China will allow foreign investment in seven telecoms value-added services in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone, with full foreign ownership permitted in five of the services, the official Xinhua news agency reported. The five services with no cap on foreign ownership include app stores, store-and-forward services, domestic multi-party communications, call centres and home Internet access, it quoted Wen Ku, head of the telecom development department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, as saying. Foreign ownership will be capped at a maximum of 55 percent in online data and dealing analysis services, Wen was quoted as saying in a report. Businesses that apply to offer the services must register and base their infrastructure in the Shanghai FTZ. All services may be made available to the whole country, except home Internet access services, which will be confined within the FTZ, Wen was quoted as saying. China has already committed under the WTO to open information services, store-and-forward, and online data and dealing analysis services, with a 50-percent cap for foreign stakes, Xinhua said. (Reuters)