The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China on Feb 26 officially granted licenses for pilot value-added telecommunications services to four foreign-funded companies based in Shanghai, including subsidiaries set up by Siemens, Bank of China, HSBC, and Liepin. This marks a crucial step forward in Shanghai's implementation of the national strategy to further open up the value-added telecommunications sector.

On April 10, 2024, the Ministry announced the launch of a pilot program for expanded opening-up of value-added telecommunications services in Beijing, Shanghai, Hainan, and Shenzhen, lifting foreign ownership restrictions in various sectors such as internet data centers (IDC), content delivery networks (CDN), and internet service providers (ISP). The aim is to establish a new system for a more open economy.

The four enterprises approved are located in Pudong New Area and the Lin-gang Special Area, spanning emerging fields like digital healthcare, financial technology, and innovative human resource services. Their authorization to operate relevant value-added telecommunications services in Shanghai will infuse international expertise and technological momentum into these industries and the city's overall digital transformation.

By the end of 2024, 2,343 foreign-invested enterprises nationwide had been permitted to operate telecommunications businesses in China. As one of the pilot regions, Shanghai has witnessed an annual average growth rate of 15 percent in the scale of foreign investment in the telecommunications sector over the past three years.