China’s top economic planner has moved to reassure international markets regarding the country’s stance on foreign capital in the technology sector. During a press conference on Friday, Li Chao, a spokesperson for the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), stated unequivocally that China has never required its technology companies to reject foreign investment. The clarification comes amid heightened scrutiny of cross-border tech investments and growing concerns about the decoupling of the U.S. and Chinese technology ecosystems.
“Opening up is China’s basic state policy,” Li told reporters. “China supports its enterprises in integrating into the global innovation network and engaging in mutually beneficial international exchanges and cooperation.” The statement appears designed to counter narratives that Beijing is actively pushing foreign capital out of its most sensitive and strategic industries.
A Direct Response to the Manus Controversy
The NDRC’s comments follow a period of intense speculation regarding the role of foreign investment in Chinese AI companies. The backdrop is the ongoing saga surrounding Manus, the Chinese AI agent startup whose acquisition by Meta was blocked by the NDRC on national security grounds in April. Just days prior to Friday’s press conference, Bloomberg reported that Manus’s founders were seeking $1 billion to buy back their company from Meta, raising questions about whether Beijing’s intervention had effectively closed the door on foreign investment in frontier AI companies.
While Li did not mention specific companies, the timing of the press conference suggests a deliberate effort to clarify the government’s broader policy framework. The NDRC appears to be drawing a careful distinction: the Manus case was a specific national security determination, not a general prohibition on foreign investment in Chinese tech. By making this distinction explicit, Beijing is attempting to reassure the international investment community that China remains open for business, even as it maintains the right to review and block transactions that it deems to pose security risks.
Managing Risks While Maintaining Openness
Li stressed that while foreign investment is welcome, it must comply with Chinese laws and regulations and must not harm China’s national security or interests. This caveat highlights the delicate balancing act Beijing is attempting to perform: attracting the foreign capital and expertise necessary to drive technological innovation, while simultaneously maintaining strict control over data security and strategic assets.
The spokesperson added that China will continue to implement its Foreign Investment Law, improve its business environment, and properly manage risks. As the global competition for AI supremacy intensifies, the NDRC’s statements signal that China intends to remain integrated with global capital markets, even as it tightens regulatory oversight of its domestic tech champions. The statement is also likely intended to support the broader diplomatic context of the APEC trade ministers’ meeting in Suzhou, where U.S. officials have been actively promoting American AI solutions across Asia and engaging with Chinese counterparts on trade and investment issues.
For foreign investors closely watching China’s AI sector, the NDRC’s clarification offers some reassurance, but the underlying ambiguity remains. The line between “foreign investment that complies with Chinese law” and “foreign investment that harms national security” is drawn by Beijing, and the Manus case demonstrated that this line can be redrawn at any time. The challenge for international investors is to navigate this uncertainty while capturing the significant upside offered by China’s rapidly advancing AI ecosystem.
The NDRC’s statement is also significant in the broader diplomatic context. With APEC trade ministers gathered in Suzhou and the Trump-Xi summit having produced a series of trade and technology agreements, Beijing appears to be deliberately projecting openness and stability to international investors. The statement may be read as part of a coordinated diplomatic messaging strategy designed to reassure foreign capital at a moment when China is simultaneously seeking to attract investment while maintaining strict control over its most strategically sensitive assets. Whether this message will be sufficient to restore confidence among foreign investors who witnessed the Manus reversal remains to be seen. What is clear is that Beijing recognizes the cost of regulatory unpredictability, in lost investment, in damaged trust, and in the broader narrative about China’s reliability as a partner for global technology companies. The NDRC’s public clarification is an attempt to reset that narrative, even if the underlying policy framework that enabled the Manus intervention remains firmly in place.