Beijing will open its arm by the end of this year to foreign companies related to internet business, allowing foreign capitals to provide online games downloading and online audio-visual program services on the basis of content supervision and data security.
The plan will be carried out under the city's three-year project of expanding the reform and opening-up in the service industry, The Beijing News reported Thursday.
Sixteen measures for further reform and opening-up of internet information industry are listed on the capital's schedule.
Regarding value added services of telecommunications, Beijing will relax the requirements for foreign investment in domestic virtual private network services (VPN) in the demonstration zones. However, the proportion of foreign-invested stocks shall not exceed 50%, in the field of VPN services, the report said.
Regulations issued by China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology(MIIT) in January 2017 stipulated that without approval, all basic telecommunication companies and Internet access service providers are barred from setting up or renting special lines (including VPNs) to carry out cross-border operations.
Beijing's local government will provide service platforms to help companies start operation in Beijing, as well as online platforms and updated regulations for big data management and supervision.
The three-year undertaking aims to establish 10 pilot projects for an opening-up system of internet information service industry in accordance with present policies.
