The National Development and Reform Commission ("NDRC") has recently revised and released the Catalogue of Encouraged Industries in the Western Region (2020 Edition, Exposure Draft) (the "Exposure Draft"), which is now open for comments until September 11, 2020.
As stated in the Exposure Draft, the encouraged industries in the western region fall into two categories: the encouraged industries in the existing catalogue of industries, including the Guiding Catalog for Industrial Restructuring and the Catalog of Industries for Encouraged Foreign Investment (implemented according to the latest editions); and the new encouraged industries in the western region, which will be determined by province, autonomous region and municipality directly under the Central Government in the Exposure Draft (if those industries listed are clearly restricted, eliminated or prohibited in the relevant catalogue of industries, they will be ruled out from the category of encouraged ones). For example, the new encouraged industries in Chongqing municipality include 45 items including "service outsourcing, non-financial institution payment services" and "medical institution operation"; while, those in Sichuan province contain 50 items including "broadband network construction and operation, IPv6 equipment and terminal industry, IPv6 technology innovation and application".