The Ministry of Commerce, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Finance jointly unveiled an action plan for stabilizing and optimizing foreign investment on Monday.
Centering on five key areas—expanding market access, boosting the facilitation of foreign investment, upgrading investment promotion capacity, improving the service guarantee system for foreign-invested enterprises, and refining foreign investment administration—the plan puts forward 15 specific measures.Targeting wider market access in the service sector, financial industry, pharmaceutical industry and other sectors, the plan sets forth relevant arrangements. It calls for steadily rolling out more pilot opening-up programs for vocational skills training institutions, vocational colleges and high-standard universities focusing on science, engineering, agriculture and medicine.
Foreign-funded institutions will be allowed greater access to risk management instruments including treasury bonds and futures to strengthen financial risk management. Qualified foreign-funded institutions will be permitted to conduct fund investment advisory business in accordance with the law.
Authorities will accelerate research and formal approval procedures to expand the geographic scope of pilot opening-up initiatives for biotechnology and wholly foreign-owned hospitals.To address concerns including foreign-funded mergers and acquisitions, cross-border data flows and domestic reinvestment by foreign investors, the plan takes targeted steps to further streamline foreign investment facilitation measures.
