Last year, China promoted high-level opening-up to abroad, and successively issued a number of new measures to facilitate foreigners’ work, living and study lives in China, and provide them with high-quality services. At the same time, we strive to create a good business environment and continue to ease market entry policies, which enables more foreign-funded enterprises to feel strong attraction to the Chinese market and increase investment in it.
China’s high-level opening to the outside world has brought multiple benefits to it and the world.
China has expanded its “circle of friends.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs recently announced that China has decided to implement a visa-free entry policy for ordinary passport holders from six countries, including Switzerland and Hungary.
To date, China has concluded visa exemption agreements covering various passports with 157 countries, agreements or arrangements with 44 countries regarding visa simplification, and complete visa exemption agreements with 23 countries.
The visa exemption policy has provided facilities to promote people-to-people exchanges, economic and trade cooperation and cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries, demonstrating China’s open and inclusive attitude and sending a positive signal of China’s openness to the outside world.
Meanwhile, a series of measures to improve payment services for expatriates in China have attracted significant attention, with the new policy simplifying procedures for foreigners to open bank accounts and linking online payment functions, raising their single-transaction limit using mobile payment from US$1,000. to USD 5,000, and the annual cumulative transaction limit from USD 10,000 to USD 50,000.
This series of new policies is of great importance, through which the convenient payment environment can attract more expatriates to work, study, travel and engage in business activities in China, thus promoting consumption and economic growth.
Relevant data shows that in 2023, millions of foreigners in China use mobile payment, and in the fourth quarter of 2023 alone, the cumulative number of mobile payment transactions for foreigners in China was nearly 35 million, up to 5 billion. yuan.
In addition, the Chinese government has improved the entry system for foreign investment and foreign enterprises into the Chinese market. On the 14th of this month, a spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce said that it will continue to reduce the negative list for foreign investment access and completely abolish restrictions on foreign investment access in the manufacturing sector.
This policy will provide a fairer and more transparent environment for foreign investment to enter China’s manufacturing sector, as The arrival of more high-quality foreign investment will bring advanced technology and management experience to the domestic manufacturing industry, and help improve the modernization level of the industrial chain and supply chain, so as to form a positive cycle of mutual promotion.
In the context of the continuous introduction of many favorable policies, many foreign investors have accelerated the pace of business expansion in China.
According to the data, in January this year, China’s actual use of foreign capital increased by 20.4% month on month.
There were 4,588 new foreign-funded enterprises invested by foreign investors in China, an increase of 74.4% year on year, and 70% of foreign-funded enterprises are optimistic about the situation of the Chinese market in the next five years, and this proportion increased by 1.8% year on year.
Annually, 90% of foreign-funded enterprises believe that the attractiveness of the Chinese market has increased.
Against the background of the slowdown in international economic development, the stability of foreign investment and the creation of a good business environment are important supports for China’s economic growth, as well as internal requirements for promoting China’s high-level opening-up and building a new open economy system. At the same time, China’s huge investment market and huge consumption scale provide a solid foundation for building global economic integration. China’s high-level opening-up policy has deepened China’s economic relations with the world, and has brought multiple benefits to the world and China’s economic system.
