Vice Minister of Commerce and Deputy China International Trade Representative Ling Ji announced on May 15 a concerted effort to continuously optimize the business environment and fully implement national treatment for foreign enterprises. He emphasized the importance of improving service quality and welcomed foreign companies to actively participate in government procurement with their advanced technology and quality products.

During a dedicated roundtable at the Ministry of Commerce on the same day, Ling Ji reaffirmed China's steadfast commitment to high-level opening up, expanding institutional openness, and upholding the principles of fair competition. The government has introduced the Foreign Investment Law and a series of policies to support equal participation of foreign enterprises in government procurement while cracking down on irregularities.

Notable firms such as Baidu, Canon, GE Healthcare, HP, IBM, Philips, Roche Diagnostics, Siemens, and representatives from foreign business associations including the European Chamber of Commerce, American Chamber of Commerce, Japanese Chamber of Commerce, and Korean Chamber of Commerce attended the roundtable and shared their perspectives.

In another development, the State Council issued "The Action Plan for Steadily Advancing High-level Opening up and Making Greater Efforts to Attract and Utilize Foreign Investment" (hereinafter referred to as "The Action Plan"). This comprehensive plan aims to optimize the business environment by fostering fair competition and enhancing services for foreign investors. It emphasizes the implementation of policies to address issues such as local protectionism and discriminatory practices, including the issuance of standardized procurement rules to ensure equal treatment of domestic and foreign companies in government procurement activities.

China remains a staunch advocate and supporter of economic globalization. Despite global fluctuations in cross-border investments, China has maintained a favorable environment for attracting foreign capital. Looking ahead, China presents significant advantages and vast opportunities for foreign investment, especially in advanced manufacturing, urbanization, and upgrading consumer structures. With a stable policy environment, robust industrial ecosystem, advanced infrastructure network, abundant talent pool, and innovative applications, China continues to create a conducive environment for foreign investment.

The substantial growth in the number of newly established foreign enterprises in China last year, reflecting a 39.7% increase, underscores foreign investors' enthusiasm for seizing opportunities in the Chinese market and their confidence in future prospects.