Opening Up

The General Office of the State Council, China’s highest state administrative organ, has issued an action plan to steadily promote high-level opening up and make greater efforts to attract and utilize foreign investment.

To attract and utilize foreign investment more vigorously, the action plan underscores the importance to fully, accurately and comprehensively implement the new development philosophy featuring innovative, coordinated, green, open and shared development, and to create a market-oriented, law-based and internationalized first-class business environment that will boost foreign investors’ confidence in their ability to develop in China.

The plan proposes 24 measures across five aspects, including expanding market access, enhancing appeal to foreign investment, fostering a level playing field, facilitating the flow of innovation factors, as well as better aligning domestic rules with high-standard international economic and trade rules.

The country will shorten its negative list of sectors and businesses that are off-limits for foreign investors reasonably, and launch pilot programs to relax foreign entry thresholds in scientific and technological innovation, according to the document.

Efforts should also focus on expanding access of foreign financial institutions to the banking and insurance sectors and broadening the business scope of foreign financial institutions participating in the domestic bond market, the plan states.

The country has further pledged to expand the Catalogue of Encouraged Industries for Foreign Investment and its list of key foreign-funded projects, aiming to provide enhanced policy support for attracting foreign investment, it adds.

It says measures will be taken to support data flow between foreign-funded enterprises and their headquarters, facilitate international business personnel exchanges, and improve the management of work and residence permits for foreign nationals.