Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, February 20th Title: How to stabilize foreign investment in 2025? Four departments respond to concerns
Xinhua News Agency reporters Tang Shining and Xie Xiyao
The “Action Plan for Stabilizing Foreign Investment in 2025” was recently released to the public. What signals does it send? What is the current situation of attracting and utilizing foreign investment? What to do next? The State Council Information Office held a regular briefing on the State Council’s policies on the 20th to introduce the relevant situation.
On February 20, the State Council Information Office held a regular briefing on the State Council’s policies. Deputy Minister of Commerce and Deputy Representative for International Trade Negotiations, and the head of the Department of Utilization of Foreign Investment and Overseas Investment of the National Development and Reform Commission, Central China, Planning Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology Director Yao Jun, Director Zhu Bing, Director of the Foreign Investment Management Department of the Ministry of Commerce, and Director of the Credit Supervision and Administration Department of the State Administration for Market Regulation, Zhou Weijun introduced the relevant situation of expanding high-level opening up to the outside world and doing a good job in stabilizing foreign investment in 2025, and answered reporters’ questions. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Xin
Ensure that all measures are implemented and effective in 2025
Ling Ji, Vice Minister of Commerce and Deputy Representative of International Trade Negotiation, said that the “2025 Action Plan for Stabilizing Foreign Investment” has four prominent characteristics: it sends out positive signals for further opening up, increases policy support, and actively carries out foreign investment promotion work and Effectively solve the concerns of foreign-funded enterprises. “The action plan clearly requires that all measures will be implemented and effective before the end of 2025, which fully demonstrates the confidence and determination of the Chinese government to adhere to high-level opening up and vigorously attract foreign investment.”
The action plan proposes to expand the pilot projects for opening up in the fields of telecommunications, medical care, education, etc. Yao Jun, Director of the Planning Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, introduced that as of the end of 2024, 2,343 foreign-funded enterprises have been approved to operate telecommunications business in China. In 2024, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, together with relevant departments, will clearly pilot the cancellation of foreign-invested shareholding restrictions on multiple businesses such as Internet data centers in four places including Beijing, Shanghai, Hainan, and Shenzhen. At present, dozens of foreign-funded enterprises are actively applying for participation. In the next step, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will accelerate the pilot opening work.
The action plan clearly states that the catalog of industries that encourage foreign investment will be revised and expanded, and policies and measures to encourage domestic reinvestment of foreign-invested enterprises will be studied and formulated. Huazhong, head of the Department of Foreign Investment and Overseas Investment of the National Development and Reform Commission, said that the 2025 version of the encouragement catalog will be issued as soon as possible according to the procedures. The new catalog will focus on adding items in the fields of advanced manufacturing, modern services, high-tech, energy conservation and environmental protection, etc., and will also encourage them. Foreign investment is more invested in the central and western regions and the northeastern regions.
Speaking of policies to encourage domestic reinvestment of foreign-invested enterprises, Huazhong said that the policy formulation work has been initiated. The preliminary consideration is to improve the convenience of domestic reinvestment of foreign-invested enterprises, and it is planned to simplify the procedures for handling related matters, improve financial services, and optimize project filing management. , further open up reinvestment channels for enterprises; strengthen domestic reinvestment services for foreign-invest enterprises, and plan to coordinate reinvestment that meets the conditions from the perspectives of optimizing the allocation of various production factors, strengthening the support of special teams for major foreign-investment projects, and strengthening full-process services for projects. Project support.
In terms of optimizing the comprehensive pilot demonstration of expanding opening up of the service industry, Zhu Bing, Director of the Foreign Investment Management Department of the Ministry of Commerce, said that as of now, the pilot demonstration has gone through 10 years of innovative exploration, and the scope of implementation has been expanded to 11 provinces and cities across the country, forming more than 190 projects. The innovative achievements will be replicated and promoted nationwide. In 2024, the service industry in 11 provinces and cities absorbed US$41.26 billion, accounting for about 50.2% of the service industry’s national foreign investment. The Ministry of Commerce will actively promote the optimization and improvement of pilot demonstration work, accelerate the pace of pilot implementation, expand the pilot areas, expand independent opening up in key areas, continue to promote institutional opening up, and strengthen the replication and promotion of innovative achievements.
Still have a solid foundation for stabilizing foreign investment
Lingji introduced that in January 2025, the year-on-year decline in my country’s actual foreign investment utilization narrowed compared with the whole year of last year, but it still showed a downward trend. The main reason is that the current global cross-border direct investment is relatively sluggish, the external environment is still severe and complex, and it is subject to domestic Due to the influence of many factors such as the development and changes of related industries, some multinational companies have actively adjusted their investment layout.
It should also be noted that the actual amount of foreign funds used in January increased by 27.5% compared with December last year, the structure of the asset-attracting industry continued to be optimized, and the sources of investment attraction were more diverse. “my country’s super-large-scale market, complete and efficient industrial chain and supply chain system, and continuously optimized innovation environment all provide good development conditions and soil for multinational companies to invest in China, and it still has a solid foundation to stabilize foreign investment.” Ling Ju said.
The “2025 China Business Environment Survey Report” released by the American Chamber of Commerce in China shows that nearly 70% of the companies surveyed in the consumer industry are expected to increase their investment in China in 2025; the report of the German Chamber of Commerce in China shows that 92% of the companies surveyed plan to continue to be in China operates, and more than half of its companies plan to increase their investment in the next two years. “These data reflect the willingness and confidence of multinational companies to continue to invest in China and deepen their roots in China,” said Ling Ji.
“Foreign-invested enterprises in China contribute nearly 7% of employment, one-seventh of tax revenue, about one-third of imports and exports, and one-half of mechanical and electrical products and high-tech products.” Lingji said that attracting foreign investment It is an indispensable force in my country’s construction of a new development pattern, provides important support for the construction of a modern industrial system, and helps promote the formation of new quality productivity.
Expand high-level opening up
Huazhong said that in 2025, the National Development and Reform Commission will promote the construction of a new open economy system with a higher level, continue to support foreign-invested enterprises to invest in China and deepen their cultivation in China, and will mainly carry out systematic planning and steadily expand institutional opening up and formulate specific regulations to stabilize foreign investment. Support policies and measures, promote development zones to better play the role of investment attraction platforms, and strengthen foreign investment services and guarantees. In conjunction with relevant departments, they actively connect with international high-standard economic and trade rules in the fields of property rights protection, industrial subsidies, environmental standards, etc., to achieve the compatibility of rules, regulations, management, and standards; orderly in commodity markets, service markets, capital markets, labor markets, etc. Promote the expansion of independent opening up and expand unilateral opening up to the least developed countries.
Foreign-invested enterprises are an important force in promoting new industrialization. In 2024, the restrictions on foreign investment access in my country’s manufacturing industry were fully “cleared”, the actual use of foreign capital in the manufacturing industry exceeded 220 billion yuan, and the actual use of foreign capital in the high-tech manufacturing industry reached 11.7%. Yao Jun said that in the next step, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will deepen industrial scientific and technological innovation cooperation, share digital and green development opportunities, give full play to the role of parks, clusters and other carriers to stabilize foreign investment, and continue to provide services and guarantees for foreign-invested enterprises.
Zhou Weijun, Director of the Credit Supervision and Administration Department of the State Administration for Market Regulation, said that the State Administration for Market Regulation will improve the foreign investment authorization and registration system, and continue to improve the normalized working mechanism for overseas verification of special food registration; deepen the “multiple reports and one” reform of the annual reports of foreign-invested enterprises, and effectively solve the problem of enterprises. The issue of “multiple reports and repeated reports” in the annual report; thoroughly implement the “Regulations on Fair Competition Review”; effectively solve the problems of multi-head inspection, repeated inspection, and arbitrary inspection, and effectively reduce the burden of inspections for foreign-invested enterprises; increase the protection of intellectual property rights of foreign-related investments ; Deepen the national pilot program for the protection of commercial secrets.
[Editor in charge: Diao Yunjiao]
