China consults public opinion on draft foreign investment law -- China's top legislature on Wednesday published the full text of a draft foreign investment law to consult public opinion. The draft law was submitted to the ongoing session of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, which opened on December 23. Once adopted, the unified foreign investment law will replace three existing laws, namely the laws on Chinese-foreign equity joint ventures, non-equity joint ventures (or contractual joint ventures) and wholly foreign-owned enterprises. Necessary mechanisms on the facilitation, protection and management of foreign investment are written into the draft law, such as the pre-establishment national treatment and negative list management, equal supportive policies and equal participation in government procurement.
Central China's Henan unveils action plan to reduce coal consumption -- Central China's Henan Province introduced an action plan on December 22 aimed to reduce its total coal consumption by 15% compared with that of 2015 with the cumulative reduction reaching 38 million metric tons (tonnes) by 2020. According to the plan, Henan will strictly control the number of new coal-consuming projects by raising the access threshold for high coal-consuming projects and implementing coal consumption reduction replacement mechanism. In order to consolidate the results achieved through coal consumption reduction actions, the province should make sure the total coal consumption of its seven cities of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei air pollution transmission channel, namely, Zhengzhou, Kaifeng, Anyang, Hebi, Xinxiang, Jiaozuo and Puyang, drops more greatly than other cities, noted an official of the Henan Province Development and Reform Commission.
Ministry reveals plans to bolster imports in 2019 -- China will adjust duties on 706 import items from aircraft engines to pianos and baby's diapers from next year, the Ministry of Finance announced on December 24. To actively expand imports, reduce institutional costs and advance supply-side structural reforms, China will implement a tentative import tax rate on these goods and commodities, from Jan 1, 2019, the ministry said in an online statement. The country will introduce zero tariffs on miscellaneous meal and some raw materials for the production of pharmaceutical products, remove the provisional import tax rate for imports of lithium-ion battery monomers for new energy vehicles and resume the implementation of the most favored nation tariff rate.
Hainan to accelerate tourism towns construction and bring in foreign investment -- South China’s Hainan province will take measures to advance construction of tourism towns and villages, as well as to attract foreign investment. Department of natural resources and planning of the province vowed to deepen policy innovation for rural land use, support infrastructure construction, and improve rural ecological environment to boost tourism, the report said. In the meantime, the department will introduce one or two world-renowned planning firms for drawing on international practices, thus facilitate the bringing in of foreign investment, according to the report.
Implementation of negative list system completed -- The National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Commerce jointly released the Negative List of Market Access (2018 edition) on December 25, marking the full implementation of the negative list system of market access in China, Xinhua reported. All types of market entities may enter industries, fields and businesses other than those listed on the list on an equal footing in accordance with the law, so as to achieve "entry without prohibition," according to the authorities. The list includes two categories, namely the "prohibited access" and "permitted access," with 151 items in total, 177 items less than the previous pilot version. The list will also be adjusted for future situations, said the government.
China to give more support to private businesses, small firms -- China will unveil more supportive measures for the country's private businesses as well as small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), according to a State Council executive meeting on December 24. Increasing support for the development of private businesses and SMEs helps strengthen the endogenous impetus for economic development, boost entrepreneurship and innovation, and expand employment, according to a statement released after the meeting, which was chaired by Premier Li Keqiang. The country will work to build a fair and convenient business environment. It will ensure enterprises of different ownerships and scales enjoy fair treatment in terms of tender process and land usage, according to the statement.
China to ban imports of waste foreign vessels for ship recycling: newspaper -- China will ban imports of waste foreign vessels to protect the environment, China Daily reported on December 24. The country's ship-breaking yards, which have been tearing apart the world's retired vessels from both civil and military sectors, and turning them into piles of steel scrap bound for mills for repurposing, will henceforth focus only on domestic ships. Many ship-breaking yards and nearby beaches were heavily polluted by heavy metals, oil and other toxic substances, said the report.
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