China Pledges to Treat State, Private and Foreign Firms Equally

China released new rules promising to treat all firms equally from a regulatory standpoint, whether they are foreign, private Chinese companies or state-owned enterprises.

The new rules, which go into effect immediately, contain a "negative list" of four banned types of business, and a further 147 categories where government permits are needed. For all sectors not on these lists, all companies can "enter equally," according to the document published by the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Commerce on Tuesday.