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According to Xinhua News Agency, Premier Li Qiang presided over the State Council Executive Meeting on August 19, which reviewed and approved the "Opinions on Promoting High-Quality Development of Service Trade with High-Level Opening-up" and the "Special Management Measures for Foreign Investment Access (Negative List) (2024 Edition)".

The meeting pointed out that accelerating the development of trade in services is an inevitable requirement for expanding high-level opening up and cultivating new momentum for foreign trade development. It is necessary to improve the level of liberalization and facilitation of trade in services, fully implement the negative list of cross-border trade in services, promote comprehensive pilot demonstrations for expanding the opening up of the service industry, and promote the cross-border flow of resources such as talents, funds, technological achievements, and data. It is necessary to promote innovative development in key areas of trade in services, promote the integration of trade in services and trade in goods, support the international development of professional services such as finance, consulting, design, certification and accreditation, and create new growth points for trade in services.

The meeting pointed out that it is necessary to further relax foreign investment access, completely cancel foreign investment access restrictions in the manufacturing sector, and speed up the opening of service sectors such as telecommunications, education, and medical care. It is necessary to adapt to the new situation and optimize policies to attract foreign investment, respond to the reasonable demands of foreign investors in a timely manner, and introduce more practical measures in optimizing the business environment and improving service guarantees.

In a report released on Monday, PwC said that with changes in geopolitics, economic and trade rules and the restructuring of the industrial chain, international capital is flowing into China with a different logic and approach than before. China's efforts to attract foreign investment have entered a new stage of "optimizing existing stock and increasing quality", gradually transitioning from a scale-oriented approach to a quality and efficiency-oriented approach.

The report points out that China's business core to attract foreign investment is constantly upgrading. First, strong R&D and innovation capabilities. China's innovation capabilities have significantly improved, and the Global Innovation Index has ranked 12th in the world; at the same time, China is an ideal place to develop and test new technologies and new products. Second, close supply and supporting capabilities. Many multinational companies have been deeply rooted in China and have established a close supply cooperation ecological network, which also makes the cost of foreign capital withdrawing from China and rebuilding the cooperation network very high. Third, an agile production and consumption network is a tool to enhance business competitiveness. Fourth, rich green technology resources are a new driving force for addressing climate change. The World Bank report pointed out that global carbon pricing revenue will reach a record high of US$104 billion in 2023. In the future, finding low-cost and convenient clean energy may become a key factor in the landing decision-making of multinational companies.

"The rise of new advantages will further enhance China's contribution to the global value chain and will also help China evolve from an industry 'follower' to an important promoter and pioneer of global R&D innovation," PwC said in the report.

Data released by the Ministry of Commerce last week showed that from January to July, 31,654 new foreign-invested enterprises were established nationwide, an increase of 11.4% year-on-year, and the actual use of foreign capital was 539.47 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 29.6%. The Ministry of Commerce stated that in evaluating my country's investment situation, we must look at both quantity and quality, as well as the business development of foreign-invested enterprises. At the same time, the Ministry of Commerce stated that it will conscientiously implement the arrangements of the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee and launch a series of measures to encourage foreign investment.

According to information revealed by Li Yongyan, deputy representative of the Ministry of Commerce for international trade negotiations, at a State Council press conference on Friday, the new measures mainly involve foreign investment access, business environment, national treatment and other aspects.

We will continue to relax market access for foreign investment, revise and release a new version of the negative list for foreign investment access as soon as possible, achieve "zero" restrictions in the manufacturing sector nationwide, and promote orderly opening up in the fields of telecommunications, the Internet, education, culture, and medical care. We will promote pilot demonstrations for expanding the opening up of the service industry. In addition, we will revise and release the "Administrative Measures for Strategic Investments by Foreign Investors in Listed Companies", further relax restrictions on foreign investors' strategic investments in listed companies, broaden the channels for foreign investment, and guide more high-quality foreign investment to enter the capital market for long-term investment.

We will continue to build the "Invest in China" brand, further improve the roundtable and complaint mechanism for foreign-invested enterprises, guide local governments to improve the evaluation system for promoting foreign investment, support local governments to focus on their own areas of strength, carry out precise, transparent and compliant investment promotion activities, and rely on my country's super-large-scale market advantages to bring in more high-quality foreign investment.

We will strengthen the incentive policies, revise the Catalogue of Industries Encouraged for Foreign Investment, and further increase the number of encouraged items. We will focus on advanced manufacturing, producer services, digital technology, green technology applications and other related fields, and encourage more investment in the central, western and northeastern regions.

We will implement the national treatment of foreign-invested enterprises in accordance with the requirements of the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee, guarantee the national treatment of foreign-invested enterprises in terms of factor acquisition, qualification licensing, standard setting, and government procurement, and support domestic and foreign-invested enterprises equally in participating in large-scale equipment upgrades, government procurement, etc. The Ministry of Commerce will also work with relevant departments to further improve the living conveniences of foreign personnel entering the country, such as residence, medical care, and payment, so that more foreign-invested enterprises can share the dividends of China's reform and opening up and promote win-win cooperation.