On September 8, 2021, Meng Wei, deputy director of the Political Research Office and spokesperson of the National Development and Reform Commission, presided over a special press conference on stabilizing investment and foreign investment.

Liu Xiaonan, Director of the Foreign Investment Department of the National Development and Reform Commission, introduced that since 2021, with the global epidemic and the international situation still complex and severe, China has given full play to its advantages such as taking the lead in effectively controlling the epidemic, maintaining a stable economy, and accelerating the construction of a new development pattern. , Steadily promoted the work of stabilizing foreign investment, and achieved remarkable results. Mainly manifested in the following three aspects.

The first is to increase the amount of foreign capital used and optimize the structure. The inflow of foreign capital continued its steady and positive momentum. From January to July 2021, China attracted US$100.74 billion in foreign investment, a year-on-year increase of 30.9%. Among them, foreign investment in high-tech manufacturing and high-tech service industries was 7.12 billion U.S. dollars and 25.15 billion U.S. dollars, respectively, up 34.6% and 40.6% year-on-year, which was higher than the average growth rate.

Second, foreign companies in China are operating well and increasing profits. From January to July 2021, the operating income and total profits of foreign-funded industrial enterprises above designated size were 15.94 trillion yuan and 1.33 trillion yuan, respectively, representing a year-on-year increase of 21.6% and 46.0%, which were also significantly better than the same period in 2019. The survey shows that the Chinese market has become the "main engine" for the performance growth of many well-known multinational companies.

Third, foreign-funded enterprises are optimistic and confident about the Chinese market. A survey by the European Chamber of Commerce in China shows that 60% of European-funded enterprises will expand their business in China, an increase of 8 percentage points from last year. According to a survey by the American Chamber of Commerce in China, 81% of US-funded companies expect to achieve positive growth in operating income in the Chinese market this year, and 66% of US-funded companies plan to increase investment in China, an increase of 5 and 3 percentage points respectively over 2020. The "Chinese Economy and Japanese Enterprises 2021 White Paper" shows that 92.8% of Japanese companies in China will not adjust their production bases due to factors such as the spread of the new crown pneumonia epidemic and changes in the trading environment.

Liu Xiaonan said that relevant departments will focus on three aspects in accordance with the "Outline" of the "14th Five-Year Plan" and the relevant arrangements in the 2021 government work report.

The first is the expansion of stable stocks. Through further reduction and improvement of the negative list of foreign investment access in the country and the pilot free trade zone, relaxation of restrictions on foreign investment access will provide a broader space for foreign investment. Promote the implementation of major foreign-funded projects, solve problems in projects in a timely manner, optimize full-process services, and guide the inflow of foreign capital through large projects.

The second is to optimize the structure and improve the quality. The main purpose is to improve policies to guide the direction of foreign investment, implement the catalog of industries that encourage foreign investment, and give full play to the active role of foreign capital in making up for shortcomings, promoting technological and management innovation, and meeting domestic diversified market demands.

The third is to strengthen services to prevent risks. Promote relevant policies and measures to foreign-funded enterprises in a timely and efficient manner, carry out a series of international industrial investment cooperation activities, and build investment cooperation platforms for foreign-funded enterprises and various localities. Continue to clean up restrictions outside the negative list of foreign investment access, promote the implementation of national treatment after access, and treat foreign-funded enterprises and domestic-funded enterprises equally in accordance with the law.

At present, doing a good job in stabilizing foreign investment is of great significance to China's opening to the outside world, promoting high-quality development, maintaining economic operations within a reasonable range, stabilizing employment and foreign trade, and it is also a measure to use practical actions to support the global fight against the epidemic and help the world economy recover. . Editor/Tian Zengpeng