China ramps up efforts to stabilize foreign investment with 2025 action plan

A new action plan was unveiled by the State Council, China's Cabinet, last Wednesday to stabilize foreign investment, with 20 specific measures in four aspects.

The country will continue expanding its pilot programs to open up fields such as telecommunication and medical services in a timely manner. It will also allow foreign investors to use domestic loans for equity investment, attracting more high-quality foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country's listed companies and making it convenient for multinational corporations to establish headquarters-type institutions in China.

The country is also working on expanding the catalog of encouraged industries for foreign investment, focusing on advanced manufacturing, modern services, high-tech, and energy conservation.

Several foreign companies have expanded production lines for high-tech products, including high-end displays and new energy batteries. For example, Panasonic Holdings Corp of Japan will start construction of a factory in Shanghai in July to produce semiconductor packaging materials, with an investment of 120 million yuan ($16.5 million).

FDI in the Chinese mainland in actual use totaled 97.59 billion yuan (about 13.61 billion U.S. dollars) in January, a 27.5 percent month-on-month rebound.

In terms of source countries, FDI from the United Kingdom, the Republic of Korea, the Netherlands and Japan surged 324.4 percent, 104.3 percent, 76.1 percent and 40.7 percent, respectively, last month.

From unveiling a comprehensive action plan to further easing market access restrictions for investment, China is ramping up efforts to expand high-standard opening up and reinforce its appeal to foreign investment.

(Zhang Heyun, as an intern, also contributed to this report.)