China has released the 2025 edition of the Catalogue of Industries Encouraging Foreign Investment, a calibrated update to one of its most consequential policy tools for guiding inbound capital. Approved by the State Council and jointly issued by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), the catalogue was made public on December 25, 2025.

Speaking to the media, a MOFCOM official described the revision as part of a broader effort to improve policy predictability and better align foreign investment with China’s medium-term development priorities, as set out in the forthcoming 15th Five-Year Plan (2026–2030).

The 2025 catalogue contains 1,679 encouraged items, a net increase of 205 compared with the 2022 version, alongside 303 revisions. Its structure remains unchanged:

• The National Catalogue, applicable nationwide, lists 619 items.

• The Regional Catalogue, covering central and western China, the northeast and Hainan, includes 1,060 items.

The numbers themselves matter less than the direction they indicate: a continued preference for selective openness rather than blanket liberalisation.

Advanced manufacturing remains the backbone of the national list. Newly encouraged areas include nucleic acid drug development, zero-magnetic medical equipment, intelligent inspection instruments, high-speed cameras, smart energy management systems, deep-sea underwater robotics, key equipment for gas-fired power generation, and core robotic components.

The emphasis is consistent with China's long-running industrial policy logic: attract foreign capital and expertise where technological spillovers and productivity gains are most likely.

At the same time, the catalogue widens its lens on modern services. Additions range from new-materials technology platforms and high-end shipping services to virtual power plant operations. On the consumer side, sectors such as pet healthcare, sports tourism, travel agency services, camping and homestay operations, property management, and internet-enabled healthcare now fall within the encouraged scope.

Regional differentiation is more pronounced in the 2025 edition. New entries reflect local comparative advantages: cruise tourism in Liaoning, ice and snow equipment manufacturing in Heilongjiang, intelligent lifting machinery in Henan, marine ecological restoration in Hainan, agricultural machinery for hilly terrain in Chongqing, computing infrastructure in Guizhou, and wind farm operations in Qinghai.

For foreign investors, these regional listings are often as consequential as national ones, shaping access to land, taxation and local administrative support.