Catalogue of Encouraged Industries for Foreign Investment
China: Range of encouraged industries expanded
Catalogue to Boost Foreign Investment
On 1 January 2023, the new "Catalogue of Encouraged Industries for Foreign Investment" of the National Development and Reform Commission and the Chinese Ministry of Commerce came into force. The Catalogue contains several interesting liberalizations. Read the explanations of CNBW member SNB Law.
On 28 October 2022, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) released the Catalogue of Encouraged Industries for Foreign Investment (2022 Version) (hereafter the 22022 Catalogue2), which came into force on 1 January 2023, and replaced its 2020 version.
Similar to the previous version, the 2022 Catalogue includes two sub-catalogues – one covers the entire country (national catalogue), the other covers the central, western, and northeastern regions (regional catalogue). Altogether, the 2022 Catalogue has added 239 items and modified 167 items. In the national catalogue, 39 new items have been added and 85 items modified, while 200 new items have been added and 82 items modified in the regional catalogue. The range of amendments and liberalizations is wide and spans from manufacturing & service industry, healthcare, elder care, sports, rural revitalization as well as vocational training to decarbonization and green industry.
An overview of the entire Catalogue would, of course, be too long. Here is a summary.
1. Some industries worth mentioning
Emphasis should, at this point, only be given to the fact that the 2022 Catalogue encourages, amongst other industries, investment in:
. research, development and production of snow & ice heavy equipment and light
equipment for ski resorts, passenger ropeways, snow machines, snow presses, and
other special equipment,
. rural tourism, leisure sightseeing, agricultural experience, outdoor expansion,
ecological health and practice base construction,
. efficient water-saving irrigation, farmland soil improvement and ecological
management,
. rural environmental remediation, rural sewage and garbage treatment, water
ecological environment treatment and restoration related engineering construction,
. research, development and manufacturing of smart healthcare products for the elderly
as well as ...
. the construction and operation of clean coal power generation projects.
2. Preferential treatment
It is further worth noting that foreign invested enterprises doing business in one of the listed industries may be eligible to a variety of favorable treatment, such as:
. tariff exemptions on imported equipment,
. access to preferential land prices and looser regulation of land use, as well as
. lowered corporate income tax rates.
3. Conclusion
Altogether, the Catalogue shows the will of the Chinese government to revitalize its economy after the dire restrictions brought about by Covid by liberalizing certain, sustainability-wise crucial sectors which may be of high interest to foreign investors.
Please do not hesitate to reach out to us in case you are interested to learn more about the purported liberalizations as well as the available preferential treatment.
More:
Johannes Weilharter, Shanghai: j.weilharter@snblaw.com
snb@snblaw.com
Web: here