The free trade zone took the lead in breaking through, and the negative list was further reduced in various fields
From 190 to 37, the length of the negative list of foreign investment access in the pilot free trade zone has been reduced by more than 80% in six years, and the door of China's opening up is opening wider and wider. According to the reporter of economic reference news, the pace of China's opening up is still accelerating, and the continued relaxation of foreign investment access will become the key word of opening up in 2020. Among them, financial, telecommunications, medical, education, pension and other fields are expected to usher in greater breakthroughs in foreign-owned holding or sole proprietorship. At present, the pilot free trade zone has taken the lead in carrying out institutional reform in trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, preparing for the implementation of foreign-funded projects, and exploring the further reduction of the negative list.
The central economic work conference proposed that opening up should continue to move in a broader, broader and deeper direction, strengthen the promotion and protection of foreign investment, and continue to reduce the negative list of foreign investment.
In fact, this is also the direction of China's opening-up efforts in the past year, and great breakthroughs have been made. From the "foreign investment law" deliberated and passed at the beginning of the year, to the two negative lists of foreign investment access issued in the national version and the pilot Free Trade Zone version in the middle of the year, and the 2019 version of the catalogue of industries encouraging foreign investment, to the opinions on further improving the utilization of foreign capital (No. 23 document of the State Council) and the implementation regulations of the foreign investment law of the people's Republic of China adopted by the executive meeting of the State Council China has formed a "combination fist" in stabilizing foreign investment.
At present, various departments are still making final preparations for the implementation of the "foreign investment law", which will be formally implemented on January 1, 2020, and the relevant detailed rules are expected to be released in the near future.
Sang Baichuan, president of the Institute of International Economy of the University of International Business and Economics, told the economic reference news that the promulgation of these detailed rules will not only guarantee the entry into force of basic laws in the field of foreign investment in China, but also enable foreign investors to better enjoy the preadmission National treatment plus negative list management system, make the contents of the terms open, accelerate their roots, and let the world see the speed of China's opening up And efficiency will further boost the confidence of foreign investors in investing in China.
At the same time, the construction of the open platform represented by the pilot free trade zone has also made new breakthroughs. In August 2019, on the basis of the original 12 pilot free trade zones, the State Council approved a new batch of 6 pilot free trade zones, and added a new port adjacent area of Shanghai pilot Free Trade Zone, forming a regional layout covering the whole East, West, north, South and North, and carrying out the pilot test of institutional reform in a larger scope.
The reporter learned that at present, the pilot free trade zone is speeding up the implementation of the central government's deployment of carrying out the "separation of certificates and licenses" reform in 18 pilot free trade zones across the country, and is making more explorations in the investment system reform such as establishing a special tax system and building a free trade account system, so as to further reduce the system cost.
Recently, Shaanxi, Guangxi, Shandong, Hebei, Yunnan and other pilot free trade zones have issued implementation plans to carry out the full coverage of the reform of "separation of certificates and licenses", accelerate the implementation of the pilot task of "separation of certificates and licenses", and at the same time, it is also carrying out more exploration in the reform of investment system.
Among them, Jiangsu pilot free trade zone has made great efforts to stimulate the vitality of market players and optimize the environment for foreign investment. In more than three months since its inception, 69 foreign-funded enterprises have been registered in the pilot Free Trade Zone, with the actual utilization of foreign capital of 384 million US dollars. Integrated circuits, life and health, human intelligence and other key fields have become key areas, and high-quality industrial projects have been continuously introduced.
Suifenhe area of Heilongjiang pilot Free Trade Zone focuses on the reform of "single window" cross-border foreign exchange payment and electric power business, which has also been recognized by enterprises.
According to statistics, as of the end of November, 145 domestic enterprises and 2 wholly foreign-owned enterprises have settled in the area, and 28773 administrative services have been handled.
The reporter also learned that Hainan pilot free trade zone (port) is exploring the establishment of a financial and tax policy system framework that meets the requirements of all-round opening up, focusing on promoting trade and investment liberalization and facilitation. Among them, the special tax system and offshore financial industry center are expected to issue specific plans to promote cross-border investment facilitation with relatively innovative regulation and legal system in line with the world.
The analysis shows that with the promotion of the reform of the investment system and mechanism in the pilot Free Trade Zone, conditions will be created for foreign investment to enter more fields, and it will also make exploration for further relaxing the opening-up areas nationwide.
The more and more clear direction of China's list reduction is worthy of further attention. On the 17th, Meng Wei, spokesman of the national development and Reform Commission, revealed at a press conference that the next step is to further expand the opening up. Next year, the negative list of foreign capital access will be revised again to allow foreign-owned enterprises to operate in more fields, and no restrictions can be set outside the list to ensure the national treatment of foreign-funded enterprises. We will continue to promote investment facilitation. We will continue to deepen the reform of "release, management and service" in the field of foreign capital utilization, improve the management system, simplify the examination and approval procedures, and provide landing services for foreign funded projects.
Taiping, an associate researcher at the Institute of International Economy and trade of the University of international business and economics, said in an interview with the economic reference daily that both the free trade zone and the negative list of the national version in 2019 will focus on the service industry, and there is still room for the service industry to continue to expand its opening up. There are more than 40 negative management measures in China's FTZs, of which 37 are in the national FTZs.
"We should continue to relax the access restrictions on the service industry, attract high-quality foreign investment, and introduce advanced international management experience in the service industry at the same time of introducing foreign investment, which can improve the quality of China's service industry and enhance the international competitiveness of the service industry." Taiping suggested that China should continue to shorten the negative list of foreign investment access and relax the restrictions on foreign investment access in service industry on the premise of ensuring the safety of domestic industries.
"While reducing the negative list, we should continue to improve the business environment for foreign investors." Sang Baichuan suggested that we should reduce administrative intervention, let the market play a decisive role in the allocation of resources, and improve the market-oriented business environment; we should seize the time to improve the detailed rules for the implementation of the foreign investment law, so as to make it more operable and build a legal business environment; We should also focus on the changing trend of international investment rules, strengthen the connection with international investment rules and create an international business environment.
Ma Yu, director of the foreign investment department of the Research Institute of the Ministry of Commerce, also told the economic reference news that while the negative list continues to shrink, we should also pay attention to how much space has been released by the expansion of market access. "Now, whether in the fields of banking, telecommunications, or insurance, the entry threshold for foreign investment has become lower and lower. However, efforts should be made to improve, modify and abolish relevant supporting measures to allow foreign investment to enter more fields."
