The authorities issued a policy document on Tuesday, emphasizing that foreign investment is an important force for China's modernization drive, and vowing to make greater efforts to attract and utilize foreign investment, and create a market-oriented, law-based and internationalized business environment to consolidate the confidence of foreign investors.

According to the action plan, China will further shorten the negative list for foreign investment and implement pilot programs to ease global companies' access to the fields of scientific and technological innovation. To increase foreign investment, restrictions on foreign participation in the manufacturing sector will be removed and openness in sectors such as telecommunications and healthcare will be further increased. Foreign financial entities will also be granted greater access to China's banking and insurance sectors, and the operational scope for foreign financial institutions will be expanded in China's bond market. At the same time, the country will optimize a level playing field and provide better services for foreign-invested enterprises.

Relevant departments are urged to formulate timetables and road maps to promote the implementation of these policy measures.

Many international institutions hold an optimistic outlook on China's economy and, seeing it gain a more solid footing in January and February, they believe it will remain the largest engine of global growth in 2024.

A survey conducted by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade in the fourth quarter of 2023 showed that nearly 70 percent of 600 foreign investors were optimistic about the Chinese market in the next five years and want to increase their investment in China.

Data released by the Ministry of Commerce also showed that in the first 11 months of 2023, China registered a historical high in foreign investment, especially in the service and high-tech manufacturing sectors, which saw the establishment of 48,078 new foreign-invested enterprises, an increase of 36.2 percent year-on-year.

A series of new policy measures taken by the authorities to promote high-level opening up and make greater efforts to attract and utilize foreign investment will not only promote the high-quality development of China's economy, but also build up the confidence of multinational enterprises in China and facilitate their greater presence in the Chinese market.