Several Measures of the Municipality for Implementing Opinions of the State Council on Further Fulfilling the Work of Using Foreign Capital

In order to fully implement the CPC Central Committee and the State Council's decision and deployment on stabilizing foreign investment, to further open up to the outside world, to continue the effort in establishing the city as a magnet to foreign investment, and to continuously establish an international, law-based and convenient business environment, the following measures are introduced in accordance with Opinions of the State Council on Further Fulfilling the Work of Using Foreign Capital (No. 23 [2019] of the State Council).

Ⅰ. Full implementation of the state policy of further opening up

1. Support will be given to pilot on opening more market access to foreign investment. In accordance with the general deployment of the state on opening up, the latest version of the national negative list and the negative list of pilot free trade zones for foreign investment admission will be implemented. Effort will be made to speed up the opening up of the financial sector and the EV sector, etc. Foreign investors are encouraged to explore the newly opened areas and to have their projects implemented in a swift manner. (Responsible authorities: Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, Shanghai Municipal Development and Reform Commission, Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization, Shanghai Financial Regulatory Bureau, Shanghai Head Office of the People's Bank of China, Shanghai Office of China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission and Shanghai Office of China Securities Regulatory Commission)

2. Intensified opening up measures will be taken in China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone and Lingang Special Area. Following the principle of case-by-case deliberation for each project, support will be given to China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone and Lingang Special Area to achieve further opening up in key sectors such as telecommunication, R&D and technological services, education and health care, etc. Support will be given to the roll-out of best practices and know-how accumulated from pilots of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone in comprehensive bonded area and state-level economic and technological development zones. (Responsible authorities: Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, Shanghai Municipal Development and Reform Commission, Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization, etc., relevant district-level governments, China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone Administration and Administration of Lingang Special Area)

Ⅱ. Strengthened effort to promote foreign investment

3. The One-stop Service System of Foreign Investment Promotion will be strengthened. By leveraging the city's service platform for foreign investment promotion, an integrated investment promotion system will be gradually established that provides one-stop service with engagement of government departments, professional institutions, chambers of commerce, industry associations and businesses. (Responsible authorities: Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce and Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization)

4. Support will be given to investment promotion campaigns at home and abroad. Shanghai City Promotion Convention will be convened to leverage the spillover effect of China International Import Expo. All districts are encouraged to launch domestic and overseas investment promotion campaigns with "Investment in Shanghai" as the theme where district-level funding support may be arranged based on the effectiveness of the events. (Responsible authorities: Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization, Shanghai Municipal Finance Bureau and district-level governments)

5. Quality of inbound investment through open platforms will be improved. The business and institutional advantages of state-level economic and technological development zones will be given a full play to actively promote the implementation of major foreign-invested projects that are aligned with the industrial orientations for development of state-level economic and technological development zones, where the platform's role in business and investment promotion will be highlighted. The management of the development and construction bodies as well as operation bodies of state-level economic and technological development zones will be optimized. State-level economic and technological development zones that have the wherewithal are encouraged to set up overseas business promotion centers to cooperate with foreign industrial parks and to accelerate the introduction of high-quality projects. (Responsible authorities: Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce and Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization)

6. Intensified support will be given to major foreign-funded projects. Rewards may, after assessment of comprehensive contribution to the regional socioeconomic development, be granted by district governments to new or reinvestment projects that are aligned with the city's industrial orientation for development. (Responsible authorities: Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization, Shanghai Municipal Finance Bureau and district-level governments)

7. Incentive mechanisms will be established for business promotion service. Professional non-public organizations and business promotion agencies are encouraged to introduce foreign-funded projects that are aligned with the industrial development orientation of the city. Rewards may be granted by district governments to projects based on the comprehensive contribution to the regional socioeconomic development. Support will be given to sector-earmarked funds to participate in the development of industrial parks of various types. A number of carriers for high-quality development of key industrial sectors will be established to facilitate the implementation of major foreign-funded projects. (Responsible authorities: Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization, Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Finance and district-level governments)

8. Intensified support will be given to key projects in their recruitment effort. Prioritized support will be given to all districts in recruiting professionals for foreign-funded projects that coincide with the industrial development orientations including regional headquarters and R&D centers of multinational corporations. (Responsible authorities: Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, Shanghai Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau and district-level governments)

9. Establishment of a market-based incentive mechanism for foreign business and investment promotion will be explored.  Support will be given to all districts to include factors into performance and incentive mechanism such as business promotion results and effectiveness of service. More flexible incentive measures are allowed to be adopted to motivate business development departments and non-civil-servant positions in business development teams, thus realizing more market-based operation in business promotion. (Responsible authorities: Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization, Shanghai Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, Shanghai Municipal Finance Bureau and district-level governments)

10. Support will be given to all districts to organize missions to attract business and investment from overseas. Business and investment promotion should be prioritized as the main task of overseas or cross-border economic and trade missions. Missions with substantial business and investment tasks are eligible for prioritized facilitation from all districts. (Responsible authorities: Shanghai Foreign Affairs Office and district-level governments)

11. Training on foreign business and investment promotion will be intensified. Training sessions on foreign business and investment will be held at both municipality-level and district-level periodically, covering subjects such as promotion, management and protection of foreign investment. City-wide professional business promotion teams will be developed with elevated caliber of staff. Special training sessions for high-tech enterprises will be organized to raise awareness and understanding of relevant policies and to encourage and to attract more investment into this sector. (Responsible authorities: Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Commission and district-level governments)

12. Promotion and interpretation of foreign investment policies will be strengthened. Guidelines for foreign investment will be formulated and publicized, including Shanghai Foreign Investment Guide, White Paper on Environment for Foreign Investment in Shanghai, etc. All districts are supported to formulate their own guidelines for foreign investment as well to offer service and facilitating measures for foreign investors and foreign-invested enterprises. (Responsible authorities: Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce and district-level governments)

III. Improvement on foreign investment facilitation

13. Supporting measures will be taken to facilitate cross-border capital investment. Procedures at the bank will be simplified for foreign direct investment. Municipal pilot programs on revenue/payment facilitation under the capital account will be launched. Qualified enterprises are allowed to use capital account revenue generated from capital funds, external debts and overseas IPOs for domestic payment without providing authentication materials in advance. Measures will be taken to facilitate the registration and management of external debts. Foreign-invested enterprises registered as non-holding companies are allowed to set up subsidiaries or conduct M&A within the Chinese territory using capital funds under the preconditions that the authenticity of the investment is verified and in compliance of relevant laws and regulations including the foreign investment negative list. Measures will be explored to facilitate foreign exchange purchasing by foreign professionals using their local salaries. (Responsible authorities: Shanghai Head Office of the People's Bank of China, Shanghai Branch of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange and Shanghai Financial Regulatory Bureau)

14. Handling process for foreigners' work and residence permits in China will be optimized. Favorable policies in relation to foreigners' work permit will be fully implemented and further improved in support of "single window" platform for foreigners' workand residence permitswhere application with one form, acceptance upon one window, all-in-one portal access and one-stop service will be realized. Approval right of foreigners' work permit in China will be delegated to lower-level authorities after taking into consideration district-level institution setting, staffing and demand of the service. (Responsible authorities: Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Commission (Shanghai Municipal Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs) and Exit-Entry Administration Bureau of Shanghai Public Security Bureau)

15. Approval procedures of land use for projects will be optimized. On the basis of unification of regulations, efforts will be made to push forward reform in land use approval, where preliminary examination of land use and permission notes for location will be combined so that three certificates, namely the Construction Land Planning Permit, the Allocation Decision and the Approval on the Use of Land for Construction will be integrated into one. Administration will be further streamlined, multiple surveying and mapping will be integrated and processing reengineering will be enhanced. Unification of different examinations and certificates is to be explored in the phase of criteria verification, issue of permit and completion acceptance. (Responsible authorities: Shanghai Municipal Planning and Natural Resources Bureau)

IV. Strengthening Protection of Foreign Investment

16. The Foreign Investment Law will be fully implemented. In an effort to strictly implement the Foreign Investment Law and the Regulation on the Implementation of the Foreign Investment Law in Shanghai, interpretation of the law, regulation and training programs for foreign investors and foreign-invested enterprises will be carried out. Shanghai will speed up municipal legislation process for foreign investment and formulate local supporting policies to ensure effective execution of the Foreign Investment Law and create a fair business environment. (Responsible authorities: Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, Shanghai Municipal Development and Reform Commission, Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Justice, and etc.)

17. The communication and service mechanism between the government and enterprises will be improved. Government-business roundtable meeting and other mechanisms will be further improved so that synergy can be formed among related departments at municipal and district level to solve the challenges that companies encountered in daily operations. Efforts will be made to strengthen the liaison and service system for key foreign companies, where municipal, district and subdistrict-level governmental departments are responsible for defining the list of key companies and assigning staffs as liaisons who are also tasked with promoting policies, facilitating projects and coordinating problems. (Responsible authorities: Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, etc., and district-level governments)

18. The complaint and protection mechanism of legitimate rights of foreign-invested enterprises will be improved. "Single-window acceptance" mechanism will be established at both municipal and district level to handle and solve complaints from foreign-invested enterprises. A working body designated for complaint and rights protection affairs will be set up based on the existing institutions or relevant organizations. The working body and its contact information will be disclosed to the public. In addition, efforts will be made to improve the closed-loop compliant handling process consisting of acceptance, coordination and referral, study and disposal as well as timely feedback so as to standardize the procedures and boost efficiency. (Responsible authorities: Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce and district-level governments)

19. The normative enforcement of regulatory policies will be strengthened. Inspections at municipal and district level should be coordinated to improve the working mechanism of random sampling, random assignment of inspectors and disclosure of the results to the public in addition to scientific arrangement of the scope and frequency of random inspection. Prudent and inclusive inspections should be exercised in accordance with the actuality of the industry in which companies operate. Revision of the Provisions on Shanghai Discretion Standards of Administrative Penalties for Violation of Environmental Protection and an impunity list of minor environmental offenses will be formulated to enhance the standardization and unity of the behavior of imposing environment-related administrative penalties in Shanghai. (Responsible authorities: Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment, Shanghai Administration of Work Safety, Shanghai Municipal Administration for Market Regulation and Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Justice and Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism)

20. The important role of judicial protection of intellectual property rights will be brought into play. The efficacy of preservation of properties, evidence and behaviors will be brought into full play to promote the division between complex and simple intellectual property cases and raise the timeliness and convenience of judicial remedy for intellectual property rights. The requirement for formalities of evidence in intellectual property cases involving foreign-invested enterprises will be optimized. The burden of proof on right holders will be reasonably reduced by applying the obstruction of evidence and transfer of burden of proof in accordance with the law. Tougher punishment will be imposed on IP infringement and compensation will be raised in accordance with the law for repetitive and malicious infringement and other serious cases. The reform of "three in one" trial mechanism of civil, administrative and criminal cases involving intellectual property rights will be deepened to toughen up punishment on intellectual property crimes. Guidance of legal application and typical cases of judicial protection of intellectual property rights will be promulgated in time so as to elevate the awareness and capability of enterprises in utilizing judicial means to protect intellectual property rights. (Responsible authorities: Shanghai High People's Court)

21. The work mechanism for intellectual property rights protection will be improved. A landscape of strict, full, quick and equal protection is to be formed, where the protection of trademark, patent, copyright and geographic indication and other intellectual property rights will be reinforced with focus on key fields such as professional markets, exhibitions and online platforms. The role of district-level people's mediation committees on intellectual property disputes, mediation workshops and professional mediators will be brought into full play to construct a diverse mechanism for intellectual property rights dispute settlement. E-commerce operators will be monitored to fulfill their obligations in relation to intellectual property rights and to implement the rule of "notice-deletion" when it comes to the protection of intellectual property rights. (Responsible authorities: Shanghai Intellectual Property Administration, Shanghai Municipal Administration for Market Regulation, Shanghai Copyright Administration and Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Justice)

22. The transparency of policies related to foreign investment will be increased. Districts and governmental departments will strengthen legitimacy review and solicit opinion and advice from foreign-invested enterprises, relevant chambers of commerce and associations before issuing administrative regulatory documents involving foreign investment. When adjustment in investment, production and operation activities is required, a reasonable span of time should be reserved for companies to act accordingly before relevant documents take effect. For administrative regulatory documents involving foreign investment, English translation of the texts will be provided for reference in a timely manner. (Responsible authorities: Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, General Office of Shanghai Municipal People's Government, etc., and district-level governments)

23. Participation in standards formulation will be supported. Relevant information will be provided in a timely manner to enable foreign-invested enterprises in Shanghai to participate in the formulation of national and industrial standards. Process of local standards setting and revision will be optimized by seeking more opinions and improving information system for local standards. In terms of the standardization work in Shanghai, foreign-invested enterprises and domestic enterprises are given equal treatment. Foreign companies will be a part of professional standardization technical committees in Shanghai and be recommended to national-level committees. (Responsible authorities: Shanghai Municipal Administration for Market Regulation, and etc.)

24. Equal participation in government procurement will be promoted. Districts and governmental departments should not adopt discriminatory measures against foreign-invested enterprises or put restrictions on the ownership, form of organization, equity structure of suppliers, nationalities of investors as well as brands of products or services when it comes to the release of procurement information, definition of criteria of suppliers and standards of bid evaluation. (Responsible authorities: Shanghai Municipal Finance Bureau, etc. and district-level governments)

All districts and governmental departments should fully recognize the significance of enhancing the utilization of foreign capital by paying greater attention, taking vigorous actions, strengthening accountability and enhancing coordination. At the same time, supporting policies should be studied and formulated and relevant lines of work should be implemented rigorously. Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, together with other relevant departments, should strengthen supervision and inspection to make sure policies and measures are put into actual practice.

The measures will take effect as of April 10th, 2020.

Disclaimer：

The power of interpreting any provision in this text is entirely vested in the competent departments of Shanghai Municipal People's Government. Should there be any discrepancy of meaning between the Original Chinese Text and the English Text, the Chinese version shall prevail.

Source: Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce