I. Background

On November 18, 2023, the State Council approved the 'Work Plan for Supporting Beijing in Deepening the Construction of the Integrated National Demonstration Zone for Opening up the Services Sector'. To implement the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council to support Beijing in deepening the construction of the integrated national demonstration zone for opening up the services sector, and to ensure the implementation of various tasks with the highest standard of excellence, the municipal Office of 'Two Zones' Affairs (the Integrated National Demonstration Zone for Opening up the Services Sector and the China (Beijing) Pilot Free Trade Zone) requires related municipal authorities to develop implementation plans for deepening the construction of the integrated national demonstration zone for opening up the services sector in key areas and regions. In order to continually advance the opening-up of foreign investment, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Commerce has drafted the 'Implementation Plan for Promoting Foreign Investment through Deepening the Opening-up of the Services Sector in Beijing' (hereinafter referred to as the 'Plan').

II. Highlights

First, focus on foreign investors' concerns. Based on the actual situation of the "Two Zones" construction in Beijing, we will address the key concerns of foreign investors, further expand opening up, enhance supply of various factors of production, and improve investment services so as to stabilize foreign investors' expectations and boost their confidence.

Second, step up exploration and innovation in line with the city's characteristics. The Plan proposes a range of innovative measures in line with Beijing's characteristics, such as "developing a negative list for data exit in the pilot free trade zone," "supporting eligible medical institutions to carry out clinical trials on stem cells and other areas," "issuing the 4.0 version of the catalog recognizing overseas professional qualifications," and "taking pharmaceutical companies as a breakthrough point, accelerate the promotion of data compliance and export of foreign-funded pharmaceutical and healthcare companies, , and take a lead in opening a green channel for foreign pharmaceutical companies to apply for data export."

Third, ensure proper synergy with relevant laws and policies. During the development of the plan, we will make references and draw on the principles of policy documents such as Beijing Foreign Investment Regulations, the 2024 Work Plan for Overall Optimization of the Business Environment to Create a Model for "Beijing Services", and Several Measures from Beijing to Further Optimize Foreign Investment Environment and Increase Efforts to Attract Foreign Investment, and make effort to properly synergize these documents.

III. Main Content

The Plan is divided into three parts: overall requirements, main tasks and measures, and support measures.

Part one: Overall Requirements. Guiding Ideology: Guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, we will comprehensively implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, fully and accurately implement the new development philosophy, deepen the construction of the integrated national demonstration zone for opening up the services sector, support the construction of the 'Two Zones' to further serve and integrate into the new development pattern, insist on advancing opening-up more deeply, continuously improve the facilitation level of foreign investment, and keep optimizing the business environment for foreign investment so as to contribute to the high-level opening-up and high-quality development of Beijing's services sector. Work Objectives: Led by the construction of the 'Two Zones', we will increase efforts to promote foreign investment and serve foreign investors, strive to be the first to open up key areas such as telecommunications, data, healthcare, and green sectors across the country, further enhance our capacity to provide quality services for foreign-invested enterprises, make it easier for the flow of funds and for foreign employees to obtain the residency in Beijing in foreign enterprises, increase the influence of the brand of 'Invest in Beijing', enhance the supporting role of open platforms so as to achieve fundamental optimization and improvement of our business environment for foreign investment.

Part Two: Main Tasks and Measures. The Plan is divided into three parts: overall requirements, main tasks and measures, and support measures. There are a total of 15 tasks and measures, covering the opening-up of such fields as telecommunications, cross-border data flow, healthcare, and green initiatives, including service support elements like capital flow and foreign employee residency, as well as the improvement of management service levels.

The tasks are as follows: 1. Improve the management of foreign investment access; 2. Promote foreign investment enterprises to apply for qualifications in the telecommunications sector; 3. Enhance the facilitation level of cross-border data flow; 4. Increase the opening up in the healthcare sector; 5. Encourage green and low-carbon development; 6. Enhance the level of legal protection for foreign investment; 7. Build a higher-level headquarters economy; 8. Deepen the pilot program of foreign exchange management for cross-border investment and financing; 9. Encourage cooperation in the human resources sector; 10. Optimize the residency policy for foreign employees. 11. Continuously build the "Invest in Beijing" brand; 12. Implement the "Global Service Partner Program"; 13. Leverage the supporting role of open platforms; 14. Enhance the management and services levels for foreign enterprises; 15. Improve the mechanism of information reporting and foreign investment statistics.

Part Three: Support Measures. This part has three aspects: strengthening overall planning, enhancing promotion, publicity and implementation, and stepping up risk prevention and control. By further ensuring guarantee measures, we aim to achieve high-level opening up and high-quality development of the services sector in Beijing.

IV. Implementation Time

This Plan will be implemented from the date of release.