Recently, the State Council issued the Opinions on Further Optimizing the Foreign Investment Environment and Increasing the Attraction of Foreign Investment (hereinafter referred to as the Opinions), which is a document of great strategic significance and practical value, that reflects the deepening, expanding, improving and innovating of China’s opening-up to the outside world. It aims to create a market-oriented and internationalized first-class business environment under the rule of law, brings China’s super-large scale of market into full play, and attracts and utilizes foreign investment more effectively and intensively. It puts forward 24 policy measures from six aspects, involving increasing the attraction of foreign investment in key areas, giving full play to the leading and driving role of comprehensive pilot demonstration of opening up the service industry, broadening the channels for attracting foreign investment, supporting the gradient transfer of foreign-invested enterprises, improving the mechanism for promoting the construction of foreign-invested projects, and ensuring that foreign-invested enterprises participate in government procurement activities according to law.

It is understood that this document was issued in the context of complex and volatile international economic situation, accelerated restructuring of global industrial chain and supply chain, and increasingly fierce international competition. It implements the important instructions of General Secretary Xi Jinping on opening up to the outside world, implements the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, adheres to the general tone of seeking progress while maintaining stability, comprehensively and accurately implements the new development concept, builds a new development pattern, promotes high-quality development, and better coordinates domestic and international situations. It emphasizes creating a market-oriented and internationalized first-class business environment under the rule of law, giving full play to China’s super-large market advantages, attracting and utilizing foreign investment more effectively and with greater intensity, and contributing to advancing high-level opening up and building a modern socialist country in all respects.

According to analysis, this document has the following characteristics:

First, it adheres to the basic national policy of opening up to the outside world, and demonstrates China’s determination and confidence in opening up. In the current situation of rising global trade protectionism and unilateralism, some countries have made unwarranted accusations and suppression against China. China has not chosen to close itself for self-protection, but has chosen to open up more actively and extensively to share development opportunities and achievements with countries around the world. This document shows that China is a responsible great power that not only seeks benefits for its own development, but also contributes to the recovery and stability of the world economy. This document also shows China’s confidence and strength in its own development. It believes that it can attract more high-quality resources to China through opening up, promote China’s high-quality economic development and structural optimization, and enhance China’s endogenous economic vitality and external competitiveness.

Second, it highlights the introduction and service of key areas and key projects. The Opinions require increasing the attraction of foreign investment in key areas, supporting foreign investors to set up R&D centers in China, jointly carrying out technology R&D and industrialization application with domestic enterprises, encouraging foreign-invested enterprises and their R&D centers to undertake major scientific research projects; accelerating the landing and production of foreign-invested projects in biopharmaceutical field under the premise of complying with relevant laws and regulations; supporting foreign-invested enterprises in advanced manufacturing, modern service industry, digital economy and other fields to carry out vocational education and training with various vocational colleges (including technical colleges) and vocational training institutions. The Opinions also require improving the mechanism for promoting major and key foreign-invested projects, strengthening element support, policy support and service guarantee, promoting early signing, landing, construction and production of foreign-invested projects. These policy measures aim to introduce more advanced technology, management experience and talents, to promote China’s technological innovation and industrial upgrading, and to improve China’s scientific and technological level and core competitiveness.

Third, it deepens the comprehensive pilot demonstration of opening up the service industry, and broadens the channels for attracting foreign investment. The Opinions require docking with international high-standard economic and trade rules, increasing the intensity of comprehensive pilot demonstration of opening up the service industry; encouraging the development of intellectual property, equity and related entity asset combination pledge financing, supporting the standardized exploration of intellectual property securitization; orderly increasing the share transfer pilot areas of equity investment and venture capital; prudently increasing the opening up pilot areas of domestic Internet virtual private network services (foreign capital share not exceeding 50%), information service business (only application stores, excluding online publishing services), Internet access service business (only providing Internet access service for users) and other value-added telecommunications services. The Opinions also encourage qualified foreign investors to set up investment companies and regional headquarters; deepen the implementation of Qualified Foreign Limited Partners (QFLP) domestic investment pilot, support the direct domestic investment with the raised overseas RMB. These policy measures aim to expand the degree and space of opening up of China’s service industry, to dock with international high-standard economic and trade rules, to increase the quality and efficiency of China’s service industry supply, and to meet the diversified and personalized needs of Chinese consumers.

Fourth, it guarantees the national treatment of foreign-invested enterprises, and continuously strengthens the protection of foreign investment. The Opinions require ensuring that foreign-invested enterprises participate in government procurement activities according to law, issuing relevant policies and measures as soon as possible, further clarifying the specific standards of “made in China”; supporting foreign-invested enterprises to participate in standard setting work according to law, promoting information disclosure throughout the process of standard setting and revision; ensuring that foreign-invested enterprises enjoy equal support policies; local policies supporting industrial development and expanding domestic demand, except for those fields stipulated by laws and regulations or involving national security, shall not exclude or discriminate against foreign-invested enterprises and their products and services by limiting brands or on the basis of foreign brands, or set additional conditions for foreign-invested enterprises and their products and services to enjoy policies. The Opinions also require improving the mechanism for protecting the rights and interests of foreign investment, improving the mechanism for responding to international investment disputes, resolutely cracking down on malicious speculation that infringes upon the legitimate rights and interests of foreign investment; strengthening administrative protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights, increasing the execution force of administrative adjudication of intellectual property rights, resolutely cracking down on acts that infringe upon the intellectual property rights of foreign-invested enterprises. These policy measures aim to create a fair market environment and a legally guaranteed social environment, safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of foreign-invested enterprises.

Fifth, it improves the level of investment operation facilitation, and optimizes the service guarantee for foreign-invested enterprises. The Opinions require optimizing the residence policy for foreign employees of foreign-invested enterprises, providing entry-exit and residence convenience for foreign executives, technical personnel and their families of foreign-invested enterprises; exploring a convenient data cross-border flow security management mechanism, establishing a green channel for qualified foreign-invested enterprises, efficiently carrying out outbound security assessment of important data and personal information; coordinating and optimizing law enforcement inspection involving foreign-invested enterprises, further reducing the sampling ratio and frequency for foreign-invested enterprises with low credit risk; improving service guarantee for foreign-invested enterprises, establishing and improving round-table meeting system for foreign-invested enterprises, establishing and improving linkage coordination mechanism for major and key foreign-invested projects at all levels. These policy measures aim to improve the efficiency and convenience of investment operation for foreign-invested enterprises, and to provide efficient and high-quality service guarantee for foreign-invested enterprises.

Sixth, it improves the working mechanism for attracting investment, and optimizes the evaluation of attracting foreign investment. The Opinions require carrying out a series of activities under the title “Year of Investing in China”, continuously building the brand “Investing in China”, establishing sound working mechanism, guiding and assisting local implementation of attracting foreign investment; encouraging qualified regions to establish investment promotion cooperation mechanism with relevant countries or regions; encouraging regions to explore more effective and flexible employment mechanism and salary system for non-civil servants or non-public institution posts in departments or teams promoting foreign investment; establishing sound evaluation system for results of attracting foreign investment promotion, paying attention to actual contribution of attracting investment to economic and social development. These policy measures aim to improve organization and management of attracting investment, to improve its level and effect.

In summary, this document is a document of great strategic significance and practical value, it reflects the deepening, expanding, improving and innovating of China’s opening-up to the outside world. It will help enhance the international community’s confidence and attraction to China’s market, promote more high-quality resources to gather in China, and promote China’s high-quality economic development and world economic recovery. It also provides more opportunities and convenience for foreign-invested enterprises, and creates better conditions and environment for their development in China.

We welcome more foreign-invested enterprises to invest and start businesses in China, share the dividends of China’s development, share the opportunities of China’s market, and create a brilliant future for China together. We look forward to establishing long-term and stable cooperative relations with foreign-invested enterprises, supporting each other, promoting each other, achieving mutual benefit, and creating a better future together. We believe that with the cooperation between foreign-invested enterprises and the Chinese government, enterprises and society, we will be able to achieve shared development, progress and prosperity.