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2023-04-27 | Nanjing

European Chamber Calls on Jiangsu to Address Issues to Improve Regions’ Investment Allure

Nanjing, 27th April 2023 – The European Union Chamber of Commerce in China (European Chamber) today released the Nanjing Position Paper 2023/2024, its third report presenting the concerns and recommendations of European Chamber Nanjing Chapter members. It focuses on how Jiangsu can reach its full potential as an international investment destination through simple changes to how it approaches internationalisation, green energy adoption and environmental health and safety (EHS) regulations.

Over the past few years, restrictions related to China’s zero-COVID policy made it nearly impossible for Jiangsu to compete for foreign investment. Both domestic and international travel restrictions, sporadic lockdowns and unpredictability over how the policy would evolve dampened business sentiment and isolated China-based operations of European companies. With the end of China’s zero-COVID policy, the Nanjing Position Paper 2023/2024 recommends that Nanjing and Jiangsu re-focus efforts to improve the liveability of the region by solving common issues that affect companies and foreign nationals on a daily basis.

One pressing issue that needs to be addressed is that passports and ‘green cards’ are not compatible with many of the digital and offline services that are essential to daily life and doing business in China. In addition to advocating for the acceptance of these documents in all platforms that accept a Chinese resident identity card, the report recommends that Nanjing consider a trial initiative to issue ID cards to all foreign national residents. While this is an issue that exists nationally, Nanjing and Jiangsu have the potential to serve as a model for the rest of the country in this regard.

Another set of issues addressed in the report are the lack of incentives for European companies in Jiangsu to both adopt green energy and comply with Environmental Health & Safety (EHS) inspections. More than half of Nanjing Chapter members report no access to green energy, and those that can purchase it have trouble maintaining stable access and obtaining documentation of how much they have used. At the same time, repetitive EHS inspections result in companies wasting resources to facilitate visits by inspectors without benefiting from authoritative recommendations, as no one agency has ultimate jurisdiction, which often makes compliance impossible. Clear and transparent guidelines as well as consistent implementation of policies that make it easy for all companies, especially SMEs, to predictably approach these issues would lead to greater efficiency.

“Our members are not asking for standards to be relaxed, but rather for a stable operating environment with consistent and well-communicated policies,” said Dr. Andreas Risch, chair of the European Chamber’s Nanjing Chapter. “As China is working on attracting foreign investors, Jiangsu with its excellent manufacturing reputation has the unique opportunity to become the chosen destination for new investments by actively resolving international businesses’ concerns.”

Download the report.

 

中国欧盟商会呼吁江苏提高地区的投资吸引力

      南京,2023年4月27日--中国欧盟商会于今日发布《南京建议书2023/2024》,作为南京分会撰写的第三本地方建议书,它反映了南京分会成员的关注和建议。本《建议书》聚焦于江苏省如何通过简易改革来激发其成为国际投资目的地的潜力,主要探讨推进地方的国际化,发展绿色能源,规范环境健康与安全检查。

      在过去的几年里,中国针对新冠疫情的“清零”政策降低了江苏省对国际投资的吸引力。国内和国际旅行限制、临时的封控和政策的不可预测性,都在一定程度影响了商业信心,孤立了欧洲公司在中国的业务。随着中国疫情防控政策的转变,《南京建议书2023/2024》建议江苏省和南京市持续发力,通过解决那些日常困扰企业和外籍居民的常见问题来优化该地区的营商环境。

      这其中一个亟待解决的问题是护照和 "绿卡 "与许多线上线下服务平台不兼容,而对外籍人士来说,这些服务对于他们日常在华生活和经商活动是必不可少的。除了推动所有接受中国居民身份证的平台上接受这些证件外,《建议书》还呼吁南京市考虑试行向所有拥有长期居留许可的外籍居民发放身份证件。尽管这是一个全国性的问题,但江苏省和南京市有可能成为全国其他地区在这方面的典范省市。

     《建议书》中提到的另一个问题是,江苏省内的欧洲公司在发展绿色能源和接受环境健康与安全检查方面缺乏有效激励措施。半数以上的南京分会成员表示没有渠道购买绿色能源,而那些能够购买绿色能源的企业在获得稳定的能源供应和取得使用量的证明方面存在困难。此外,重复的安全健康环保检查导致企业需要为配合检查人员而付出额外资源,同时他们往往无法从检查人员给出的改进建议中获益。不同检查给出的建议不同,也没有一个统一的权威决议,这给企业合规增加负担。中国欧盟商会认为清晰透明的准则以及统一的政策执行能帮助企业,尤其是中小企业,以可预测的方式处理这些问题,同时也将大幅提升效率。

      中国欧盟商会南京分会主席安睿史博士表示:"我们的会员不是要求放宽标准,而是要求一个稳定的经营环境、统一连贯的政策以及畅通的政策沟通渠道。中国正在努力吸引外国投资者,江苏省的制造业水平已经名声在外,现在正是一个独特的窗口期,通过积极回应和解决国际企业的关切,成为国际企业新投资的首选目的地。"

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