Statement on the State Council’s 2025 Action Plan for Stabilising Foreign Investment Go back »

2025-02-20 | All chapters

Statement

The plan is seen as a continuation of the Chinese Government's pledges from recent years regarding improving the business environment for foreign investment. For instance, points on further opening up in the ICT, healthcare, education and culture sectors have been repeatedly included in the government’s high-level messaging related to foreign investment, with telecommunications and healthcare specific trial programmes implemented in several large cities over the past year.  The plan calls on the relevant authorities to effectively implement the listed points in 2025. The Chamber therefore looks forward to the release of supporting measures and timelines for implementation.

It is a notable positive that the document includes a point on the need to define what qualifies as a ‘domestic product’ for government procurement and reinforces the principle of providing equal access to government procurement for foreign firms that manufacture their goods in China. If fully implemented, this could benefit those foreign companies that have made considerable investments to localise their production in China – many of whom have done so in order to meet ‘Made in China’ requirements. However, it also suggests that imports will not qualify for government procurement, which in turn could contribute to a further increase of trade imbalances with China’s key partners. 

“We closely follow these high-level announcements” – said Jens Eskelund, president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, – “we are looking forward to see this implemented in a manner that delivers tangible benefits for our members”.

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