China is taking more steps to open up its economy to foreign
investors, as it aims to further facilitate investment and spur growth
despite disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic and mounting
international uncertainties, officials and experts said on Tuesday. Meng Wei, a spokeswoman for the National Development and Reform
Commission, said the country will unveil a new negative list for market
access to Hainan Free Trade Port by the end of this year, allowing
foreign investors to have wider access in a number of key areas. Meng said at a news conference that the upcoming negative list is
part of the country's larger drive to build Hainan into a free trade
port with a higher level of openness and attract more foreign
investment. "It's sending very clear signals of an unswerving push for further
opening-up and facilitating free trade and investment," said Cui Weijie,
director of the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic
Cooperation's Institute of Industry Development and Strategy. Cui cited the master plan for the construction of the Hainan Free
Trade Port released in June, which said its negative list will
dramatically reduce the number of prohibited and restricted items. "It means the country will open more industries to foreign investors,
which will significantly stimulate foreign trade and investment growth
and help build an economy with a new level of openness in the future." This year, global cross-border direct investment declined
significantly amid the novel coronavirus pandemic. Against this
backdrop, foreign investment has gradually stabilized in China, posting
better-than-expected growth, said Meng from the NDRC. Data released by the Ministry of Commerce showed China's actual use
of foreign capital rose in the first three quarters of the year, both in
yuan and dollar terms. In dollar terms it increased by 2.5 perp
year-on-year to $103.26 billion. "A number of major foreign projects have been implemented in an
orderly manner this year," said Meng, adding that "their progress fully
demonstrates foreign companies' confidence in China's development". For example, German chemical giant BASF's new integrated
petrochemicals project in Zhanjiang, Guangdong province, has completed
the pile foundation construction for the first batch of equipment, Meng
added. "We will work with relevant parties to roll out the (new edition of
the) catalog of encouraged industries for foreign investment by the end
of this year, expanding the investment scope for foreign investors,"
Meng said. As most nations still struggle with the COVID-19 pandemic, China has
reported robust economic growth. The Chinese economy grew 0.7 perp
year-on-year in the first three quarters, turning positive after a 1.6
perp slide in the first half, according to the National Bureau of
Statistics. "China's fast economic rebound signals the ample room for growth in
the future as well as the strong resilience of the economy," said Cui
from the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic
Cooperation. "International investors would like to choose investing in
China to avoid risks and seek growth." Citing the Foreign Investment Law and the new regulation on business
environment optimization, which took effect on Jan 1, Cui said China has
made considerable progress in improving its business environment. "In the next step, the government needs to continue to carry out
bolder reforms in key areas such as the trade and financial sectors,"
Cui said. "While we now focus on introducing large foreign manufacturing
projects, more efforts should be made to attract small and medium-sized
foreign firms investing in new forms of business." The World Bank's Doing Business 2020 report showed China was among
the top 10 nations that saw a considerable improvement in their business
environment for two years in a row. On a yearly basis, China moved up
15 places from its 2019 ranking to 31st place this year among the 190
economies mentioned in the report. Cui Fan, an international trade and economics professor at the
University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, said that
the 2020 edition of the shortened negative lists and a series of
government measures to deepen supply-side reforms showed that China has
been actively building a unified, fair and efficient market. "Considering China's effective measures to control the pandemic and
resume work and production, those measures will ensure the economy
performs well in the coming months, attracting more foreign investors to
the country," Cui said.
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