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Questions about the New Catalogue for the Guidance of Foreign Investment Policies (II)

Q: What are the major amendments to the content of the revised Catalogue?

A: The major amendments to the content of the new Catalogue are as follows:

•      The number of encouraged items has been greatly increased. In total, 478 encouraged, limited and prohibited items have been listed in the new Catalogue: breaking down into 351 encouraged items, 87 limited items, and 40 prohibited items. Compared with the original Catalogue, 94, 9 and 5 items are added respectively, and the number of encouraged items is increased by 37 percent.

•      The opening-up of service industry has been expanded even more. In the encouraged Catalogue, items like “service outsourcing” and “modern logistics” are added; the originally limited items of “goods leasing” and “cargo agent” are adjusted to authorized items; and the originally prohibited “futures company” and “construction and operation of power grid” are listed in the opening-up scope for the first time.

•      The purely export-encouraging guiding policies have been adjusted. Targeted at the new situation of excessive trade surplus and rapid formation of foreign exchange reserves of China, the purely export-encouraging guiding policies are no longer implemented, and the item of “foreign investment projects of the authorized category, which all products are to be directly exported” has been cancelled.

•      Foreign investment in the developing recycling economy, clean production, renewable energy, eco-environment protection, as well as comprehensive utilization of resources is encouraged. More than 40 items of encouraged category are added in the new Catalogue.

•      A prudent, open attitude is adopted in some strategic and sensitive industries related to national economic security, and relevant items are properly adjusted to restrict the accession of foreign capital or raise the restriction on share ratios.

•      Industrial policies and exclusive planning, which have been approved for enforcement or agreed on in principle by the State Council, are summarized, and related content of foreign investment accession policies is all listed into the Catalogue, to formulate regulated, transparent and enforceable foreign investment accession policies, and to improve the convenience of foreign investment.

•      The statement of items is regulated: words like “new,” “advanced,” “large” and “high-grade” should be avoided as much as possible, and related standards should be identified, to enhance the usefulness of the Catalogue.

Q: In the encouraged scope for foreign investment, what guiding methods will be adopted in the future? Are preferential taxation policies still available?

A: The State shall continue to offer certain preferential taxation policies to foreign investment projects in the encouraged category of the Catalogue. The imported equipment of the referred projects shall enjoy preferential policies of exemption of import duties and value-added taxes of imports, as well as that of value-added tax refunds for purchased domestic equipment. For the foreign investment projects ratified after December 1, the related preferential policies of the new Catalogue shall prevail, while for those ratified before the same date, the original policies at the ratification of the projects shall prevail.

Q: The encouraged items “limited to the middle and western regions” have been excluded in the new Catalogue: so what are the considerations of the State in related policies of promoting regional coordinated development and optimizing the regional distribution of foreign capital?

A: To cooperate with the strategy of western exploration, improving incomes in Central China and the revitalization of old northeastern industrial bases, the State shall continue to encourage foreign investment to advantaged industries and characteristic industries of the central and western regions and northeastern old industrial bases. In the amendments of the new Catalogue, the item “limited to the middle and western regions” shall no longer be listed in the encouraged Catalogue of foreign investment industries. Those fall into the category of advantage industries and characteristic industries of the central and western regions and northeastern old industrial bases shall be considered to be listed into the Catalogue for Foreign-funded Competitive Industries in Central and Western Regions in its amendments. The amendment work of the Catalogue for Foreign-funded Competitive Industries in Central and Western Regions has been launched to exploit the comparative advantage of the central and western regions and the northeastern old industrial bases, in terms of resources, industries and labour, to properly relax restrictions, to push forward the orderly progress of industrial transformation, and to improve the scale and level of foreign investment utilization of the western regions and the northeastern old industrial bases.

外商投资产业指导目录问题解答（二）

中国国家发展和改革委员会、国家商务部全文公布了《外商投资产业指导目录(2007年修订)》(以下简称《目录》)，自2007年12月1日起施行。

一、《目录》修订后在内容上有哪些重大变化？

答：新《目录》在内容上主要有以下变化：

1.     是鼓励类条目数量大幅增加。新《目录》列入鼓励、限制和禁止类条目共478条，其中鼓励类351条、限制类87条、禁止类40条，分别比原目录增加了94条、9条和5条，与修订前相比，鼓励类条目的数量增加了37%。

2.     是服务业对外开放进一步扩大。增加“承接服务外包”“现代物流”等鼓励类条目，将原限制外商投资的“货物租赁”“货运代理”“外贸公司”等调整为允许类条目，将原禁止外商投资的“期货公司”“电网的建设、经营”列为首次对外开放领域。

3.     是调整单纯鼓励出口的导向政策。针对我国贸易顺差过大、外汇储备快速增加等新形势，不再继续实施单纯鼓励出口的导向政策，取消原目录鼓励类中“产品全部直接出口的允许类外商投资项目”条目。

4.     是鼓励外商投资发展循环经济、清洁生产、可再生能源和生态环境保护，鼓励外商投资资源综合利用，《目录》新增相关鼓励类条目40余条。

5.     是对部分涉及国家经济安全的战略性和敏感性行业，持谨慎开放的态度，适当调整相关条目，限制外资进入或增加股比限制。

6.     是综合汇总了国务院批准实施或已原则同意的我国产业政策和专项规划，将涉及外商投资准入政策的相关内容统一列入《目录》，形成规范、透明、易于执行的外商投资准入政策，进一步提高外商投资的便利程度。

7.     是规范条目表述。尽可能地避免使用“新型”“先进”“大型”“高档”等字样，明确相关标准，进一步增强《目录》的可操作性。

二、在鼓励外商投资领域，未来国家将采取哪些引导方式进行引导？在税收政策上是否还有优惠？

答：国家对于从事《目录》中鼓励类领域的外商投资项目将继续给予一定税收优惠政策，其进口设备可享受免征进口关税和进口环节增值税的优惠政策，采购国产设备享受增值税退税的优惠政策。2007年12月1日以后核准的外商投资项目，将依照新《目录》享受相关优惠政策。2007年12月1日前核准的外商投资项目，仍按照项目核准时的政策执行。

三、新《目录》中不再含有“限于中西部地区”的鼓励类条目，请问国家在相关政策中对促进区域协调发展、优化外资区域分布是如何考虑的？

答：为配合西部大开发、中部崛起、振兴东北等老工业基地的战略，国家将继续鼓励外商投资中西部地区和东北老工业基地的优势产业和特色产业。此次《目录》修订，在鼓励外商投资产业目录中不再列入仅“限于中西部地区”的条目，凡属于需鼓励外商投资的中西部地区和东北老工业基地的优势产业和特色产业，将在修订《中西部地区外商投资优势产业指导目录》时统筹考虑列入。《中西部地区外商投资优势产业指导目录》修订工作已经启动，将进一步发挥中西部地区和东北老工业基地在资源、产业、劳动力等方面的比较优势，适当放宽限制，促进产业转移有序承接，进一步提高中西部地区和东北老工业基地利用外资的规模和水平。