notice on Further Standardizing the Naming of Healthcare Products (SFDA Announcement [2015] No.168),” which clarified that, starting October 1, 2015, healthcare produc manufacturers are not allowed to use texts that describe the functions of the product as the products’ name. For healthcare products whose registered name contains texts that describe the functions of the product, the applicant shall apply to the SFDA for changing the name prior to December 31, 2015.

Shanghai Releases Local Food Safety Law

Along with the release of China’s new Food Safety Law, the Shanghai Municipal Government has recently released the “Shanghai Administrative Measures on Food Safety Information,” which will take effect on October 1. According to the Measures, Shanghai will launch a special food safety information tracing platform, which allows consumers to view all the relevant information of food companies. Food producers and traders will be required to create a food safety self-examination and traceability system, and upload their companies’ information such as legal representative, company address, contact information and necessary food license.

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