What is the Shanghai FTZ Negative list and why was it revised?

The Negative List is an innovative approach to foreign investment adopted exclusively in the Shanghai FTZ, under which foreign investors enjoy equal treatment as Chinese domestic enterprises in any industry not explicitly restricted or prohibited on the List. The Revised Negative List lowered the number of industries restricted for foreign investment by 27 percent, to 139 from a previous total of 190. The majority of these changes were concentrated in the categories of Manufacturing and Transportation, Warehousing, and Postal Services, and to a lesser extent Wholesale & Retail. Additionally, the Revised Negative List clarified many of the restrictions stipulated by the original Negative List on investment in specific industries, for example, mandatory Sino-foreign investment ratios.