Photo: VCG

The State Council, China's cabinet, on Wednesday called for greater efforts to attract foreign investment, including lifting all restrictions on foreign investment in manufacturing and rolling out a new round of trial measures to expand opening of the services sector.

A State Council executive meeting studied work on utilizing foreign capital and highlighted the important role foreign businesses play in the construction of the new development paradigm, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

The meeting stressed the need to increase efforts to attract and utilize foreign investment and take multiple measures to stabilize foreign investment. It also called for more opening-up of key areas to foreign businesses, work to clear all restrictions on foreign investment in the manufacturing sector, and a new round of pilot measures to expand opening-up of the services industry.

China will offer similar treatment to foreign and domestic businesses in participating in the country's large-scale equipment renewal, government procurement and investment and other areas, according to the meeting. The country will also optimize foreign investment in pharmaceuticals, medical devices and other fields.

The meeting comes as China has been taking a growing number of measures to attract foreign investment. In March, China announced that all market access restrictions on foreign investment in manufacturing will be abolished, and market access restrictions in various services sectors, such as telecommunications and healthcare, will be reduced.

On Monday, officials from two Chinese ministries said that China will further open up its vast domestic market for foreign businesses through a slew of measures, including expanding access to sectors such as healthcare and telecommunications.

As China has stepped up efforts to attract foreign investment, including expanding market access, many foreign businesses have expressed confidence in the prospects for the Chinese market and have expanded their plans to expand investment in the country.

In the first five months of 2024, the number of newly established foreign funded businesses in China grew by 17.4 percent year-on-year to 21,764, even though the total amount of foreign investment dropped, according to the latest data from the Ministry of Commerce.

Significantly, foreign investment in consumer equipment manufacturing jumped by 332.9 percent, while the amount for the professional and technical services sector surged by 103.1 percent, the data showed.

Global Times