China has issued new foreign investment guidelines, including stronger enforcement of intellectual property rights, which it hopes will lure in more money from abroad.
The country’s State Council published a document containing 24 guidelines allowing authorities to increase protection of the rights and interests of foreign investors on Sunday.
The document also announced ways to increase fiscal support and tax incentives for foreign-invested enterprises, such as temporarily exempting withholding income tax for foreign investors’ reinvestment of their profits into China.
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The State Council said it would explore a “convenient and secure management mechanism” for cross-border data flows.
The proposal comes amid tensions between authorities and international enterprises, including global accounting firms, over data security.
China has sought to court foreign capital as its economic recovery from the Covid pandemic slows in the face of weak export demand from key trade partners and ongoing tumult in the country’s property market.
However, Beijing has so far struggled to attract foreign enterprises and investors, which are wary of political risk in an environment that increasingly prioritises national security measures, and concerned about the impact of deteriorating relations between China and many Western countries on their operations.
- Reuters with additional editing by Sean O’Meara
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