China vows zero restrictions on foreign investment in manufacturing

BEIJING - A Chinese official said on Friday that there will be no restrictions on foreign investment in the manufacturing sector, as part of efforts to further expand the country's opening up.

Zhu Bing, an official of the Ministry of Commerce, told a press conference that China will take additional steps to relax market access and enhance the business environment for foreign enterprises.

Specifically, the country will expand the catalog of industries that encourage foreign investment, and promote orderly opening up in the fields of telecom, internet, education, culture, and medical care. Revised rules will be published to further support long-term foreign investment in the capital market, according to the official.

Zhu noted that the country remains attractive to foreign investment, highlighting the unchanged advantages of the Chinese economy, including its strong fundamentals, vast market, high-quality industrial supplies, and a pool of exceptional talent.

Foreign investment in China, in actual use, reached nearly 500 billion yuan ($70 billion) in the first half of the year, a relatively high level over the past decade. Meanwhile, the number of newly registered foreign-funded companies in the country increased by 14.2 percent year-on-year to nearly 27,000.