According to the new Provisions on the Administration of Foreign-funded Telecommunications Enterprises amended by the State Council of China, the minimum registered capital of a foreign-funded telecom enterprise in China is reduced from CNY2 billion to CNY1 billion.

This decision is viewed as a strategy to further attract foreign investment to promote the development of China's telecommunication industry, which will soon be more open, and to gain technical support from international partners.

The new provisions say that for a foreign-funded telecom enterprise that is engaged in the basic telecom business of the whole country or involving more than one Chinese province or autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government, its registered capital should not be less than CNY1 billion; and if a foreign-funded telecom enterprise is engaged in the value-added telecom businesses, its registered capital should not be less than CNY10 million.

In fact, facing the Chinese telecommunication industry which will soon launch its 3G mobile phone services, foreign telecom giants have been fully prepared. By September 2006, China's relevant departments had received 29 applications from foreign-funded telecom enterprises and all of the applications are for mobile Internet businesses.