China’s State Council: Businesses to face fewer roadblocks

The State Council of China aims to further lower market access threshold to attract foreign investments, according to a note issued yesterday and signed by Premier Li Keqiang.

China aims to promote steady growth of foreign investment by further opening sectors to foreign investors, including banking, insurance and security industries. China will also expand market access to allow foreign capital to enter sectors including new-energy vehicle manufacturing, ship design, aircraft maintenance and railway passenger transportation, the document said. Further measures to be taken include: the improvement of intellectual property protection for foreign investors; preferential corporate income tax policies for advanced service enterprises in pilot cities; and the revision of laws on foreign capital to guarantee free outflow of profits made by foreign-invested companies.

On Tuesday, the Ministry of Commerce announced that foreign direct investment into China from January to July 2017 reached RMB 485.42 billion, a decrease of 1.2 per cent on last year.