China issues cultural policies for FTZ in Shanghai

China's Ministry of Culture on Sunday published a couple of readjustments on policies regarding the cultural sector in the pilot free trade zone in Shanghai, which was officially inaugurated in this eastern Chinese municipality on the same day. Foreign-funded art performance institutions will be allowed to set up in the zone, no matter whether they are Sino-foreign joint ventures, Sino-foreign cooperative firms or solely foreign-funded ones, according to the new policies. Foreign investors will also be allowed to invest in performance agencies. The new policies will open up the zone to foreign operators of overseas-funded recreational facilities, provided they follow the country's regulations on recreational places. The third major policy change is that foreign game machine manufacturers will be eligible to sell their products in China, merely via their entities registered in the zone. These companies have to apply for official approval about the appearance, the content, and the method of playing the games before they are sold on the domestic market. The new policies are applicable for investors from the country's Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and Taiwan, as well as those living abroad.