China releases Foreign Investments Security Review Measures to strengthen regulatory control over foreign investment

December 2020

The National Development and Reform Commission (“NDRC”) and the Ministry of Commerce (“MOFCOM”) jointly released the Foreign Investments Security Review Measures (Decree No.37, “SRM”) on December 19, 2020, with the aim to effectively prevent and defuse national security risks while actively promoting foreign investment. The SRM is based on the Foreign Investment Law of the People's Republic of China (“FIL”) and requires foreign investors to pass relevant reviews from the perspective of national security when investing in specific areas. The SRM will come into force on January 18, 2021 and will have major and material impacts on foreign investment projects in certain areas of investment.