China's top economic planner to lift restrictions on foreign investment

Yan Pengcheng, spokesperson with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), speaks at a press briefing in Beijing on April 18, 2018. [Photo: ndrc.gov.cn]

China's top economic planner is promising to ease more restrictions on foreign investment in key areas.

Yan Pengcheng, spokesperson with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), says the national economic planner has been tasked with opening up more Chinese sectors to foreign investment, adding that there will be a level playing field.

"Domestic and overseas-funded enterprises will be treated equally in various aspects such as approvals for qualification, government procurement, formulating standards, 'Made in China 2025' policy, projects related to science and technology, as well as registration and listing," says Yan.

According to the spokesperson, one of their goals is to make investment procedures for foreign companies easier than it has been.

"We will fully adopt the 'pre-establishment national treatment plus negative list' approach, streamline approval procedures for foreign investment, implement a 'single window and single form' registry for foreign companies in the filing of records and business registration process, and streamline the processes of setting up businesses, applying for a construction project and cross-border trade," says Yan.

He adds that law enforcement will also be strengthened to protect the foreign investors' legal rights and interests.

The NDRC says it intends to issue two new negative lists for areas where there will be restrictions to foreign investment, meaning any areas not on the lists will be free to invest in by foreign companies.

The lists will include one applying for access to free trade zones and the other for the rest of the country.

One of the important parts of the new negative lists is the opening of the manufacturing industry.

"Apart from the financial and automotive sectors, a series of new measures will be adopted to access fields such as energy, resources, infrastructure, transportation, commercial circulation and professional services. On the other hand, opening measures for the next few years will be announced to allow some industries a transitional period, in a bid to improve the predictability," says Yan.

Share-holding limits in the automotive, shipbuilding and airplane manufacturing sectors for foreign investors will also be scrapped.

Limits for special-purpose and new energy vehicles will be eliminated this year.

Commercial vehicle restrictions will be lifted in 2020, while passenger vehicles will be a given full exemptions before 2022.

Yan Pengcheng says the new plans by the NDRC are a symbol of China's commitment to global trade.