China announced on Wednesday that it will ease-up on certain restrictions within oil and gas segments. The move is considered by many industry analysts as a crucial step in inviting foreign investments.
According to Xinhua, Beijing has decided to lift joint-venture restrictions that have been holding back foreign investors from exploring opportunities in the world's most populous market.
Many local experts believe the Chinese government is looking to improve its crude oil output as the numbers dropped over the last three years. If Beijing keeps opening up under Chinese laws and integrity, analysts believe oil and gas activity will improve in the coming months.
"China boasts advantages in technologies of exploring conventional oil and natural gas but lags behind some foreign counterparts in unconventional exploration," director of the China Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University, Lin Boqiang, noted.
Lin further explained that opening up Chinese oil and gas resources will "promote international cooperation" in fields that are usually packed with protectionism and unilateralism.
Several international energy firms have expressed optimism over the news. President of British Petroleum China, Yang Xiaoping, said the ease-up will also help enhance China's goals in utilizing clean energy.
China has been working on developing a low-carbon energy model that could lead to the breakthrough in global clean energy use. Industry experts said Beijing's noteworthy move will help hasten the country's clean energy targets that could also benefit other regions that share the same goals.
Over the past few months, Beijing has been making announcements about opening up various sectors that investors around the world have long been interested in. Restrictions are slowly being lifted to help accommodate relevant investments.
On Tuesday, UBS Bank economists noted that China's increased efforts in opening up its economy to the world are working in ways unexpected. According to Business Insider, UBS economist Tao Wang stressed that with or without a trade war, the Chinese market is on the right track.
For Tao and other UBS economic experts, China's decision to open different industries to foreign investments will help strengthen confidence and market sentiment in the country. Tao and others acknowledged that competition will be tougher at first but in the long run, productivity will help balance the competition.
Aside from the oil and gas exploration segment, China also announced earlier this month that new measures have been established to open up a number of financial sectors to international financial institutions.
