Beijing aims to encourage foreign investment in entertainment facilities, underscoring China's determination to pursue comprehensive and high-level opening-up amid the ongoing China-U.S. trade war, experts said.
The Beijing municipal government has announced a three-year plan to ease the rules for foreign investment in the culture and tourism industries, under which the city will further expand market access for foreign investment, ease the examination and approval system, and improve the supporting policies and regulation of the market, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Tuesday.
According to the plan, foreign investors will no longer face limits on the proportion of the investment when they establish entertainment facilities and set up companies running performance facilities and performance agencies.
The new plan also states that foreign investors are allowed to invest in audio-video production businesses in the city. Operation of outbound travel services for Chinese nationals will be permitted for wholly foreign owned travel agencies.
The plan can stimulate investment and consumption in the city's cultural and tourism markets, Xinhua reported.
Beijing's plan shows that China is opening its market for foreign investment, Bai Ming, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
Despite the ongoing trade war, China's opening-up is inevitable given its growing economy and increasing international stature, Bai said. "The plan highlights the country's determination and ability," Bai noted.
Although protectionism and unilateralism continue to spread around the world, and countries like the U.S. have initiated trade conflicts aimed at China and other developing countries, China's opening-up process has not and will not be influenced by the situation, Bai noted.
China has been actively attracting global resources to invest in various industries, especially the services industry, which helps to boost innovation, Bai noted.
Since China's reform and opening-up, foreign investment has been one of the major drivers of economic and social development in China.
A document released by China's State Council in January 2018 designated that 11 Free Trade Areas (FTAs), including East China's Shanghai Municipality, South China's Guangdong Province and North China's Tianjin Municipality, can allow investors to set up wholly foreign-owned entertainment facilities and provide services.
By the end of 2018, roughly 960,000 foreign-invested companies had been established in China, with an accumulated foreign direct investment surpassing $2.1 trillion.
