More than twelve years after the promulgation in 2003 of the Catalogue of Telecommunications Services; the “2003 Catalogue”) China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (“MIIT”) finally promulgated the amended Catalogue of Telecommunications Services on December 25, 2015 the “2015 Catalogue”), which will take effect from March 1, 2016. On December 28, 2014, MIIT also released on its website an Interpretation of the 2015 Catalogue of Telecommunications Services by Relevant Responsible Persons of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology; the “Interpretation”), which provides helpful guidance on the policy goals informing the drafting of the 2015 Catalogue.

The Telecommunications Catalogue is a critical element of China’s telecommunications regulatory system. It identifies and categorizes telecommunications services for the purposes of the licensing regime and operating rules set out in the underlying Telecommunications Regulations. A first version was issued in 2000, followed relatively shortly by the 2003 Catalogue. The intervening 12 years has seen significant changes in both technology and business models and a revamping of the 2003 Catalogue was greatly overdue. As we discussed in our June 13, 2013 alert, the MIIT released in 2013 for public comment of a draft revised Catalogue of Telecommunications Services; the “2013 Draft”). The 2015 Catalogue is heavily based on the 2013 Draft but also involves some significant refinements in the categorization of telecommunications services. The 2015 Catalogue clarifies significantly the regulatory treatment of a host of cloud-based and other on-line services that were previously in a grey area under the 2003 Catalogue. We outline below some of the more significant provisions of the 2015 Catalogue and discuss its likely implications for foreign investors in China’s telecommunications sector.