Tom,
you are really every where.
"(COMTEX) B: China bans foreign operation of telecoms, including Inter
B: China bans foreign operation of telecoms, including Internet
BEIJING, Sep 14, 1999 (AP Worldstream via COMTEX) -- In a step with
implications for one of China's fastest-growing industries, a senior
official said Tuesday the government will enforce its ban on foreign
investment in operating Internet and other telecoms services.
Several major Chinese Internet companies already are part-owned by
foreign Internet or media firms. Foreigners also are involved in
operating web sites and other Internet-related companies based in
China.
Minister of Information Industry Wu Jichuan said that since 1993,
Chinese regulations have 'clearly stipulated that no foreign
investment is allowed in the operation of telecoms networks and
services.'
Speaking at a news conference, Wu said that China does allow foreign
investment in manufacturing and development of telecoms equipment.
He did not respond to questions about how the government would enforce
its ban on foreign investment in telecoms or specify how it applied to
Internet-related businesses.
The British newspaper Financial Times reported Tuesday that Minister Wu
had said foreign investment in Internet-related services was banned. Wu
said his comments had been misinterpreted but did not explain how.
'China's government still needs to strengthen its management over the
information content business,' the Financial Times quoted Wu as
saying.
'So, whether or not it is an ICP (Internet content provider) or an ISP
(Internet service provider), it is about value-added services. In
China, the service area is not open.'
The Ministry of Information Industry, which runs China's
telecommunications and postal networks, has sought to shut out foreign
competitors from a markets it views as strategically important.
China's long-sought entry into the World Trade Organization could force
that market open, obliging the ministry to loosen those restrictions.
Pressed to discuss how the ministry and China Telecoms, its monopoly
phone company, would cope with foreign competition, Wu acknowledged
that membership in world trade's rule-making body would present 'both
opportunities and challenges.'
'If China enters the WTO the ministry must implement any commitments
made by the Chinese government,' he said. 'We will do a good job of
strengthening the telecoms sector whether we enter WTO or not.'
The government last year ruled out the use of an investment mechanism
that had let foreign telephone companies become minority partners in
Chinese phone services, evading the ban on foreign ownership.
The number of Internet users in China surged past 4 million in June, up
from 2.1 million at the end of last year, according to the China
Internet Network Information Center.
That explosive growth made the first overseas listing by a Chinese
Internet company in July a huge success. Foreign investors snapped up
shares worth dlrs 96.9 million in Hong Kong-based China.com, which is 8
percent owned by U.S. Internet access provider American Online Inc.
Dow Jones and Co., the publisher of the Wall Street Journal newspapers,
has a minority stake in Beijing-based Internet service" |
