China vows easier market access for foreign investors, on course for greater opening-up
China
is on course for a greater opening-up of its economy, which is increasingly
becoming a magnet for foreign investment, senior government officials and
business executives said over the weekend at a high-profile forum in Beijing.
China's
economic development has been achieved through reform and opening-up, and
greater opening-up is a must for the economy's future high-quality development,
Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng said on March 24 at the opening ceremony of the
annual China Development Forum (CDF) at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse.
The
CDF, hosted by the Development Research Center of the State Council, the
cabinet of China, has gained increasing attention in recent years for its
gathering of high-ranking government officials and top industry executives.
A
confluence of voices pledging greater opening-up at this year's forum put the nation's
deregulation efforts in focus.
The
country will unswervingly boost imports and continue to reduce tariffs, Han
said, noting that the push for easing market access for foreign investment will
continue, the negative list of investment will be shortened further and wholly
owned foreign ventures will be allowed in more sectors, among wide-ranging
opening-up efforts.
The
opening of the country's financial sector seems to have been particularly
fast-paced in recent years.
“There’s
apparent progress on foreign-invested financial institutions making inroads
into the Chinese market,” Yi Gang, governor of the People’s Bank of China, the
country’s central bank, said at the forum.
In
a fresh move, Bank of Beijing, one of the country’s largest city commercial
banks, announced on March 21 that a wholly owned subsidiary of Dutch ING Group
will set up a joint venture with the bank in which the ING unit will hold a 51
percent stake. If approved, the the country will see its first foreign-controlled lender.
Yi
vowed that China will continue to pursue opening of the financial services
sector, giving equal treatment to both Chinese and foreign institutions in
areas including shareholding.
Quicken
the pace
It's
a good time to quicken the pace of financial opening in China, Peter Tyroller,
a member of the board of management of Robert Bosch GmbH, told the Global Times
on the sidelines of the forum.
Still,
“cautiously considering the risk of opening too fast means being careful while
seeing the necessity to open,” he said.
A
new industry catalog to encourage foreign investment will attract multinational
companies to invest in China and set up manufacturing and research and
development centers in the country, Ning Jizhe, vice chairman of the National
Development and Reform Commission, said at the forum.
Foreign
direct investment in China hit $135 billion last year, an indication that the
country remains one of the most attractive investment destinations worldwide,
according to Ning.
In
another sign, the World Bank Group's annual business environment report,
released in late October 2018, showed China advancing to a global ranking of 46
from the previous year's 78, which the World Bank attributed to the country's
brisk reform efforts.
The
crystal-clear opening-up signals apparently provide a boost for foreign
investors seeking opportunities in the Chinese market.
Open
environment
“The
investment environment in China has been increasingly open, and the business
environment in China is as well improving. These chances provide multinational
companies with vast space for their development in China,” Leif Johansson,
chairman of AstraZeneca, a British-Swedish pharmaceutical and biologics group,
told the Global Times.
Johansson
also reflected on the newly approved Foreign Investment Law, which was in the
spotlight at the forum.
China
will ramp up efforts to flesh out the newly passed foreign investment law to
protect the legitimate rights of foreign-invested businesses, senior government
officials pledged at the CDF.
In
a conspicuous attempt to make the country more appealing to foreign investors,
China’s top legislature earlier in March approved the new foreign investment
law, which will take effect on January 1, 2020.
The
new law demonstrates the Chinese government’s attitude and its determination to
further open up the nation’s market, Johansson said, stressing the company
believes that the investment environment in China will become more open, fair,
transparent and predictable.
“Therefore,
we will further increase our investment in China,” he said.
Source:Global Times
China vows easier market access for foreign investors, on course for greater opening-up
Reviewed by PEOPLES MAIL
on
10:55
Rating:
No comments: