The Chinese Ministry of Commerce issued a new regulation on commercial enterprises with foreign investment Friday, reducing restrictions on these enterprises.

The new regulation will take effect June 1, when the regulation on experiments of commercial enterprises with foreign investment jointly issued by the former State Economic and Trade Commission and former Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation in 1999 will be abolished.

There are two major changes in the new regulation from the old one. One is that the concept "experiments" has been abandoned, and the other is that restrictions on the number, stock holdings and business scope of these enterprises have been reduced.

The ministry said the new law added the commitments that China made in its access to the World Trade Organization. With the new regulation, it becomes easier for enterprises to enter the market and examining and approving procedures are also simplified.

According to the new regulation, after Dec. 11, commercial enterprises with foreign investment engaged in wholesale can do business relating to medicine and agricultural chemicals and plastic films. Besides these products, commercial enterprises with foreign investment engaged in retail can also do business related to refined oil.

After Feb. 11, 2006, commercial enterprises with foreign investment engaged in wholesale can do business related to chemical fertilizer, refined oil and raw oil. Commercial enterprises with foreign investment engaged in retail can do business related to chemical fertilizer after Dec. 11, 2006.

The regulation still does not permit these enterprises to engage in tobacco business.

According to the new regulation, commercial enterprises completely foreign invested will be permitted to be set up from Dec. 11.

And also from this day, commercial enterprises with foreign investment engaged in retail will no longer be limited in provincial capital.

According to statistics from the ministry, China's commercial field has used foreign funds of more than three billion US dollars since it established experiments of commercial enterprises with foreign investment.

Up to now, there are more than 270 such enterprises and more than 2,200 branches.

(Xinhua News Agency April 17, 2004)