Efforts should be made to further relax market access, foster a fairer, more convenient and enabling environment for foreign investment, and facilitate the delivery of major foreign-invested projects, said Premier Li Keqiang, while presiding over a State Council executive meeting on Sept 26.

He said China’s opening-up policy implemented 40 years ago has contributed greatly to its economic and social development, and given the evolving situation at home and abroad. It is important to firmly commit to fostering a greater opening-up and practicing more active opening-up strategy. Attracting foreign investment has significance for expanding opening-up, which is also important for economic development and stabilizing employment, the Premier added.

According to the report by related government department at the meeting, foreign investment in China has stabilized and rebounded since last September, and the structure for investment utilized also has been improved, while the delivery of some projects still had difficulties.

It was decided at the meeting that three measures should be taken to facilitate foreign investment. The first is to expand the reform of streamlining administration, delegating powers and improving regulations and services, treat foreign capital and domestic capital equally in fields not on the negative list, and implement market access standards applicable to various kinds of ownership enterprises.

The government also decided to involve qualified foreign investment in major construction projects, give support in land and sea use, speed up the approval process and lower logistics costs to promote the delivery process.

The second is to expand the applicable range of temporary exemption of withholding taxes on foreign capital reinvestment profits to all fields that are not prohibited. And the third is to strengthen efforts on the protection of intellectual property rights.

As government policies directly lead market expectations, the policies should be helpful for stabilizing market expectations and creating an equal and fair business environment for various kinds of ownership enterprises, including foreign invested enterprises, said the Premier.