China's Investment Landscape - Preview

2 Introduction ALBERTO VETTORETTI Managing Partner Dezan Shira & Associates China’s foreign investment landscape has experienced pivotal changes this year. At the start of 2017, in the face of rising protectionist sentiment in the US and EU, Chinese President Xi Jinping reaffirmed China’s commitment to international trade and globalization in a much publicized speech in Davos. Policymakers in China then supported this rhetoric with a number of investment-friendly reforms throughout the year. China liberalized a number of industries previously restricted to foreign investment, introduced the country’s first nationwide negative list to guide foreign investment, nearly tripled its free trade zones (FTZs) from four to 11, and introduced a variety of administrative reforms to improve the ease of doing business. The Middle Kingdom can still be a challenging place to do business. Foreign businesses and governments often lament allegedly unfair industrial policies, uneven market access for foreign investors, and an increasingly unwelcoming business environment. However, China continues to grow. Its economy has outperformed expectations, growing at 6.9 percent through the first half of the year, and with the latest batch of reforms, more industries are open to investment than ever before. In this issue of China Briefing magazine, we examine how foreign investors can capitalize on China’s latest FDI reforms. First, we outline new industry liberalizations in both China’s FTZs and the country at large. We then consider when an FTZ makes sense as an investment location, andwhat businesses should consider when entering one. Finally, we give an overview of China’s latest pro-business reforms that streamline a wide range of administrative and regulatory measures. China has experiencedmany changes during our 25 years of service in the country. In 2017, we are dedicated to helping strategic investors find new opportunities in thematuring economy, and its attendant reform environment. With kind regards, Alberto Vettoretti www.dezshira.com www.asiabriefing.com www.aseanbriefing.com www.india-briefing.com www.indonesiabriefing.com www.vietnam-briefing.com Credits Publisher / Alberto Vettoretti Managing Editor / Adam Pitman Editors / Qian Zhou, Alexander Chipman Koty, Zolzaya Erdenebileg, Jake Liddle, Gidon Gautel Design / Ly Dang, Kking Lu, Jessica Huang Years 1992-2017 Reference China Briefing and related titles are produced by Asia Briefing Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Dezan Shira Group. Content is provided by Dezan Shira & Associates. No liability may be accepted for any of the contents of this publication. Readers are strongly advised to seek professional advice when actively looking to implement suggestions made within this publication. For queries regarding the content of this magazine, please contact: editor@asiabriefing.com All materials and contents © 2017 Asia Briefing Ltd. Asia Briefing Ltd., Unit 507, 5/F, Chinachem Golden Plaza 77 Mody Road, Tsim Sha Tsui East Kowloon, Hong Kong