To the people's government of all cities, counties (cities, districts) and relevant provincial units:
With the approval of the Provincial Government, Zhejiang Province Action Plan of to Stabilize Foreign Investment for Stable Development is hereby issued to you. Please follow the plan accordingly.
Zhejiang Provincial Leading Group Office for Investment Promotion
(Zhejiang Provincial Department of Commerce)
May 27, 2022
Zhejiang Province Action Plan of to Stabilize Foreign Investment for Stable Development
Since the beginning of this year, affected by multiple unfavorable factors such as the international situation and the frequent outbreak of the epidemic, the foreign investment environment in our province has become more complex and severe. With the increased downward pressure, we are facing an arduous task of stabilizing foreign investment. In order to thoroughly implement the decisions of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on promoting the steady development of foreign trade and foreign investment, and the requirements of the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government, in order to coordinate epidemic prevention and economic and social development, stabilize foreign investment and create a high-quality foreign investment gathering place, we hereby make this action plan to promote the stable development of foreign investment.
I. The Objective of Utilizing Foreign Capital
The total actual use of foreign capital will achieve positive growth, and the target of US$10.7 billion will be achieved in the half year, achieving positive year-on-year growth and steady growth throughout the year. The structure of foreign capital utilization will be further optimized, and the proportion of foreign capital utilized by the manufacturing industry will be basically the same as that of the previous year. The foreign investment environment will be further improved, the foreign investment service guarantee system will be further optimized, and foreign-funded enterprises will enjoy equal access to the support policies for enterprises.
II. Measures to Stabilize Foreign Investment
(1) To tap the potential of foreign capital utilization
1. Accelerate the capitalization of major foreign-funded projects. We will strengthen target assessment to ensure progress, consolidate normalized and institutionalized scheduling of foreign-funded projects, and continuously track foreign-funded projects included in the list of major national and provincial projects, foreign-funded projects contracted at major exhibitions, and enterprises with contracted foreign capital of more than 100 million USD but not fully invested. We will visit and offer them "one-to-one" services, coordinate the solution of difficult problems, and urge capitalization, early construction, and early production.
2. Actively conduct investment promotion. We will strengthen investment promotion at exhibitions and actively undertake the spillover effects of major exhibitions. Focusing on attracting major foreign investment projects, we will organize a series of investment promotion activities under the theme of "Invest Zhejiang". We will make full use of information technology to flexibly carry out online promotion, policy publicity and other exchange activities to stabilize corporate expectations and confidence. We will strengthen contacts with various business associations, intermediaries, representative offices in China, etc., and focus on key industries and expand channels for attracting foreign investment projects.
3. Guide foreign-funded enterprises to reinvest their profits. We need to implement the guiding opinions on the promotion of reinvestment of foreign-invested enterprises, sort out the list of target enterprises for reinvestment, and strengthen policy support and burden reduction for reinvestment enterprises.
4. Promote the optimization of foreign-invested industrial structure. We will encourage more foreign investment in advanced manufacturing and strategic emerging industries, and promote the opening up of the service industry. Taking advantages of digital economy and biomedicine, we will support foreign-funded enterprises to set up regional headquarters and functional institutions in our province. We will provide guidance and services for foreign-funded enterprises to apply for high-tech enterprise certification, strengthen the attraction of foreign-funded R&D centers, and let the foreign-funded R&D centers to have equal access to import tax policy.
(2) Innovate methods of attracting foreign investment
5. Expand channels for funds to attract foreign investment. We will give full play to the leverage role of government industrial funds, and stimulate the vitality of private capital to attract investment. We will speed up the implementation of the pilot of the existing Qualified Foreign Limited Partnership (QFLP), and expand the scope of the pilot as needed. We will also strengthen cooperation with QFLP pilot enterprises, and establish a market-oriented international financing service system for project investment.
6. Highlight the use of foreign capital on open platforms. We will give full play to the advantages of pilot free trade zones and comprehensive bonded zones for institutional innovation, as well as the role of development zones (parks) in stabilizing foreign investment, so as to strengthen foreign investment attraction. We will vigorously promote the construction of international industrial cooperation parks and Sino-European cross-border cooperation platforms for life and health industries, and carry out precise cooperation in global industries.
(3) Strengthen digital empowerment of foreign investment
7. Improve the digitalization of foreign capital utilization. We will accelerate the iteration of Zhejiang's "single window" for investment, comprehensively sort out leading industries and emerging industries in various regions, and systematically display the province's industrial investment map. We will improve the application of the project tracking service module in the province to realize the full life cycle tracking of the project. We will accelerate the connection between "single window" and "one industry chain link" systems to empower precise investment promotion of the industry chain.
8. Strengthen the monitoring and analysis of foreign investment. We will establish a digital foreign investment statistical monitoring system to dynamically monitor the arrival of capital in key foreign projects and investment in key industries, and conduct timely analysis of foreign investment trends to provide decision support for project attraction, policy formulation, and risk prevention.
(4) Strengthen the guarantee of foreign-funded projects
9. Strengthen the guarantee for the implementation of foreign-funded projects. We will include eligible major foreign investment projects into the provincial special class mechanism for stabilizing foreign investment. We will strengthen work docking for major foreign-funded projects that have signed investment agreements but have not yet landed. We will promote the implementation of land use indicators and other security policies, so that qualified foreign-funded manufacturing projects can start construction after land handover.
10. Strengthen financial support for foreign-funded projects. According to the financing needs and investment conditions of key foreign-funded enterprises, we will promote the docking between banks and enterprises, and share information with financial institutions such as the Export-Import Bank, so as to provide diversified financial support to key foreign-funded enterprises, and ensure that they enjoy the same market financing support policies.
(5) Optimize the foreign investment environment
11. Strengthen the protection of foreign-funded enterprises. We will safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of foreign-invested enterprises and comprehensively strengthen the protection of intellectual property rights. We will follow the complaint mechanism for foreign-funded enterprises, deal with complaints from foreign-funded enterprises in accordance with the law, and ensure equal treatment for foreign-funded enterprises. We will maintain a fair competition order to ensure that foreign-funded enterprises are equally entitled to preferential policies for enterprises in bailouts.
12. Facilitate personnel exchanges of foreign-funded enterprises. According to relevant requirements, for senior executives and core technicians of foreign-funded enterprises to negotiate major projects in Zhejiang, local governments can provide them with conveniences such as isolation and observation in light of the actual situation, so as to speed up the progress of the project. Invitation letter approval should be done online, reviewed step by step, and handled as soon as possible.
III. Working Mechanism
(1) Give full play to the role of the special team for stabilizing foreign investment. We will establish special teams for stabilizing foreign investment in provincial and municipal departments, strengthen organization and leadership as well as overall coordination, and improve situation monitoring, consultation and research, enterprise services, and information reporting, so as to form an effective foreign investment stabilizing model.
(2) Establish a notification mechanism for foreign investment utilization. Every month, the Provincial Leading Group Office for Investment Promotion will report on the actual use of foreign capital, and the proportion of foreign investment used by the manufacturing industry in each city in the previous month, so as to create an atmosphere of “competition” to promote the orderly stabilization of foreign investment.
(3) Strengthen the mechanism for attracting foreign capital. We will adhere to the "top leader" responsibility system. The main leaders of various localities must personally research and participate in major project negotiations, and coordinate the implementation of projects. We will strengthen the linkage between the upper and lower levels and the coordination between departments, implement the coordinating mechanism for attracting major projects, and carry out hierarchical classified coordination for project problems and policy support.