Wenzhou approved to make private ODI

Wenzhou (CNS) -- Wenzhou's private outbound direct investment plan has got Beijing's approval, according to the local government, Thursday.

It had been halted for one year, partly owing to the private loan crisis in 2010. Premier Wen Jiabao announced on Wednesday to set up a financial reform pilot zone in Wenzhou, focusing on exploring convenient and regulated channels for private foreign direct investments.

No official approval document has been received by financial authorities in either Zhejiang or Wenzhou, and the exact validation date has not been fixed yet.

The pilot plan allows all Wenzhou citizens, with full capacity for civil conduct and over 18 years of age, to acquire the ownership of, or the rights to control and manage, a non-financial foreign company, by means of new registers, mergers or stock purchases.

During the pilot phase, US$ 3 million was given as the upper limit of capital for a single outbound investment, and US$ 200 million as an annual total.

Zhejiang companies have been in the lead for the number of national investment cases and total value of investments for several years. In 2011, Wenzhou entrepreneurs invested about US$ 60 million abroad.

Local officials voice different opinions regarding the delay of the authorization file in hardcopy. One attributed it to specific limits, such as the capital threshold, being undetermined as yet. Another considered the indecision to be about whether to launch the Wenzhou operation together with those of Shanghai and Tianjin.