For many years, the rigidity of overseas investment system has been the focus of criticism from all sides. In recent years, the Ministry of Commerce, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, State Taxation Administration of The People's Republic of China, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other departments have successively issued favorable policies to jointly improve the overseas investment promotion system.
In April 2007, the State Council issued "Opinions on Encouraging and Regulating Enterprises' Foreign Investment Cooperation", which marked the initial formation of a relatively complete overseas investment policy system in China. With the cooperation of various departments, a foreign investment cooperation management framework of "macro management of the Ministry of Commerce, coordination of various departments, territorial management of local governments, front-line supervision of industry organizations and overseas Chinese chambers of commerce and embassies abroad, and joint management among governments" has been formed.
The Ministry of Commerce has established bilateral mixed economic and trade committees with more than 100 countries and regions in the world, signed 127 bilateral investment protection agreements, signed free trade zone agreements with some countries, and signed intergovernmental agreements with more than 20 countries and regions to strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation.
In 2008, after the promulgation of the Regulations on the Management of Foreign Contracted Projects, the Ministry of Commerce is still working hard to formulate the Regulations on the Management of Foreign Labor Cooperation and the Regulations on Foreign Investment Cooperation in order to establish a more reasonable and effective management system for foreign contracted projects and labor cooperation.
In May 2009, the Ministry of Commerce officially implemented the Measures for the Administration of Overseas Investment. The first is to decentralize the examination and approval authority. The Ministry of Commerce only reserves the examination and approval of a few major overseas investments involving multinational interests in countries that have not established diplomatic relations and specific countries or regions, and the overseas investments of other local enterprises are the responsibility of the provincial commerce authorities. The second is to simplify the examination and approval procedures and enterprise application materials and shorten the examination and approval time limit. The vast majority of overseas investment can obtain the enterprise's overseas investment certificate within 3 days only by filling in and submitting the overseas investment application form as required. Third, local enterprises no longer seek the opinions of the business offices of foreign embassies (consulates) for general overseas investment matters, and the central enterprises seek the opinions of the Ministry of Commerce instead. The fourth is to implement enterprise investment autonomy. The feasibility of overseas investment is the responsibility of the enterprise itself, and the competent commercial department mainly reviews bilateral political and economic relations, national economic security, and fulfillment of international obligations. The Measures for the Administration of Overseas Investment have been implemented for five or six months, and the effect is very obvious. A total of 547 overseas investment enterprises have been approved, up by 173.5% year-on-year.
In August 2009, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange began to implement the Notice on Relevant Issues Concerning Foreign Exchange Management of Overseas Lending by Domestic Enterprises to help overseas enterprises solve financing difficulties and insufficient liquidity. First, domestic enterprises have "loosened" their lending to overseas direct investment enterprises, expanding the main body of overseas lending and the source of overseas lending funds; Second, domestic enterprises can provide overseas loans to their overseas direct investment enterprises directly through domestic enterprises to wholly-owned subsidiaries or equity holding enterprises established overseas according to law, or through entrusted loans from designated foreign exchange banks.
With the implementation of the new enterprise income tax law, State Taxation Administration of The People's Republic of China is actively formulating the Administrative Measures for Income Tax on Overseas Income and the Specific Operational Measures for Indirect Credit of Enterprise Income Tax, so that overseas investment enterprises can enjoy preferential treatment as soon as possible.
Provide a wide range of public services. The first is information service. The Ministry of Commerce has successively issued country-specific trade and investment environment report, country-specific foreign investment industry guidance catalogue, country-specific foreign contracted engineering industry guidance catalogue and country-specific foreign investment cooperation guide, introducing the investment environment and business environment of relevant countries by country, which has received attention and praise from all walks of life at home and abroad. The Ministry of Commerce has also opened an information service system for foreign investment cooperation, providing real-time services such as policies and measures, statistical data, research reports and project information. The second is macro guidance. On the basis of comprehensive research on the investment and development environment of various countries, relevant departments give macro guidance to Chinese enterprises in the direction of foreign investment, project contracting and labor export. Foreign embassies and consulates and economic reference offices strengthen the collection and analysis of comprehensive information to provide timely, authoritative and targeted investment safety guidance for domestic enterprises to enter the country's market. The third is to cultivate talents. The Ministry of Commerce entrusts scientific research institutions and universities to compile a series of teaching materials and organize multinational management talents to come to China for training. The fourth is to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of enterprises overseas. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has set up a foreign-related security department to deal with the overseas security of China citizens; China Export Credit Insurance Corporation issued China's first National Risk Analysis Report, which provided a scientific reference for overseas investment enterprises to identify and evaluate risks. The departments of foreign affairs, commerce, health, shipping and other industries have formed special permanent institutions to be responsible for macro-control of the overseas security situation, formulate policies and measures, establish emergency linkage plans, and form an efficient and unified rapid response mechanism. The Ministry of Commerce has also established an overseas safety network, improved the handling methods of overseas disputes and emergencies, and established a national labor assistance agency to properly handle many overseas emergencies.