my country has taken another step forward on the road of establishing and improving the complaint mechanism for foreign-invested enterprises.
On August 31, the Ministry of Commerce held a special press conference to announce that the Ministry of Commerce has recently revised and promulgated the "Measures on Complaints by Foreign-invested Enterprises" (hereinafter referred to as the "Measures"), which will be implemented on October 1, 2020.
The "Measures" consist of 5 chapters and 33 articles to further refine the relevant requirements of the Foreign Investment Law and its implementing regulations, and improve the system for foreign investment complaints.
Jiang Chenghua, deputy director of the Department of Treaty and Law of the Ministry of Commerce, explained at the press conference that after the "Foreign Investment Law" was promulgated last year, the outside world was concerned about the comparative principles of this law and it was difficult to effectively implement it.
The "Measures" issued by the Ministry of Commerce this time are to respond to the concerns of all parties, improve specific rules at the operational level, and ensure that the relevant systems of the Foreign Investment Law and its implementation regulations on investment protection can be implemented.
Jiang Chenghua said, "We believe that the promulgation of the "Measures" will further improve the level of complaints by foreign-invested enterprises in the future, and effectively protect the legitimate rights and interests of foreign investment to provide a more powerful system guarantee."
Wei Jianguo, vice chairman of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges and former vice minister of the Ministry of Commerce, said in an interview with a reporter from China Business News that compared with previous documents, the "Measures" deserve attention in three aspects.
"The biggest point is that there is a wide-ranging mechanism or platform established nationwide; the second is that the scope and areas of foreign business complaints have been clarified." Wei Jianguo said, "The third aspect is that Globally, the Chinese government ranks first in terms of the importance of foreign business complaints."
National Foreign Investment Complaint Center will be established
As mentioned earlier, the "Measures" has 5 chapters and 33 articles. The important contents are: First, broaden the scope of complaints.
The Measures clarify that foreign-invested enterprises and foreign investors can apply to the complaint agency for coordination and settlement of their legal rights and interests being infringed by administrative actions, or report to the complaint agency that there are problems in the investment environment, and it is recommended to improve relevant policies and measures.
In addition, foreign business associations can also report problems in the investment environment to the complaint agency.
The second is to improve the complaint working mechanism.
At the central level, establish an inter-ministerial joint conference system for foreign-invested enterprise complaints, and set up a national foreign investment complaint center; at the local level, local people's governments at or above the county level should designate relevant departments or agencies to be responsible for complaints in their respective regions.
In order to do a good job in the central and local complaints, the "Measures" set out detailed regulations on the file management, situation reporting, regular supervision, and rights protection proposals for complaints.
The third is to clarify the complaint work rules.
In order to facilitate complaints by complainants, the "Measures" clearly stipulated the working rules for the submission, acceptance, handling methods, processing time limits, and objections to the handling of complaints, strengthened coordination and handling, and actively promoted the proper settlement of complaints.
The fourth is to increase the protection of rights and interests.
The "Measures" attaches great importance to the protection of the rights and interests of the complainant in the process of complaint handling, and stipulates that the complaint does not affect the right of the complainant to initiate administrative reconsideration and administrative litigation in accordance with the law; it requires the complaint agency to take effective measures to protect the complainant’s business secrets, confidential business information and Personal privacy; no unit or individual may suppress or retaliate against the complainant.
Jiang Chenghua explained that the “Measures” firstly stipulate the various substantive rights enjoyed by foreign investors and foreign-invested enterprises.
He said that the "Foreign Investment Law" and its implementation regulations have strengthened the legal system for fair competition between domestic and foreign companies. Foreign-invested companies shall equally apply the state's policies to support enterprise development in accordance with the law and participate fairly in standard setting and government procurement activities.
In terms of expropriation compensation, it is clearly stipulated that compensation should be promptly compensated according to the market value of the expropriated investment.
In terms of intellectual property protection, penalties for infringements have been further increased, administrative agencies are prohibited from using administrative means to forcibly transfer technology, and the protection of trade secrets has been increased.
In order to solve the problem of "new officials ignore old accounts", it is stipulated that local governments should undertake the obligations of fulfilling their promises, and should provide fair and reasonable compensation in accordance with the law for changes in policy commitments or contractual agreements due to national interests and social public interests.
Zhou Shijian, a senior researcher at the Center for China-US Relations at Tsinghua University, told a reporter from China Business News: "The promulgation of the "Measures" gives China one step further in the protection of intellectual property rights, which is equivalent to guaranteeing from the legal level, which will help China further attract foreign investment. This is another major measure after the establishment of the three major intellectual property courts in 2014. The establishment of professional courts is rare good news for foreign-funded enterprises. There is no need to go to a local court in general if there is a dispute. The promulgation of the "Measures" is tantamount to providing legal protection in many aspects, which not only shows the sincerity and determination of the Chinese government in protecting the intellectual property rights of foreign enterprises, but also takes another step forward in protecting the intellectual property rights of overseas enterprises. Dare to say that it is perfect, but it can show the Chinese government's efforts and sincerity in this regard."
The second is to improve the relief channels for foreign investors and foreign-invested enterprises to safeguard their legitimate rights and interests.
Jiang Chenghua stated that in order to promote the settlement of relevant disputes between foreign investors, foreign-invested enterprises and administrative agencies, in addition to the existing administrative reconsideration, administrative litigation and other relief channels, the Foreign Investment Law has specially established a foreign-invested enterprise complaint system, which is timely Deal with the problems reported by foreign-invested enterprises or their investors, and coordinate and improve relevant policies and measures.
He explained that this is the first time that my country has stipulated a system for complaints by foreign-invested enterprises at the basic legal level.
The Regulations for the Implementation of the Foreign Investment Law further clarify the scope of complaints from foreign-invested enterprises, the improvement of the central and local complaint work mechanisms, the improvement of specific systems such as complaint work rules, and the protection of foreign investment rights in the complaint handling process.
Zhou Shijian told China Business News that the release of the "Measures" is actually implementing the national treatment of foreign investors in China.
"The World Trade Organization (WTO) has two fair trade provisions. One is the most-favored-nation treatment in trade, and the other is that foreigners who invest in another country should enjoy the same treatment as local citizens, except that they have no right to vote and stand for election. It is called national treatment." Zhou Shijian said that the purpose of the "Measures" is to allow foreign-funded enterprises investing in China to receive national treatment, which is also implementing the basic rules of the WTO.
According to Li Yong, deputy director of the Investment Promotion Bureau of the Ministry of Commerce, introduced at the press conference, in accordance with the Foreign Investment Law and its implementation regulations and the newly issued "Measures", the National Complaint Center for Foreign Investment Enterprises is located in the Investment Promotion Agency of the Ministry of Commerce.
Conducive to a positive interaction with foreign investment
Zong Changqing, Director of the Department of Foreign Investment of the Ministry of Commerce, revealed at the press conference that during the public consultation period of the Measures, he received opinions and suggestions from international organizations, foreign business associations, foreign-invested enterprises, local complaint agencies, experts and scholars. 454 articles.
He said that by improving the foreign business complaint work mechanism and system, and promptly promoting the resolution of outstanding issues reported by foreign investors, it will be more conducive to promoting the formation of a benign interactive relationship between the Chinese government and foreign investors and better protecting the legitimate rights and interests of foreign investment. , To further optimize the foreign investment environment, stabilize foreign investment expectations and confidence, and thus help my country build a new higher-level open economic system, and form new advantages in international cooperation and competition.
Wei Jianguo told China Business News reporter: "I think the biggest highlight of the Measures is that it gives foreign businessmen the right to complain."
He explained that, generally speaking, the old "Measures" did not mention complaints about some government work, government agencies and related units, including intermediary agencies and chambers of commerce, but Chinese national leaders have specifically mentioned the need to create the best To create a market-oriented, internationalized and legalized market environment.
This core is to achieve equal rights, equal rules, and equal opportunities for foreign businessmen, private enterprises and state-owned enterprises.
"In other words, as long as it is an enterprise established in China, we treat each other equally and treat each other equally. This is the key. So I think the biggest highlight of the "Measures" is to give foreign businessmen this right." Wei Jianguo said, specifically, In terms of platforms, foreign businessmen have goals, targets, and platforms when making complaints. Moreover, in provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions, including development zones, municipalities, and county levels, designated institutions must be listed as the contact mechanism for foreign investment.
Because foreign investment may involve water, electricity, transportation charges, taxation, services, logistics, supply chain, and production materials, etc., there has never been such a unified platform or organization from top to bottom to accept it. .
"Many foreign businessmen have told me that with this mechanism, they can directly ask whether their questions and letters have been accepted and resolved, which is much better than before." He said.
Second, in terms of the scope and areas of complaints, the promulgation of the "Measures" can be said to provide a practical guarantee for the implementation of the new "Foreign Investment Law", especially the implementation rules of the "Foreign Investment Law".
Wei Jianguo said that after the promulgation of the new "Foreign Investment Law", foreign businessmen believed that it was only a basic law without detailed implementation rules; after the implementation details were available, there was no field and scope (of complaints).
Therefore, the promulgation of the "Measures" proves that we have optimized the environment for foreign businessmen. The problems raised by foreign businessmen have been paid more attention to, more detailed, and more practical.
Third, from a global perspective, other investment hotspots, such as Dubai, Singapore, Amsterdam, the United States and the European Union, do not have governments that value foreign investment like this.
Wei Jianguo said that attaching great importance to foreign investment and having such courage and courage to face some of these difficulties and problems is the first step for us to solve foreign investment problems.
"This attitude of being more serious, daring to expose one's deficiencies, daring to make corrections, and meeting the requirements of foreign businessmen as soon as possible, I think it is second to none in the world." Wei Jianguo said, "The Chinese government has indeed played a very important role in this (solving foreign business problems). Great effect."
Zhou Shijian told a reporter from China Business News that China’s market size cannot be ignored, and China is still continuing to open up. These factors give international investors confidence.
According to data from the Ministry of Commerce, from January to July 2020, the country's actual use of foreign capital was 535.65 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 0.5% (equivalent to US$76.98 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 2.3%; excluding banking, securities, and insurance, the same below).
In July, the country’s actual use of foreign capital was 63.47 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 15.8% (equivalent to US$9.05 billion, a year-on-year increase of 12.2%), achieving a single-month increase in the amount of foreign capital absorbed for the fourth consecutive month.
In terms of different industries, from January to July, the actual use of foreign capital in the service industry was 414.59 billion yuan, an increase of 11.6% year-on-year, accounting for 77.4% of my country’s absorption of foreign capital; the high-tech service industry increased by 27.4% year-on-year, of which information services, R&D and design services , Professional technical services, and scientific and technological achievements transformation services increased by 22.2%, 57.6%, 166.8% and 15.6% respectively year-on-year.
Author: Feng Di Van ▪ elegance