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The
move, effective immediately, will apply to "online data handling
and trade handling services", the ministry said in a statement
on its website. It was not immediately clear how this would
affect e-commerce companies already operating in China.
China's e-commerce industry has been booming, with companies
like Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and JD.com Inc benefitting from a
rising middle class with more disposable income.
Other players include U.S. online retailer Amazon.com Inc,
Vipshop Holdings Ltd and U.S. supermarket chain Wal Mart Stores
Inc, through its stake in shopping site Yihaodian.
Allowing full foreign ownership "supports our country's
e-commerce development, encourages and brings in the active
participation of foreign investment, and further excites market
competition," the ministry said.
In recent years, the government has lent its support to the
industry by keeping taxes low and loosening restrictions on
cross-border trade, among other concessions.
E-commerce and the internet sector more broadly have been
shining stars for Chinese industry.
Companies including Alibaba, social networking and online
entertainment firm Tencent Holdings Ltd and search leader Baidu
Inc account for hundreds of billions of dollars in stock market
capitalization.
Their success comes as the world's second-largest economy grows
at its slowest pace in three decades and Beijing looks to
catalyse a shift away from a dependence on manufacturing and
towards higher-value services.
(Reporting by Paul Carsten and Judy Hua; Editing by Jane
Merriman and David Holmes)
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