Arif Naqvi, Founder and CEO of the Abraaj Group: Thank you Your Excellency for having this open dialogue with us. My question relates to FDI and investment environment. A lot of multinational companies are paying very close attention with doubt to the openness of China's domestic economy. Some are concerned about the Chinese government's policy change to foreign investment in the country, their diminishing advantage in investing in China and intellectual property rights protection. What new measures will the Chinese government take to boost FDI?
Li Keqiang: On the whole, there has been no change in China's overall policy on FDI. But in specific areas, there have been new steps taken or new measures introduced. These steps have opened more areas to foreign investors and will help China attract more foreign investment. For example, the number of items where restrictions were imposed on foreign investment access has been slashed by 50%. We are also taking steps to facilitate foreign investment. We have replaced past practice of comprehensive review and approval with the practice of record keeping. The number of items requiring government approval only accounts for 5% of the total. We are promoting a management model based on pre-establishment national treatment and a negative list approach. We are conducting BIT reviews with the United States and the European Union, and FTA negotiations with many countries. Foreign investment will be able to get into more areas in an easier way in China. We are also becoming more capable of attracting foreign direct investment. With global foreign investment in decline, FDI flowing into China still grew by 7.7% in the first half of this year.
In the meantime, we are pursuing innovation-driven development and encouraging mass entrepreneurship and innovation. This requires that we better protect intellectual property rights and ensure that there is a level-playing field for all market entities. All foreign invested companies registered in China will be treated as equals as their Chinese counterparts, be they joint ventures or solely owned foreign companies. But don't get me wrong: this does not mean that foreign companies which are not registered in China will not have their intellectual property protected in China. Otherwise, it is against not only Chinese laws but also internationally accepted practices.
Thank you.
