The Action Plan to Solidly Promote High-Level Opening Up and Make Greater Efforts to Attract and Utilize Foreign Investment (hereinafter referred to as the Plan) released by the General Office of the State Council of the People's Republic of China on March 19 announces that China plans to further promote high-level opening-up and step up efforts to attract and utilize foreign investment.

To expand market access and further liberalize foreign investment, China will seek to shorten the negative list for foreign investment, launch pilot projects to expand access for foreign investment in the field of sci-tech innovation, and expand access for foreign financial institutions to the banking and insurance sectors.

At the same time, China's bond market will open wider to foreign financial institutions and the pilot program will be advanced for eligible overseas limited partners to invest in the Chinese mainland.

More policy support will be extended in terms of taxation, finance, and energy consumption to make China more attractive to foreign investment. The catalog of industries where foreign investment is encouraged is set to be expanded, along with the list of foreign investment projects.

Foreign-funded enterprises will receive support from Chinese authorities for industrial relocation to the central, western, and northeastern parts of China.

To better serve foreign enterprises and a create an environment for fair competition, actions, policies and measures at odds with fair competition will be remediated., The system for tendering and bidding will be improved, and foreign enterprises will be allowed to participate in the making and revision of standards on an equal footing.

The "Invest in China" brand will be polished with continuous efforts to present to foreign investors China's excellent business environment and investment opportunities.

There are plans to support the free flow of data between foreign-funded enterprises and their headquarters, facilitate international business travels, and optimize the management of work and residence permits for foreigners in China.

Intellectual property right protection will also be strengthened by improving rules concerning cross-border data flow, actively advancing negotiation and implementation of high-standard economic and trade agreements, and working harder on pilot programs to align with high-standard international economic and trade rules.