Action Plan for Stabilizing Foreign Investment in 2025

Foreign investment is an important component of advancing high-level opening-up, playing a significant role in developing new-quality productive forces and achieving Chinese modernization. To ensure stable foreign investment in 2025 and strengthen efforts to attract and retain capital, the following action plan has been formulated.

(1) Expand pilot programs for opening up in telecommunications, healthcare, education, and other sectors.Support pilot regions in effectively implementing policies related to value-added telecommunications, biotechnology, and wholly foreign-owned hospitals. Provide dedicated follow-up services for foreign-invested projects in these fields, promptly address issues, and facilitate early project implementation. Gradually expand pilot programs in telecommunications and healthcare. Study and formulate an implementation plan for orderly expanding autonomous opening-up in education and culture, publicly announce it when appropriate, and steadily carry out the work.

(2) Fully implement the requirement to lift all foreign investment access restrictions in the manufacturing sector.For sectors not included on the negative list for foreign investment access, manage foreign investment access strictly in accordance with the principle of equal treatment between domestic and foreign investors. Revise the market access negative list, further reduce its items, and expand openness to all types of business entities.

(3) Optimize the national comprehensive pilot demonstration for service sector opening-up.Support the Beijing demonstration zone in leading the way in service sector opening-up and accelerating pilot work. Further expand the scope of the pilot program, assign new tasks and responsibilities, and prioritize testing key opening-up measures in pilot demonstration areas. Conduct in-depth research on policies and measures for service sector opening-up, closely monitor pilot progress, and promptly replicate and promote successful experiences. Support standardized development in national comprehensive pilot demonstration zones for service sector opening-up.

(4) Promote orderly opening-up in the biopharmaceutical sector.Support eligible foreign-invested enterprises to participate in the pilot program for segmented production of biological products. Expedite review of provincial-level pilot plans and quality supervision schemes, promote optimal resource allocation in the biopharmaceutical industry, and promptly resolve difficulties encountered by enterprises during the pilot process. Study and improve policies for opening up the pharmaceutical sector, facilitate faster approval and market entry of innovative drugs, optimize volume-based procurement of medicines, and further enhance predictability in medical device procurement.

(5) Encourage foreign investment in equity investments within China.Ensure effective implementation of the Measures for the Administration of Strategic Investment by Foreign Investors in Listed Companies. Formulate and release operational guidelines for strategic investment, intensify publicity targeting listed companies, overseas funds, and investment institutions, and guide more high-quality foreign capital toward long-term investment in Chinese listed companies.

(6) Continuously build the “Invest in China” brand.Implement the requirements for deepening reform of the foreign investment promotion system and mechanisms. Develop an annual implementation plan for building the “Invest in China” brand and carefully design and execute a series of “Invest in China” activities. Coordinate central and local efforts, conduct overseas investment promotion campaigns, and better leverage foreign capital to strengthen and complete industrial chains in manufacturing. Based on the distinct characteristics of our major sources of foreign investment, develop differentiated attraction targets and strategies. Work closely with bilateral economic and trade joint committee mechanisms, fully activate bilateral investment promotion working groups, and intensify project matchmaking and connection efforts.

(7) Increase support for reinvestment by foreign-invested enterprises within China.Continuously optimize the business environment and ensure full implementation of national treatment for foreign-invested enterprises. Study and formulate policies and measures to encourage domestic reinvestment by foreign-invested enterprises, promoting greater use of profits earned in China for reinvestment. Launch a pilot program for reporting information on domestic investments made by foreign-invested enterprises.

(8) Expand the scope of industries encouraged for foreign investment.Revise the catalog of industries encouraged for foreign investment, optimize the structure of foreign investment, promote foreign capital supporting high-quality development of China’s manufacturing sector, guide foreign investment toward modern service industries, and encourage more foreign capital to flow into central and western regions as well as Northeast China.

(9) Lift restrictions on the use of domestic loans by foreign-invested holding companies.Allow foreign-invested holding companies to use domestic loans for equity investments, intensify policy communication and interpretation, and provide convenience for multinational corporations investing in China and establishing headquarters-type institutions.

(10) Encourage multinational corporations to establish investment companies.Optimize regulations regarding the establishment of investment companies by foreign investors, providing convenience in foreign exchange management, personnel entry and exit, cross-border data flows, and other areas. Ensure that relevant foreign-invested holding companies established in China enjoy the same rights and benefits as other foreign-invested enterprises in accordance with laws and regulations.

(11) Facilitate mergers and acquisitions by foreign investors in China.Within the framework of the Foreign Investment Law, revise the Provisions on Foreign Investors’ Mergers and Acquisitions of Domestic Enterprises, optimize rules and procedures for foreign M&A transactions, refine the scope of M&A regulation, and lower thresholds such as those for cross-border share swaps.

(12) Intensify efforts to attract investment in key sectors.Encourage foreign investment in livestock-related fields such as breeding, production of feeding equipment, and manufacture of feed and veterinary drugs, granting them national treatment. Support foreign-invested enterprises in participating in China’s new industrialization process, prioritizing the introduction of high-tech foreign investment and providing more market opportunities and collaboration spaces. Encourage sectors like elderly care services, culture and tourism, sports, healthcare, vocational education, and finance to attract and utilize foreign capital, meeting diverse service consumption needs.

(13) Strengthen external communication of economic policies and the business environment.Make full use of press releases, briefings, interviews, expert interpretations, and other channels to actively publicize and explain China’s new policies, initiatives, and highlights in expanding high-level opening-up.

(14) Deepen reforms of development zone management systems.Improve the policy support framework and formulate policy documents to deepen reform and innovation in national-level economic and technological development zones, introducing new measures in areas such as factor guarantees, opening-up in key sectors, undertaking pilot reform tasks, and delegating economic management authority, thereby elevating the level of outward-oriented economic development in these zones. Promote national high-tech zones, special customs supervision areas, and various provincial-level development zones to serve as platforms for opening-up and stabilize foreign investment.

(15) Implement the strategy to upgrade free trade pilot zones.Promote quality improvement and efficiency enhancement of free trade pilot zones, expand authorization for reform tasks, accelerate implementation of core policies for the Hainan Free Trade Port, and create a hub attractive to foreign investment. Support free trade pilot zones in conducting intensified stress tests on foreign investment access, continuously expanding institutional opening-up in terms of rules, regulations, management, and standards.

(16) Accelerate the implementation of major and key foreign-invested projects.Support the inclusion of more foreign-invested projects in the lists of major and key foreign-invested projects, increase policy support and service guarantees, and expedite project construction and implementation.

(17) Establish a standard system for government procurement of domestically produced goods.Promptly formulate and issue relevant documents clarifying standards for government procurement of domestic products, ensuring equal participation of products manufactured by enterprises of different ownership structures in government procurement activities. Intensify policy communication in the field of government procurement and handle complaints from foreign-invested enterprises effectively.

(18) Broaden financing channels for foreign-invested enterprises.Encourage financial institutions to provide financing services to foreign-invested enterprises, conduct surveys on loan demands and business operations of key foreign-invested enterprises, and organize targeted bank-enterprise matchmaking events. Guide various funds to cooperate with foreign-invested enterprises in equity investments, supporting foreign-invested enterprises in China to expand their business scale and deepen their presence in the Chinese market.

(19) Facilitate personnel exchanges.Accelerate negotiations on mutual visa exemption agreements and continue to prudently expand the scope of unilateral visa-free travel. Optimize port visas, transit visa exemptions, and regional entry visa exemptions to facilitate cross-border movement. Update the Guidelines for Foreign Businesspeople Working and Living in China.

(20) Enhance trade facilitation for foreign-invested enterprises.Properly handle certification of origin under preferential trade agreements to help foreign-invested enterprises enjoy tariff reductions in partner countries. Optimize inspection and supervision of imported complete sets of equipment for key foreign-invested projects. Intensify cultivation of Customs-Approved Operators (AEO) among foreign-invested enterprises, further reducing random inspection rates for AEOs. Prudently advance import product accreditation, adding more qualified Chinese and foreign inspection agencies to the accredited institution directory. Encourage foreign-invested enterprises to register intellectual property rights and firmly combat infringements of their intellectual property rights at import and export stages.

All regions and relevant departments shall, under the centralized and unified leadership of the CPC Central Committee, unswervingly deepen reform and opening-up, refine and concretize specific implementation measures, innovate working methods, and strengthen policy and resource support in areas such as investment promotion, rights protection, and service guarantees, ensuring that all measures are implemented effectively in 2025 and successfully boost confidence among foreign investors. Relevant departments should organize special visits to key regions and key foreign-invested enterprises to gain a thorough understanding of their needs and effectively respond to their concerns. The Ministry of Commerce and the National Development and Reform Commission, together with relevant departments and units, shall strengthen guidance and coordination, intensify policy communication, and promote policy implementation. Major matters should be reported and submitted for instructions in a timely manner.