China’s efforts to further open up and attract foreign investment has continued, with the city of Beijing unveiling plans to allow overseas firms to invest in virtual private network services within a trial zone by the end of the year, said the South China Morning Post.
Foreign investors will be allowed to invest in virtual private network (VPN) services, which allow users to bypass China’s firewall to access services such as Google and Facebook which are currently blocked, although foreign ownership in such providers will be capped at 50%, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Commerce announced on Thursday.
The relaxation of the restrictions, which was approved by the State Council in January, “is meant to attract foreign telecom operators to come and provide VPN services for foreign-invested companies in Beijing,” according to the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Commerce.