Relaxed foreign investment rules bringing more companies to city

The Beijing government has implemented 207 of the 251 tasks for building the Integrated National Demonstration Zone for Opening Up the Services Sector and the China (Beijing) Pilot Free Trade Zone, a senior city official told a news conference on Sept 17.

The two zones were established in September and August in 2020 respectively. The former covers the entire city of Beijing and the latter spans 119.68 square kilometers.

Beijing further eased the rules for foreign investment in the past year, said Zhang Jinsong, deputy secretary-general of the Beijing government, at the news conference.

Ueda Yagi Money Broking (China), the first wholly foreign-owned money brokerage company on the Chinese mainland, obtained approval to operate in Beijing. Deloitte University, Schneider Electric China Software R&D Center and Apple Advertising (Beijing) have also settled in the city, according to Zhang.

In the past year, Beijing introduced new measures to ensure the smooth running of trading activities. A "Beijing Mode" was devised for importing pharmaceutical items through cross-border e-commerce, he said.

The city's first fifth-freedom freight air route became operational this year, which "significantly enhanced the freight transport between Asian and North American markets", Zhang noted.

The fifth freedom gives an airline the right to fly between two foreign countries when the flight is originating from or terminating in its home country.

On the financial front, Beijing is piloting the transfer of equity investment and venture capital shares and offering market-based exit channels for quality funds. "The quota for the Qualified Domestic Limited Partnership program in Beijing has been increased to $10 billion," Zhang said.

Beijing has also stepped up talent attraction in the past year, he said. A total of 35 professional qualifying examinations were made available to residents from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Macao Special Administrative Region, Taiwan and foreign countries.

Beijing has introduced the country's first mechanism for recognizing the qualifications of futures and securities professionals from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and foreign countries.

The city has accelerated the building of communities for international professionals.

Construction of 19 international schools commenced during the past year.

Beijing's business environment was further optimized in the past year, Zhang said. In obtaining 28 certificates, applicants are allowed to make a legally binding commitment to have met all relevant requirements instead of going through procedures to prove that they have met them.

The use of blockchain technology and electronic certificates in public services and the standardized model for collaboration to facilitate the coordinated development of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province are being promoted nationwide as best practices, according to Zhang.

In the future, the Beijing government will give more prominence to institutional opening, he said. Beijing will step up research on the rules for the services sector and formulate a comprehensive plan for creating world-class zones for applying the rules of international free trade agreements. This effort will start at zones including the Sino-German International Cooperation Industrial Park and the Sino-Japanese innovation cooperation demonstration zone.

Beijing will give full play to its advantages in digital economy and digital trade, and speed up the building of a digital trade port and a digital trade demonstration zone, Zhang added.

Beijing will attach more importance to systemic reform, he said. Beijing will develop systemic, integrated solutions to drive the development of the Integrated National Demonstration Zone for Opening Up the Services Sector and the China (Beijing) Pilot Free Trade Zone, with a focus on areas such as the digital economy, biomedicine, green finance, talent and intellectual property.

Beijing will continue to advance the coordinated opening-up in cooperation with Tianjin and Hebei province, and explore how pilot free trade zones in the three regions can work together and complement each other, Zhang noted.

Beijing is full steam ahead to develop the two zones－the China (Beijing) Pilot Free Trade Zone and the Integrated National

Demonstration Zone for Opening Up the Services Sector. CHINA DAILY

A visitor experiences virtual reality technology at a 5G laboratory in Beijing. CHINA DAILY