Negative list, also known as "negative list", is an internationally accepted foreign investment management method compared with "positive list", that is, the "blacklist" of investment fields, and follows the principle that all fields are open to foreign investment except those explicitly prohibited by law. As an important symbol of international investment liberalization, more than 70 countries in the world have adopted this foreign investment management model.

The origin of negative list The use of negative list can be traced back to19th century and the establishment of 1834 German Customs Union. Allies adopt negative list model to conclude trade treaties. After World War II, the Treaty of Friendship, Trade and Navigation signed by the United States and Japan listed public utilities, shipbuilding and other industries as a "negative list" of national treatment obligations.

The North American Free Trade Area (NAFTA), which came into effect in 1994, made a test and breakthrough on the negative list model, and established the input rule model of "national treatment before entry+negative list". Under the demonstration effect of NAFTA, the United States has become the biggest promoter of the negative list model. In the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement (TPP) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership Agreement (TTIP), the third-generation international investment norms with "pre-entry national treatment+negative list management" as the core are reshaping the world investment and trade pattern.