^ Initial Decision (15 business days) . Within 15 business days, a preliminary decision will be made by the FISR as to whether it is necessary to conduct a national security review of the investment. The security review consists of a general review and a special review. If the FISR decides that no security review is required, the parties may move forward with the investment. If not, the parties proceed to the general review. ^ General Review (30 business days). A general review will be completed by the FISR within 30 business days of the initial decision to conduct a national security review. During a review, the FISR may interview the parties and issue requests for information. The investment will be cleared if it is deemed to not affect national security, otherwise the FISR will notify the parties in writing of a decision to initiate a special review process. ^ Special Review (60 business days, extendable). The special review must be completed within 60 business days and may result in either (i) clearance of the investment, (ii) prohibition of the investment or (iii) conditional approval of the investment. Required conditions will be implemented under the supervision of the FISR and relevant local level authorities. These authorities will also be empowered to conduct onsite inspections to verify compliance. Under special circumstances, this 60 working-day review period may be extended by the FISR. Moreover, the FISR may request additional materials from filing parties, and the time taken to provide those materials will not be factored into the statutory review period timeline. The parties may at any time during the review period modify or cancel the proposed investment. If amended, the review period will be recalculated from the date when the FISR receives the revised investment plan from the filing parties. While this issue is not addressed explicitly in the new measures, it is anticipated that decisions of the FISR will be released only to transaction parties and will not be made public. If an approval is conditional, the parties will need to implement the investment according to that plan and
may need to retract any actions taken prior to approval. The FISR has the power to extend this 60 business-day period for a discretionary length of time. The parties are strictly prohibited from closing the transaction or implementing substantive integration prior to obtaining the official clearance. The Review Measures became effective as of January 18, 2021, and aggregate data regarding FISR filings has not been made public on a systematic basis, though the FISR published its first individual enforcement decision in April 2026.
China has issued a raft of sweeping measures over the course of the last several years that will significantly impact non-Chinese investors and the Chinese market. These have developed against the backdrop of China’s long-term policy goals of moving up the technology ladder through industrial policy and rebalancing its economy through increased domestic consumption and self-reliance.
Unreliable Entity List – Scope of Application MOFCOM has stated that the UEL is not intended to target any specific country or entity. However, compliance with foreign sanctions against Chinese individuals or entities (or partners) or cooperation with foreign governmental investigations may be important factors in being designated to the UEL. A non-Chinese entity may be listed on the UEL where it: ^ Endangers the national sovereignty, national security or development interests of China; or
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FDI and National Security Review
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