By LI Linxu

In its latest moves to advance high-level opening-up, China has unveiled a new policy designated to attract more foreign investment.

The policy, recently released by the State Council, contains 24 concrete measures in six aspects, vowing to build a first-class business environment that is market-oriented, law-based and internationalized.

It calls for giving full play to the advantages of China's enormous market and ramping up efforts to attract and utilize foreign investment.

The measures demonstrate the country's resolve to expand opening-up and will benefit foreign investors, said Chen Chunjiang, assistant minister of commerce, adding the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), together with relevant departments, will step up the policy implementation and continuously optimize the foreign investment environment.

The ABB Robotics Mega Factory in the Pudong New Area of Shanghai. (PHOTO: XINHUA)

To improve the quality of foreign investment utilization, the country will draw more foreign investment in key sectors, such as biomedicine, advanced manufacturing, modern services and digital economy, as per the policy.

Foreign enterprises are encouraged to establish R&D centers in China, cooperate with domestic enterprises in technology exploration and application, and undertake major research projects.

Qualified foreign investors are also encouraged to set up investment companies and regional headquarters, as the country seeks to expand channels for foreign capital inflows.

Measures will be taken to ensure that foreign -invested companies enjoy national treatment in government procurement activities, the formulation of standards, and incentive policies.

Continuous efforts will be made to strengthen the protection of the rights and interests of foreign companies.

The country will make it more convenient for foreign employees to apply for visas and residence permits, while fiscal and taxation support for foreign businesses will also be strengthened.

MOFCOM will further leverage the role of a roundtable mechanism for foreign-invested enterprises to hear their requests and recommendations, said Chen.

China's resilient economy, vast market, complete industrial chain, and favorable business environment are drawing more and more foreign investment, said Chen, noting that in the first half of this year, there were 23,536 newly established foreign -invested companies in China, up 35.7 percent year-on-year.