A view of Shanghai Photo: VCG

China will consider appropriately shortening the list that outlines sectors off-limits to foreign investors in order to push forward high-level opening-up and attract foreign investment, Meng Wei, a spokesperson for the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China's top economic planner, said on Wednesday.

"We're evaluating the effect of the implementation of negative lists for foreign investment over the past several years and have had in-depth exchanges with local governments and foreign enterprises about their demands in expanding market access of foreign investment in order to formulate policies for further opening-up," Meng said.

She said authorities will boost earnest implementation of policies that have been rolled out to guide foreign investment into key sectors including advanced manufacturing, modern services and environmental protection, and key regions including the central and western region and northeastern China.

A special working team mechanism for major foreign-funded projects will be further improved, while China will accelerate the implementation of the first six rounds of major foreign-funded projects, the spokesperson said.
The planned investment of the six rounds of projects totaling $170 billion, with each exceeding $1 billion. As of now, over $63 billion has already been invested, according to Meng.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) into the Chinese mainland, in actual use, expanded 6.1 percent year-on-year to 268.4 billion yuan ($39 billion) in the first two months of 2023, according to data released by the Ministry of Commerce.

High-tech industries saw a rapid FDI increase of 32 percent year-on-year over the period. Specifically, foreign investment in high-tech manufacturing surged 68.9 percent, while that in the high-tech service sector rose 23.3 percent year-on-year. For example, US carmaker Tesla and chip giant Intel unveiled their new business plans in China recently.

"China is still one of the world's most attractive investment destinations," Meng said, noting that China welcomes foreign enterprises to establish businesses in China for win-win benefits and common development.