Photo: VCG

China will push further opening-up of businesses in key fields including finance, telecom, internet, education, culture and medical services in a considered manner during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period, and will relax the conditions for investment by high-quality foreign investors in listed companies, according to the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) on Friday.

The ministry released its 5-year plan and the 2035 long-term objective on Friday, indicating that China will undertake further opening-up, while reducing negative list in some areas and easing the access burden of foreign-funded enterprises.

The pandemic is reshaping international industrial and supply chains. At the same time affected by non-economic factors, competition among countries to attract investment is becoming more intense. There are still favorable conditions for China to attract foreign investment, Zong Changqing, the director of the foreign investment department of the MOFCOM, said on Friday during a press conference.

"China's cross-border investment is expected to exceed the pre-pandemic level again in 2021. With the economic development continues to be stable, the attraction of China's super-large market will continue to grow," Zong said.

China has a market home to more than 400 million middle-class consumers, with huge growth potential. In the first nine months of 2021, China's total retail sales grew 16.4 percent year-on-year, according to statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics.

"China's comprehensive advantages, such as complete industrial supporting facilities, sound infrastructure and abundant human resources have made China attractive to foreign investment, and foreign investors' expectations and confidence in investing in China remain stable," Zong added.

Of over 3,000 key foreign-funded enterprises surveyed by the MOFCOM, 93.3 percent were optimistic about their future development in China. 

The ministry forecasts that total foreign investment in 2021 will exceed 1 trillion yuan, or $160 billion in dollar terms.

In the first three quarters of this year, there were some 36,000 newly established foreign-invested enterprises across the country, up 36.5 percent year-on-year, which was the highest for the same period in nearly 20 years except for 2018, per MOFCOM.

China's market is now open, and foreign companies are allowed to come in and out. This conforms to the law of the market and is also a manifestation of investment liberalization and facilitation, Zong said.

Meng Huating, deputy director for foreign investment at MOFCOM, also said on Friday that China welcomes investment from all countries in the 14th Five-Year Plan period to actively participate in areas such as green economy, low-carbon and digital economy.

During the period of 2016-2020, industrial and commercial investors set up nearly 15,000 foreign-invested enterprises in China, an increase of 56.3 percent from the period of 2011-2015, while paid-in investment reached 343 billion yuan ($53.7 billion), up 49 percent.

Global Times

Photo: VCG

China will push further opening-up of businesses in key fields including finance, telecom, internet, education, culture and medical services in a considered manner during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period, and will relax the conditions for investment by high-quality foreign investors in listed companies, according to the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) on Friday.

The ministry released its 5-year plan and the 2035 long-term objective on Friday, indicating that China will undertake further opening-up, while reducing negative list in some areas and easing the access burden of foreign-funded enterprises.

The pandemic is reshaping international industrial and supply chains. At the same time affected by non-economic factors, competition among countries to attract investment is becoming more intense. There are still favorable conditions for China to attract foreign investment, Zong Changqing, the director of the foreign investment department of the MOFCOM, said on Friday during a press conference.

"China's cross-border investment is expected to exceed the pre-pandemic level again in 2021. With the economic development continues to be stable, the attraction of China's super-large market will continue to grow," Zong said.

China has a market home to more than 400 million middle-class consumers, with huge growth potential. In the first nine months of 2021, China's total retail sales grew 16.4 percent year-on-year, according to statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics.

"China's comprehensive advantages, such as complete industrial supporting facilities, sound infrastructure and abundant human resources have made China attractive to foreign investment, and foreign investors' expectations and confidence in investing in China remain stable," Zong added.

Of over 3,000 key foreign-funded enterprises surveyed by the MOFCOM, 93.3 percent were optimistic about their future development in China. 

The ministry forecasts that total foreign investment in 2021 will exceed 1 trillion yuan, or $160 billion in dollar terms.

In the first three quarters of this year, there were some 36,000 newly established foreign-invested enterprises across the country, up 36.5 percent year-on-year, which was the highest for the same period in nearly 20 years except for 2018, per MOFCOM.

China's market is now open, and foreign companies are allowed to come in and out. This conforms to the law of the market and is also a manifestation of investment liberalization and facilitation, Zong said.

Meng Huating, deputy director for foreign investment at MOFCOM, also said on Friday that China welcomes investment from all countries in the 14th Five-Year Plan period to actively participate in areas such as green economy, low-carbon and digital economy.

During the period of 2016-2020, industrial and commercial investors set up nearly 15,000 foreign-invested enterprises in China, an increase of 56.3 percent from the period of 2011-2015, while paid-in investment reached 343 billion yuan ($53.7 billion), up 49 percent.

Global Times