On September 3, 2016, the Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Amending Four Laws Including the Law of the People's Republic of China on Wholly Foreign-owned Enterprises (the "Decision") was adopted at the twenty-second meeting of the 12th National People's Congress. The Decision amends the relevant approval clauses in the four laws, whereby the establishment and alteration of foreign invested enterprises ("FIEs") not subject to special administrative measures for foreign investment will only be required to go through a record-filing process rather than case-by-case approvals. The Decision will come into effect on October 1, 2016, by which time the "pre-access national treatment plus negative list" administrative regime for foreign investment, which has been piloted in the free trade zones, will be expanded nationwide.