Shanghai greenlights foreign-owned hospitals

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clpstaff &clp articles

China has been gradually opening up to wholly foreign-owned medical institutions, but a lack of policies has made it impossible for foreign investors to tap this market. Finally, a framework is in place in Shanghai's Free Trade Zone

In December 2011, the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) and the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) updated the Foreign Investment Industrial Guidance Catalogue (外商投资产业指导目录) (Guidance Catalogue). For the first time, this revision placed foreign investment in medical institutions into the restricted category, up from prohibited.

This was a clear sign that foreign investors, through a wholly foreign-owned enterprise (WFOE), would be permitted to invest in medical institutions. However, until the China (Shanghai) Free Trade Zone was announced in October and the subsequent Tentative Provisions were issued in November, there was no legal framework allowing or governing foreign investment in this area.

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