The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) recently updated its Q&A on the review and registration of medium- and long-term foreign loan incurred by enterprises, removing four old Q&A entries relating to: (i) red-chip structures; (ii) borrowing through FTN accounts in pilot free trade zones; (iii) OSA offshore accounts; and (iv) offshore funds lent through free trade zone sub-branches for commercial loans with a term exceeding one year.

Notably, under the previous NDRC Q&A framework, where a domestic bank extended a loan to a domestic enterprise or to an overseas enterprise/branch controlled by such domestic enterprise, if the loan funds were sourced from offshore, such arrangements could be subject to the requirement for NDRC registration of medium- and long-term foreign debt. With the removal of these old Q&A entries, it is now highly likely that such loans will no longer be subject to NDRC registration for medium- and long-term foreign loan.