China allows foreigners to trade A-shares next month

China has approved regulation amendments, allowing qualified individual foreign investors to open securities accounts to trade A-shares next month.The updated regulation, which will take effect on Sept. 15, will allow foreign individuals working in the Chinese mainland to open A-share trading accounts, a move to further open up the securities market, according to the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC).The move will expand the investor base, introduce more liquidity and improve the structure of the securities market, the CSRC said on its website.Eligible foreign investors must come from countries or regions that have established regulatory cooperation mechanisms with the CSRC, according to a separate statement issued by the China Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation (CSDC).Starting from Sept. 15, qualified foreigners can apply for A-share securities accounts by submitting application materials, including an application form for starting security accounts, a passport and its copy, and proof of employment issued by a domestic institution.The CSRC also expanded the equity incentive objects of foreigners working at companies listed on the A-share market from those working in the mainland to all foreign employees.In April 2013, the A-share market was opened to residents from Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan who work or live in the mainland. By the end of July, 125,000 qualified residents from these regions have opened A-share securities accounts, according to data from the CSDC.Source:Xinhua

Beijing will relax the market access for foreign financial institutions

This year, Beijing will create a more attractive investment environment, significantly relax market access, study and formulate the expanding measures on the financial industry's opening for Foreign-fund Enterprises, and support foreign financial institutions to participate in the construction of Beijing's capital market.On the 25th, the State Council Information Office held meeting on “Accelerating the establishment of a fair competitive business environment”, the deputy mayor of Beijing, Wang Hong said. She revealed that this year Beijing will speed up the reform of the investment project commitment system and gradually realize the “zero approval” of corporate investment.Taking advantage of the expansion of the service industry, Beijing has continuously improved the level of international development and further relaxed the market access of foreign capital. In accordance with the unified requirements of the State, foreign investment fully implements the pre-entry national treatment and the negative list management system, and continuously reduces the negative list of the service industry. And will further expand the use of foreign capital.

Foreign Investment Policy Interpretation was established in Beijing

On July 13, the China Association of Enterprises with Foreign Investment held a foreign policy interpretation meeting, and invited Ye Wei, deputy director of the Foreign Investment Department of the Ministry of Commerce, to exchange views with the member companies of the association on the latest foreign investment policy. The meeting was chaired by Cao Hongwei, the executive vice president. More than 80 member companies and more than 120 people participated in the conference, covering agriculture, food, medicine, chemicals, paper, electrical, energy, automotive, chip, finance and other fields.According to the recently released "Special Management Measures for Foreign Investment Access in the Free Trade Zone (Negative List) (2018 Edition)", "Special Management Measures for Foreign Investment Access (Negative List) (2018 Edition)" and other foreign policy documents, Ye Wei systemed to interpretate the investment liberalization, investment facilitation, investment promotion, investment protection, optimization of regional open layout, promotion of transformation and upgrading of State-level Development Zones and other six aspects of policy measures, timely and profound assistance to foreign-funded enterprises to understand and grasp China's foreign investment policies.Ye Wei also introduced the situation of attracting foreign investment in the first half of this year. From January to June, there were 29,591 newly established Foreign-funded Enterprises nationwide, a year-on-year increase of 96.6%. The actual use of foreign capital was equivalent to US$68.32 billion, a year-on-year increase of 4.1%. In the Pilot Free Trade Zone, 4,281 Foreign-funded Enterprises were newly established, and the actual use of foreign capital was 57.84 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 32.6%, leading the growth of foreign investment in the country. The actual use of foreign capital in the manufacturing industry was 134.83 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.9%, accounting for 30.2%. The actual investment capital from the United States, Singapore, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and Macao increased by 29.1%, 19.7%, 43.8%, 82.5%, and 78.7%, respectively. ASEAN grew by 24.4% year-on-year, and the “Belt and Road” countries increased by 24.9%. The above shows that the business environment in China continues to improve and foreign investment remains optimistic about China's development prospects.Then there was an exchange of interactions. Foreign-funded Enterprises have expressed their welcome to China's new foreign investment policy and believe that China is still an ideal investment destination.

The development of foreign investment in Shanghai will enter a new phase

First, there are fewer restrictions on market access. In particular, the opening up of the service sector will help introduce new technologies, new business formats, new business models and new products so as to give full play to the role of foreign investment in the development of the real economy.Second, with the deepening of the reform. We will implement the system of pre-establishment national treatment plus a negative list across the board while implement the national treatment after admission and treat all enterprises registered in our country equally.Third, support for innovation has been upgraded. System innovation in the pilot free trade zones pays more attention to giving greater autonomy to these zones. And more efforts have been made to explore the establishment of a free trade port so as to further demonstrate the piloting effect of foreign investment-related work in deepening the reform in an all-round way and opening up."Many aspects can be replicated. Different regions can compete with each other with more favorable policies, with more and better land. However, it takes a very high price to replicate business environment. It is not easy to replicate," Yang Chao, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce said. He introduce that there are many such examples that companies moved out from Shanghai for lower-cost land and manpower, but later found that it is difficult to recruit high-caliber people. Even if they recruited the people they need, it is difficult to retain them because of the lack of good schools, good hospitals and good business districts.Shanghai has already done a great deal of work in urban construction and livable areas. Take the PM2.5 indicator for example. Shanghai has seen remarkable improvement over last year. Despite skyrocketing prices of land in Shanghai's downtown area, the government built many green spaces rather than tall buildings. Shanghai is determined to be built into a city of innovation, a city of humanities, and a city of green.Yang expressed his hope that the Shanghai Investment Promotion Organization (SIPP) will play a bigger role in promoting two-way investment in Shanghai. "First is policy-orientated and deliver policy information timely; second is demand-orientated and improve the effectiveness of investment promotion work; third is service-oriented and effectively serve the member institutions. The SIPP will present to the world a good story of China, of Shanghai, and let more foreign investors to understand Shanghai and to invest in Shanghai."Source: China.org.cn

Shanghai focuses on promoting the opening of Aviation and Other fields

In the “100 measures to further expand opening-up” action plan released by Shanghai on the 10th, the leading industries such as automobiles, aircraft and ships are key open areas. At the press conference of the municipal government on July 11, Huang Ou, the deputy director of the Shanghai Economic and Information Committee, introduced that Shanghai encourages foreign investors to invest in advanced manufacturing and fully implements the pre-entry national treatment plus negative list management system. Focus on promoting further opening up in the fields of automobile, aviation, shipbuilding, green import remanufacturing and maintenance, and promote the operation of major industrial projects. And will develop the automobile and electronic information industry, and actively cultivate industrial clusters such as civil aviation, biomedicine, high-end equipment, and green chemicals.He said that according to the national deployment, it will speed up the elimination of restrictions on foreign-investment ratios in the automobile manufacturing industry and the number of joint ventures of OEMs. Attracting world-renowned Foreign-Funded Enterprises to build R&D centers and High-end Automobile Projects, supporting high-performance motors, batteries, electronic control and other core components supporting projects.The aviation industry will attract foreign investment in aircraft engine assembly, airborne systems and key components, support foreign investment in Shanghai to develop aircraft maintenance and department maintenance services, and strengthen cooperation in talent, technology and management.At the same time, cancel the foreign investment restrictions in the aircraft industry, including trunk aircraft, regional aircraft, general aircraft, helicopters, drones, and aerostats.The Shipbuilding Industry will carry out international cooperation at a higher level, insisting on the direction of high-tech ships and offshore engineering equipment, and canceling foreign investment restrictions in ship design, manufacturing and repair. Support foreign investment in the development of luxury cruise ships and other high-end shipbuilding, ship design and research and development and other high-end industrial chain, support foreign high-end ship equipment, key parts and components projects.In the green import re-manufacturing and maintenance industry, the national import high-end equipment re-manufacturing industry demonstration park will be built. Accelerate research to provide support and assistance to Foreign-funded Enterprises engaged in green re-manufacturing and global maintenance operations, and actively assist in the approval process for imported equipment in the re-manufacturing process.

China to improve pricing mechanism to boost green development

BEIJING - China will further improve its pricing mechanism to stimulate environmental protection and green development, according to a guideline issued by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). China aims to establish a pricing mechanism and pricing policies in favor of green development by 2020. By 2025, the pricing mechanism will be further perfected and fully implemented, said the NDRC. The pricing mechanism should "fully reflect market supply-demand and scarcity of resources, as well as ecological value and the cost of environmental damage," so as to incorporate ecological costs into economic operation and attract more social capital to the environmental protection sector, said the guideline. "The new pricing mechanism will focus on prominent environmental issues and let polluters pay the cost," said Yue Xiuhu, head of the NDRC's price department, at a press conference Monday. China will speed up the establishment of a pricing mechanism that can cover the cost of sewage, sludge and solid waste treatment while bringing profit to these businesses. The government will build a system to push for garbage sorting, as well as garbage reduction, recycling and environmentally friendly waste treatment, according to the guideline. For water use, the government aims for a new pricing mechanism that encourages better quality and more conservation to ensure sustainable use of water resources. Regions that face water shortages and industries with high pollution, high energy consumption and overcapacity will be charged more for water use, the NDRC said. Environmental protection enterprises will see policy support in electricity use, while high energy-consuming industries will no longer enjoy favorable electricity prices. The guideline pointed out that ferro-alloy, calcium carbide, caustic soda, cement, steel, yellow phosphorus and zinc smelting sectors will be given different power prices, while prices for industries subject to elimination or restriction will be even higher. China will also encourage local authorities to explore other green price policies like ecological product pricing, carbon emission trading and a compulsory renewable energy quota, it said. Yue said the government will ensure the quality of people's livelihood during the pricing reform, and special arrangements will be made to ensure that low-income groups will not be affected.