China will announce special measures this year for Shenzhen and Hainan to provide a broader market for investors, an official said yesterday.
Zhao Chenxin, secretary-general of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China’s top economic planning body, said at a press conference in Beijing that China will revise and roll out its 2021 version of the negative list for market access, allowing investors to have wider access in a number of key areas in the two places.
The measures aim to break local protectionism and regional market segmentation so as to build a higher level of openness and attract more foreign investment, he said.
Meanwhile, the country will proceed with the implementation of the new comprehensive pilot reform plan in Shenzhen to build the city into a demonstration area of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and of the ensuing 40 authorized measures to facilitate the pilot reforms, Zhao said.
The comprehensive reform plan, a five-year program for Shenzhen’s next-stage reform and opening up unveiled by the Central Government last October, will increase market access for foreign investors, introduce legal and financial reform measures, and implement specific business-friendly policies. It is part of the country’s drive to push high-quality development of the special economic zone and create a model city for a great modern socialist country.
The plan gives Shenzhen authorities a more direct and greater say in businesses, such as carrying out market-based economic reform, improving market and legal environments for global businesses, and improving the ecological environment and urban space.
One week later that month, the country announced 40 detailed measures to be implemented in Shenzhen, such as promoting the reform of the registration-based IPO system in the city’s startup board ChiNext.