A few days ago, the General Office of the State Council issued the "Action Plan for Solidly Promoting High-level Opening-up and Attracting and Utilizing Foreign Investment with Greater Efforts". On the afternoon of March 20, the Information Office of the State Council held a regular briefing on the policies of the State Council, at which relevant responsible persons of the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Commerce, the People's Bank of China and the National Immigration Administration introduced the relevant situation of promoting high-level opening up and making greater efforts to attract and utilize foreign investment. Let's take a look!
Quick Facts About the Launch:
In terms of expanding market access, smoothing the flow of innovative elements, and aligning with international high-standard economic and trade rules, we will take pragmatic measures to attract foreign investment more vigorously
The revision of the National Catalogue of Encouraged Industries for Foreign Investment will continue to focus on the manufacturing industry as the key direction for encouraging foreign investment
Comprehensively promote the implementation of "one-stop acceptance, parallel examination and approval, and simultaneous issuance of work permits for foreign nationals" and work-type residence permits
For the management and technical personnel of foreign-funded enterprises, as well as their accompanying spouses and minor children, the validity period of the visa entry is relaxed to 2 years
Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong and other pilot free trade zones are allowed to select a number of qualified foreign-invested enterprises to carry out pilot projects in areas such as the development and application of genetic diagnosis and treatment technologies
Greater efforts should be made to attract and utilize foreign investment
National Development and Reform Commission:
The Action Plan takes practical measures to attract foreign investment from the aspects of expanding market access, smoothing the flow of innovative elements, and aligning with international high-standard economic and trade rules.
First, we need to further broaden the space for foreign investment. The Action Plan proposes to expand market access and raise the level of foreign investment liberalization.
● Introduce a new version of the negative list for foreign investment access, continue to reduce foreign investment access restrictions, and carry out access pilots in the fields of medical care, value-added telecommunications, etc., which are of great concern to foreign-funded enterprises.
● More qualified foreign-funded institutions will be supported to carry out business in the fields of banking and insurance, bond funds, etc.
Second, we need to further optimize the business environment. The Action Plan proposes to optimize the level playing field and provide services to foreign-invested enterprises.
● Promote the implementation and effectiveness of relevant policies, issue rules for fair competition review in the field of bidding and bidding, and strive to eliminate problems such as local protection and ownership discrimination;
● Introduce standards for government procurement of domestic products, requiring that products produced by domestic and foreign-funded enterprises that meet the standards be treated equally and equally in government procurement activities.
Third, we need to further improve the facilitation of cross-border flow of factors. The Action Plan proposes to smooth the flow of innovation elements and promote innovation cooperation between domestic and foreign enterprises.
● In terms of business personnel exchanges, the Action Plan clearly states that the validity period of visas will be relaxed to 2 years for the management and technical personnel of foreign-funded enterprises, as well as their accompanying spouses and minor children, and will facilitate the work, residence and permanent residence of foreign talents in China.
● In terms of data flow, the Action Plan will promote the safe and orderly cross-border transmission of data on R&D, production and sales of foreign-funded enterprises, and will formulate data transfer standards in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to achieve convenient data flow in the Greater Bay Area.
Expand the catalogue of industries that encourage foreign investment
National Development and Reform Commission:
The current 2022 edition of the Catalogue of Encouraged Industries for Foreign Investment has a total of 1,474 entries, including 519 items in the "National Catalogue of Encouraged Industries for Foreign Investment" and 955 items in the "Catalogue of Advantageous Industries for Foreign Investment in the Central and Western Regions". At present, qualified foreign investment in the encouraged category can enjoy three preferential policies in accordance with the law: First, for encouraged foreign-invested projects, the import of equipment for self-use within the total investment amount shall be exempted from tariffs, except for the "Catalogue of Major Technical Equipment and Products Not Eligible for Tax Exemption for Imports" and the "Catalogue of Imported Commodities Not Exempt from Tax Exemption for Foreign-invested Projects"; second, for foreign-invested enterprises in encouraged industries in the western region and Hainan Province that meet the requirements, the rate will be reduced by 15 percent The third is to give priority to the supply of land for encouraged foreign-invested industrial projects with intensive land use, and when determining the reserve price for land transfer, it can be implemented at no less than 70% of the national minimum price standard for industrial land transfer corresponding to the local land category.
In accordance with the deployment of this year's government work report, our committee and relevant departments have started the revision of the catalogue of industries that encourage foreign investment.
First, the revision of the national catalogue will continue to take the manufacturing industry as the key direction to encourage foreign investment, and at the same time promote the integrated development of the service industry and the manufacturing industry, and increase support for advanced manufacturing, modern service industry, high and new technology, energy conservation and environmental protection.
Second, the revision of the catalogue of the central and western regions will fully tap the resource endowments and industrial conditions of various localities, and increase support for basic manufacturing, applicable technology, people's livelihood consumption and other fields according to local conditions.
It is convenient for foreign nationals to work, study, invest and start businesses in China
National Migration Administration:
Comprehensively promote the implementation of "one-stop acceptance, parallel examination and approval, and simultaneous issuance" of foreign work permits and work-type residence permits, form a "one-stop" approval mechanism, and promote the efficient completion of one thing, for foreign personnel who have worked in China for more than one year in a row, as well as foreign management and professional and technical personnel working in well-known enterprises and scientific research institutions. Members of the scientific research and innovation team, the exit and entry administration department of the public security organ can apply for a residence permit for them within 5 years, and those who meet the relevant conditions can be granted permanent residence in China. At the same time, foreign business managers and professional and technical personnel working in China are allowed to change their positions in the enterprises and institutions to which they belong across regions, or to pursue a degree or receive continuing education in domestic universities, without being exempted from applying for a new residence permit.
When foreign nationals apply for residence permits for reasons such as investment, entrepreneurship, work or study in China, they are exempted from keeping their passports after on-site inspection by the exit and entry administration departments of the public security organs, and go to the issuance window to collect the residence permits with their passports at the agreed time, so as to facilitate the applicants to handle relevant affairs with their passports during this period. When accepting an application for a foreign national's visa certificate, if information such as the person's accommodation registration record and the business license of the inviting (hiring) enterprise can be queried through inter-departmental information sharing, the relevant paper certification materials may be exempted.
Encourage and support foreign-funded enterprises to invest in China's green economy, digital economy and health industries
National Development and Reform Commission:
Encourage and support foreign-funded enterprises to invest in China's green economy, digital economy and health industries, and share China's super-large-scale market opportunities with Chinese market peers.
● Carry out pilot projects for access to relevant fields. The Action Plan points out that Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong and other pilot free trade zones are allowed to select a number of qualified foreign-invested enterprises to carry out pilot projects in areas such as the development and application of genetic diagnosis and treatment technologies, and support the opening up measures in areas such as information services (limited to app stores) to be better implemented and effective in the pilot free trade zones.
● Strengthen services for major foreign-funded projects. For green economy, digital economy and health industry projects invested by foreign-funded enterprises, as long as they meet the conditions of major foreign-funded projects, we will launch a special working mechanism in a timely manner, open up green channels through full life cycle services, and promote the accelerated implementation of projects.
The central bank responded to the cross-border flow of data in the financial sector and the payment of foreign personnel to China
People's Bank of China:
There are two things we are doing now in addressing the concerns of financial institutions.
The first is the cross-border flow of data in the financial sector. On the basis of listening to the demands of many multinational financial institutions and conducting thorough research, the People's Bank of China is working with several other financial regulatory authorities to form an institutional arrangement for the cross-border flow of financial data, clarify the catalog of important data in the financial field, and unify the standard of regulatory compliance. Through this approach, foreign institutions will be given clearer rules and guidelines. Under the premise of complying with our financial security and data security, we will help foreign financial institutions reduce the cost of cross-border data compliance as much as possible, improve the efficiency of their data transmission, make it faster and more convenient for them to do business in China, and further attract more foreign investment to do business in China.
The second is payment, due to the different payment habits between China and foreign countries, many foreigners have encountered difficulties in payment when they come to China. We have recently introduced a number of measures to optimize our payment services, and have just released the "Payment Guide for Foreign Visitors to China", which can help solve the payment difficulties encountered by foreign visitors to China in China. We also want to move the border forward as much as possible, so that many foreigners have such a guide in hand before they come to China.
10 of the 59 measures in the six aspects of the "24 Measures for Foreign Investment" have been completed, 28 have made phased progress, and 21 are continuing to advance
Commerce:
Last year, the State Council promulgated the "Opinions on Further Optimizing the Environment for Foreign Investment and Increasing the Intensity of Attracting Foreign Investment," and 10 of the 59 measures in six areas have been completed. Like what
● The Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation issued an announcement to extend the implementation period of the tax exemption policy for foreign personal allowances and the tax rebate policy for foreign-funded R&D institutions to purchase domestic equipment until the end of December 2027, and lower the threshold for enjoying the tax rebate policy for domestic equipment.
● The State Intellectual Property Office and the Ministry of Justice issued the Opinions on Strengthening the Administrative Adjudication of Patent Infringement Disputes in the New Era, further improving the administrative adjudication system and mechanism.
● The National Immigration Administration has issued a new version of the permanent residence ID card for foreigners, improving the convenience of foreigners' transportation, living and consumption in China, and introducing convenient measures such as relaxing the conditions for foreigners to apply for port visas.
Phased progress has been made in 28 projects. Like what
● The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) has formulated relevant regulations on cross-border data flows, which are being solicited publicly.
● The Ministry of Finance is stepping up efforts to formulate a standard definition of "production in China" for government procurement products.
● The State Food and Drug Administration has also publicly solicited opinions on the requirements for the application materials for the transfer of marketing registration materials for chemical drugs and therapeutic biological products that have been marketed and produced overseas.
● The State Administration for Market Regulation issued a work notice to deploy various policies to clean up discrimination against foreign-funded enterprises and implement local protection.
There are 21 projects that are being continuously promoted. Like what
● The Ministry of Commerce plays the role of a special working group for key foreign-funded projects under the foreign trade and foreign investment coordination service mechanism, and coordinates and solves the difficult problems encountered in key foreign-funded projects on a regular basis.
● The State Intellectual Property Office supports relevant localities to set up intellectual property service guarantee workstations during the exhibition, and strengthens the issuance of exhibition certificates, the acceptance of priority patent examination, comprehensive consultation and other exhibition intellectual property service guarantee work.
Original document
Circular of the General Office of the State Council on Printing and Distributing the Action Plan for Solidly Promoting High-level Opening-up and Attracting and Utilizing Foreign Investment with Greater Efforts
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Official account
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