Open for Business

The new Foreign Investment Law adopted on March 15 is a fundamental piece of legislation that provides strong legal guarantees by China to further reform and opening up of the economy.

The Chinese Government has demonstrated strong determination in deepening reform and opening the domestic market more widely. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China held in 2012, various measures for furthering reform have been launched, including establishing 12 pilot free trade zones, implementing negative-list systems, streamlining administration, improving the domestic business environment, easing the access of foreign investment to areas such as finance, and lowering tariffs.

Against such a backdrop, the country implemented the management mode of pre-establishing national treatment and a negative list targeting foreign investors. In this regard, easing investment access, accommodate laws and regulations with international standards as well as maintaining stable, transparent and predictable foreign investment policies have become urgent tasks for the Chinese Government.

The new Foreign Investment Law also realizes the principle of governing through the rule of law across the board by settling institutional frameworks. It clarifies that the policies of supporting domestic enterprises are also applicable to foreign-invested enterprises, which can better protect the legitimate rights and interests of foreign investors.

In the 2019 Report on the Work of the Government, promoting liberalization and facilitation of trade and investment is a key task on the government work agenda this year. China will continue to be a staunch defender of economic globalization and multilateral investment and trade. Adhering to the principle of mutually beneficial cooperation, win-win development and resolution of trade disputes through equal consultation, it will firmly embrace free trade, speed up the construction of a network of high-standard free trade zones, promote regional all-round economic partnership agreements and push ahead with economic cooperation with countries such as the United States, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and those from the EU.

Over the past few years, some Western countries have turned away from the multilateral objectives to propagate antiglobalization and trade protectionism, and even resorted to the legislature to restrict trade and investment liberalization under the excuse of safeguarding national security, while China has been supporting economic globalization as well as multilateral investment and trade with proactive efforts.

The new Foreign Investment Law illustrates the country’s determination to pursue win-win cooperation and mutual benefits and contribute to a more open global economy. Aimed at promoting and protecting foreign investment, it will further enhance the confidence of foreign investors and bring them more benefits through operating business in the Chinese market.