"Special Management Measures for Foreign Investment Access (Negative List) (2020 Version)" Published
The negative list of foreign investment access is further reduced by 17.5%
On June 24, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Commerce released "Special Management Measures for Foreign Investment Access (Negative List) (2020 Version)" and "Special Management Measures for Foreign Investment Admission in Free Trade Pilot Zones (Negative List) (2020) Annual Edition)".
The negative list entry for foreign investment has been reduced from 40 in 2019 to 33, while the list entry in the Pilot Free Trade Zone has been reduced from 37 to 30.
"After the test of the New Coronary Pneumonia Epidemic, investors from various countries will realize more deeply that China’s pace of promoting higher levels of opening will not slow down, China’s policy on the use of foreign capital will not change, and China will provide investment and development for enterprises of various countries in China. The direction of better service will not change." The person in charge of the National Development and Reform Commission said.
The fourth consecutive year of reduction list is of great significance to promote the recovery and recovery of cross-border investment as soon as possible and stabilize the global industrial chain supply chain
Since the Third Plenary Session of the Eighteenth Central Committee of the Party, my country has thoroughly explored the implementation of a pre-entry national treatment plus negative list management system for foreign investment to continuously improve the level of openness. The "Foreign Investment Law" and its implementation regulations issued in 2019 formally established the pre-entry national treatment plus negative list management system at the level of laws and regulations. The negative list of foreign investment access lists a unified list of areas where investment is prohibited or restricted. The negative list In addition, foreign investment is granted national treatment. From 2017 to 2019, China revised the negative list of foreign investment admittances in the national and free trade zones for three consecutive years. The restrictive measures were reduced from 93 and 122 to 40 and 37, respectively. A series of major opening measures.
"By expanding the opening up, the confidence of foreign investment has been boosted." The relevant person in charge of the National Development and Reform Commission introduced that from 2017 to 2019, in the context of the continuous decline in global transnational investment, China attracted foreign capital of US$136.3 billion, US$138.3 billion, and US$141.2 billion. The US dollar ranks second in the world steadily, achieving an increase in stability and a steady improvement in quality.
Data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) show that China's restrictions on foreign investment have declined rapidly since 2013, and the decline is one of the largest among the major economies. "The continuous reduction of the negative list is an important way to promote the continuous improvement of China's investment liberalization level," said Cui Fan, a professor at the School of International Trade and Economics at the University of International Business and Economics.
Since the beginning of this year, the New Coronary Pneumonia epidemic has had a huge impact on global transnational investment, the world economy has been severely affected, and protectionism and unilateralism have risen. Facing the complex situation, China has unswervingly expanded reform and opening up, relaxed market access, and continuously optimized the business environment. The relevant person in charge of the National Development and Reform Commission said that the general direction for formulating the 2020 version of the negative list of foreign investment access is to implement a wider range, a wider field, and a deeper level of comprehensive opening up, and promote high-quality economic development with high-level opening up.
"In the context of the severe impact of the new coronary pneumonia epidemic on the economies of various countries, China has coordinated the promotion of epidemic prevention and control and economic and social development, insisted on advancing the resumption of production and production in the process of expanding opening up, uniformly applying various support policies to domestic and foreign enterprises, and providing foreign investment It provides a more open investment environment and implements its commitment to opening up to the outside world with practical actions." The relevant person in charge of the National Development and Reform Commission said.
Li Dawei, a researcher at the Research Institute of Foreign Economics of the Chinese Academy of Macroeconomics, said that this is the fourth consecutive year that the Chinese government has reduced the negative list of foreign investment access, highlighting China’s determination to expand and open up. It is of great significance to stabilize the recovery and stabilize the supply chain of the global industrial chain.
The national negative list was reduced to 33, and the negative list in the Pilot Free Trade Zone was reduced by 18.9%
Compared with the 2019 version, the 2020 version of the negative list of foreign investment access has been further reduced, improving the level of service industry, manufacturing, and agricultural opening. Among them, the national negative list was reduced from 40 to 33, the reduction rate was 17.5%, and 2 were partially opened; the negative list of the Pilot Free Trade Zone was reduced from 37 to 30, the reduction rate was 18.9%, and One section is partially open.
"The negative list is only for subtraction, not for addition. The revision of the negative list for foreign investment access does not add or tighten restrictions on foreign investment, and the wider the door to open, the greater the opening." The relevant person in charge of the National Development and Reform Commission said.
Accelerate the process of opening up key areas in the service industry. In the financial sector, the restrictions on foreign shares of securities companies, securities investment fund management companies, futures companies, and life insurance companies were lifted. In the field of infrastructure, the rule that the construction and operation of urban water supply and drainage pipeline networks with a population of 500,000 or more must be controlled by the Chinese party.
"All restrictions on the share ratio of foreign capital in the financial industry have been eliminated in accordance with the established opening schedule, which makes 2020 known as the first year of the full opening of China's financial industry." Cui Fan, for example, the compression of negative lists and restrictions on share ratio The cancellation or relaxation of foreign investment has promoted the inflow of foreign capital. On April 1 of this year, the day when the restrictions on foreign shares of securities companies and fund management companies were lifted nationwide, two well-known asset management companies, Neuberger Berman and BlackRock, submitted to the Chinese regulatory authorities The application for the establishment of a wholly foreign-owned public fund company in China was completed.
Relax access to manufacturing and agriculture. In the manufacturing sector, the restrictions on the share ratio of foreign investment in commercial vehicle manufacturing will be lifted, and the regulations prohibiting foreign investment in the smelting, processing and nuclear fuel production of radioactive minerals will be eliminated. In the agricultural field, the selection and breeding of new wheat varieties and the production of seeds must be relaxed from Chinese holding to a share ratio of not less than 34%.
"Each cancellation or relaxation of negative list items means a more open field, which will bring in corresponding foreign capital inflows." Cui Fan analyzed that in 2018, the cancellation of the restrictions on the ratio of new energy vehicles to special vehicles directly ushered in the special The second phase of the expansion of Sila’s settlement in Shanghai is currently being accelerated. "It is foreseeable that this year's lifting of restrictions on commercial vehicle stock ratios and the latest lifting of restrictions on passenger car stock ratios in 2022 will also bring further investment from major auto giants in China."
Continue to open pilots in the Pilot Free Trade Zone. On the basis of the national opening-up measures, the Pilot Free Trade Zone continues to test first. In the field of medicine, the regulations prohibiting foreign investment in traditional Chinese medicine decoction pieces were cancelled. In the field of education, wholly foreign-owned enterprises are allowed to establish vocational education institutions of academic system.
"Actively reducing the negative list of foreign investment access not only demonstrates China's more active participation in global economic governance, but also adheres to the international high-standard economic and trade rules, it is also conducive to China's high-level opening up to promote deep market reforms and accelerate the promotion of rules , Regulation, management, standards and other areas of institutional opening, and build a new pattern of high-level opening to the outside world." Li Dawei said.
Connect the negative list of foreign investment admittance with the "Foreign Investment Law" in three aspects
What connection does the 2020 version of the negative list of foreign investment access have with the "Foreign Investment Law" and its implementation regulations?
The relevant person in charge of the National Development and Reform Commission said that the negative list of foreign investment access is the basic basis for the implementation of the pre-entry national treatment plus negative list management system. The 2020 version of the Negative List of Foreign Investment Admissions is a new version of the Negative List after the implementation of the "Foreign Investment Law" and its implementation regulations. In addition to further opening up, it has also been linked to the relevant provisions of laws and regulations. It mainly includes three aspects:
First, implement the management of foreign investment access. In the description of the negative list, it is stipulated that the relevant competent authorities shall, in the process of performing their duties according to law, invest in the areas of the list for foreign investors, but do not meet the requirements of the list, and shall not be allowed to handle related matters such as licensing and enterprise registration; involving fixed asset investment If the project is approved, relevant approval items will not be processed.
The second is to adjust the restrictive regulations on Sino-foreign cooperative operations. After the implementation of the "Foreign Investment Law", the "Sino-Foreign Cooperative Operation Enterprise Law" has been abolished, and the provisions in the Negative List of Foreign Investment Admissions that are limited to Chinese-foreign cooperative operation enterprises have been outdated and will not be retained. For example, the entry "Medical institutions limited to joint ventures and cooperation" was adjusted to "Medical institutions limited to joint ventures"
The third is to increase the negative list exemption. The composition of foreign investment is relatively complicated. In order to link up with laws and regulations and consider special circumstances, the 2020 version of the negative list of foreign investment admissions has added a negative list exemption in the description, that is, "reviewed by the relevant competent department of the State Council and submitted to the State Council for approval, specific Foreign investment may not apply the relevant provisions of the negative list of foreign investment access."
Good system, the key is still being implemented. The 2020 version of the negative list of foreign investment access will be implemented on July 23. The National Development and Reform Commission will work with the Ministry of Commerce and other departments and localities to strictly follow the requirements of the Foreign Investment Law and its implementation regulations to effectively implement the negative list of foreign investment access, ensure the timely implementation of new opening measures, and improve various policies. consistency. In areas other than the negative list, domestic and foreign-funded enterprises are given equal treatment, and no unit may set separate access restrictions for foreign investment. At the same time, we will improve the construction of a new open economic system and safeguard national security in the process of opening up.
Lu Yanan