Govt to open door wider for foreign investors

Businesspeople from the Netherlands attend the International E-Business Expo in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. [Photo by Li Zhong/For China Daily]

The country will considerably liberalize market access for foreign investment, further facilitate overseas capital inflows and offer favorable policies to such investment in the west, central and northeast China regions, said an official on Tuesday.

"In 2018 the National Development and Reform Commission and State Council will further amend the negative list, further open up the service industry and the general manufacturing sector to foreign investment," said Ning Jizhe, deputy head of NDRC, in a press conference during the 13th National People's Congress.

"The country will considerably facilitate the capital inflow by simplifying the procedures for foreign companies to register in China, create a fair business environment for both domestic and foreign enterprises and implement strict policies to protect their intellectual property," he added.

"Foreign companies move to the central, West and Northeast China will benefit from favorable policies for industrial transferring and processing trade," Ning said. "The local government will also be authorized to give preferential policies to them."

Last year the country's foreign direct investment reached $131 billion, the second-biggest amount of FDI in the world, said Ning.

The business operation conducted by foreign companies made up for 50 percent of the country's foreign trade volume and a quarter of total industrial output. Those companies also contributed 20 percent of the country's tax income, according to Ning.