Recently, the National Development and Reform Commission ("NDRC") has formulated the Internet Market Access Negative List (the First Batch, for Trial Implementation) (Draft for Comment) (the "Draft for Comment") for public comments before November 4, 2016.
The Draft for Comment preliminarily lists a batch of investments and operations that are prohibited or restricted in the field of internet within the territory of the People's Republic of China, encompassing a total of 36 items. In particular, six items are prohibited from access, including "P2P lending information intermediaries are not allowed to provide credit enhancement services, to collect or gather funds directly or indirectly, or to illegally raise funds. The other 30 items are subject to restricted access, including "operators applying for engaging in car-hailing services shall be qualified to provide such services both online and offline", "insurance institutions shall have a self-operated network platform to conduct the Internet insurance business" and "no non-financial institution or individual is allowed to engage in payment services (including Internet payment) directly or in a disguised manner without the approval of the People's Bank of China. The Draft for Comment is based on all the items arisen before September 30, 2016.