bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Eric Ng

China is preparing to allow foreign companies to invest in the country's cable-television industry.

The People's Daily Overseas Edition said yesterday that new rules were being planned to regulate foreign investment in a move analysts said would help to address the lack of clarity in the existing regulatory regime.

China does not allow foreign investments in its cable-television industry.

This announcement has come as a Hong Kong company is expanding its mainland cable-television joint ventures, in a move which underlines Beijing's willingness to allow foreign investment in the sector.

CVN Group, 33 per cent held by Hong Kong-listed building contractor and multimedia network developer Prosper eVision, yesterday received approval to set up its 10th cable television joint venture in the mainland, according to a source familiar with the agreement.

It is not clear how large a stake a foreign company will be allowed to own under the new rules.

The newspaper said that the State Council was expected to approve the rules before the end of this year. They would be submitted for lawmakers' consideration next year.

CVN had been allowed to set up a joint venture with the Jiangxi Province Broadcasting and Television Bureau, in which it would hold a 49 per cent stake, the source said.

The bureau would inject the province's entire cable network into the joint venture, in exchange for the CVN Group's injection of 1.5 billion yuan (about HK$1.42 billion) over six years, he added.

The deal is scheduled to be signed tomorrow.

Jiangxi will be the second province in which CVN has been allowed to own cable network assets.

About two years ago, CVN acquired a 49 per cent control over the cable network of Baoding city, Hebei province.

CVN's 49 per cent investments in joint ventures in the eight other provinces were limited to interactive cable television projects and did not include ownership of cable network assets.

Acquisition deals completed by the company have aroused analysts' concern over their legality, despite endorsements and participation by provincial authorities.

Analysts are worried the deals may not be announced by the central government, which has not announced official approval for foreign investment in the sensitive media industry.

The planned rules are expected to give a clearer legal framework. China is slowly opening up its tightly-controlled media industry.

Under a bilateral agreement between China and the United States in World Trade Organisation talks last November, foreigners will be allowed to invest up to 50 per cent in Internet companies two years after China enters the WTO.

Investments in newspapers remain banned.

According to rules passed by the cabinet last September, content that is 'subversive', threatening to the reunification of China or the stability of Communist Party rule and social security should be blocked from all portals.

Portal operators are also required to keep detailed records of Internet users who spread subversive content, for two months.

In addition to broadcasting content to Jiangsu's more than three million cable-television subscribers, CVN's joint venture can also invest in network upgrade projects to enable interactive television and e-commerce applications, the source said.



New regulation could open door for early investment by foreign firms in mainland television infrastructure