Chongqing- Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality has seen its foreign capital in actual use reaching 10.272 billion USD in 2020, roughly on par with that of last year, according to the Chongqing Municipal Commission of Commerce Friday.
According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, global foreign direct investment (FDI) collapsed in 2020, falling 42% from USD 1.5 trillion in 2019 to an estimated USD 859 billion. Moreover, China was the world’s largest FDI recipient.
Xinhua reported that China saw its GDP increase 2.3 percent year on year last year and is expected to be the only major economy to post growth in the pandemic-ravaged year, according to the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics.
287 new foreign-invested enterprises in Chongqing
In 2020, there were 287 new foreign-invested enterprises in Chongqing, a year-on-year increase of 28.7%. Contractual foreign investment reached USD 5.793 billion, a yearly increase of 84.97%.
FDI in Chongqing totaled USD 2.101 billion as Chongqing ranked at the forefront in the central and western regions of China. Thanks to unremitting efforts, the foreign investment market has been stabilized as the business environment continually improves.
Foreign investment policy also became more practical last year, as the municipal commission of commerce adhered to a problem-goal-result oriented strategy that includes financial services, comprehensive reform in delegation, regulation, and services aimed at foreign investors, as well as the implementation of pre-access national treatment and a negative list management system.
Chongqing stands at the forefront of foreign direct investment in central and western China.
Foreign investment business saw the need for approval filings abolished in a series of policy changes, which have produced fine results for stabilization goals in foreign investment.
Last year, for example, Chongqing Municipal People's Government issued Measures for Further Utilising Foreign Capital as an active response to the needs of the foreign-invested enterprise, guaranteeing the national treatment of these enterprises' post-access, and continuously enhancing their sense of gain.
The distribution of foreign investment also became more precise over the last year, as the Municipal Commission of Commerce promoted the establishment of a high-level work mechanism for city leaders to connect with multinational companies. City leaders and heads of multinational companies held ten online video conference sessions to promote major foreign investments including Hongkong Land (Chongqing) Investment and Holding, AT&S, and Yipin Fresh, which increased capital by USD 590 million.
Regular arrangements were made for key foreign investment projects with a contractual value in excess of USD 5 million, while analysis and tracking were conducted on a monthly basis to promote the completion of projects.
More refined services for foreign companies
The western region took a lead in the review and issuance of invitations for foreigners to China. Following the requirements of "closed-loop" prevention and control measures, a safe and effective fast channel was established, where 653 invitations were issued for a total of 1,471 necessary business personnel so that production could resume to full capacity.
Services for foreign companies have become more refined over the past year, as the municipal commission of commerce fully established the whole-process service system for foreign investment.
82 cases of foreign business complaints were successfully handled last year, where a cross-administrative regional complaint handling coordination mechanism was jointly established with Sichuan.
Reform was promoted to facilitate foreign investment, deepen implementation of an information reporting system, and abolish the need for approval filings. Meanwhile, a unified registration system for foreign brand chain enterprises was implemented.
Under new commitments to FDI enterprises, business licenses for foreign branded catering chains, floor construction planning under 3000 square meters, and business location changes are deemed to be approved 30 days following submission.
A simplified version for notarized documents has also been formulated for non-natural person investors from Hong Kong, making investments in Chongqing ever more convenient for entrepreneurs.