Hainan FTP's negative list may be pruned to attract more investors

China will formulate more effective policies to attract global capital and also seek ways to further reduce the number of items on the negative list for foreign investment access in Hainan Free Trade Port, a government official said on Tuesday.

A negative list refers to specific areas of industry where foreign investors are not allowed to operate. They can operate in areas not appearing in the list.

Building upon the effective implementation of previously introduced policies, the government currently is researching and formulating more comprehensive policies to attract foreign investment, said Jin Xiandong, head of the office of policy studies at the National Development and Reform Commission, China's top economic regulator.

Addressing a monthly news conference in Beijing, Jin said that these measures are practical steps aimed at further optimizing the environment for fair competition, facilitating the flow of innovative elements and advancing practical cooperation between domestic and foreign companies.

"In the next step, the role of the special working groups for major foreign investment projects will be fully utilized to coordinate issues related to planning, land use, environmental impact assessment and energy consumption," he said, adding this method will expedite project implementation and attract foreign investment in targeted areas.

The official said the government is currently evaluating the effectiveness of the negative list for foreign investment access and has received some specific requests from certain parties. Furthermore, measures to reduce the number of items on the negative list for foreign investment access in Hainan Free Trade Port are being studied.

More than 180 policies and measures on tariff exemptions, trade and investment facilitation have gone into effect to support the FTP's growth over the past five years, data from Hainan provincial government showed.

On the back of bustling FTP development, Hainan's actual use of foreign investment grew 63.2 percent annually on average over the past five years, and the total investment in the period exceeded that of the previous three decades.

Emphasizing China's role as a critical driving force behind global economic growth in recent years, Jin said the country will continue to provide strong impetus to global economic recovery and growth, offering long-term development opportunities for foreign companies.

China has maintained a stable trend in utilizing foreign investment this year. Foreign direct investment in its manufacturing sector grew by 5.9 percent year-on-year to 147.08 billion yuan ($20.5 billion) during the first five months of this year, while that in the high-tech industry climbed 7.5 percent in the same period, data from the Ministry of Commerce showed.

According to Jin, the recent visits of top executives from multinational corporations to China are a clear demonstration of their confidence in China's business environment and its future prospects.

Such a commitment is also assured by Commerce Minister Wang Wentao who said that the Chinese government will create a more favorable environment for foreign businesses investing in China.

During his meeting with Yasuhiro Sato, chairman of the Japan-China Investment Promotion Organization, and senior executives of a number of Japanese companies, including Mizuho Bank Ltd, Panasonic Holdings Corp and Toyota Motor Corp, in Beijing on Monday, Wang said that China is currently advancing its path to modernization and accelerating the establishment of a new development pattern.

The commerce minister stressed that China's modernization process will generate tremendous growth momentum for the world and provide huge market space and cooperation opportunities for businesses from various countries, including Japan.

"China has a well-developed business environment. It provides ample space and solid backing for foreign companies to establish themselves in this lucrative market. We will increase our efforts in research and development, and sales of new products to further expand our business in China," said Okada Yoshihide, general manager of Pegasus (Tianjin) Sewing Machine Co Ltd, a subsidiary of Japanese industrial company Pegasus Group.

As China's high-end sewing market thrives, Pegasus' newly established innovation center in Tianjin will help the company cater to the country's growing demand for multifunctional sewing machines, he said.