China is to adopt a new national market access system from 2018 for domestic and foreign investors, part of steps to make the market more attractive to them.

The "negative list" system will help to identify sectors and businesses that are off-limits, in addition to the existing investment approval method of specifying categories of "encouraged", "prohibited" and "restricted".

A guideline for adopting a negative list approach for regulating market access was approved at a meeting of the Central Leading Group for Comprehensively Deepening Reforms presided over by President Xi Jinping last week.