The 2024 version of the negative list for foreign investment access, which will come into force from Nov 1, lifts the restrictions on foreign investment in the manufacturing sector.

Jointly issued by the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Commerce, the negative list reduces the number of restrictions from 31 to 29, with zero restrictions on foreign investment in the manufacturing sector. This marks an important step in building a higher-level open economy.

The central departments have been strengthening their coordination to further implement the system of pre-establishment national treatment plus the negative list system. Since China issued and implemented its first negative list for foreign investment access in 2013, the list has been revised and slimmed down several times.

According to World Bank data, China's manufacturing value added has surpassed that of the United States for the first time since 2010, ranking first in the world, accounting for 30.2 percent of the world total in 2022.That makes China an important driving force for global industrial economic growth.

The abolition of restrictions on foreign investment access in the manufacturing sector fully demonstrates the country's willingness to expand international cooperation and its clear attitude to support economic globalization.

When it first implemented the reform and opening-up policy about 40 years ago, China attracted many foreign-funded enterprises with its low labor and land costs. Today, the country has developed unique institutional advantages as a socialist market economy.

China also boasts advantages in both the supply and demand sides, as a superlarge market with a complete supporting industrial system. Its strengths in talents and skilled workers are also obvious thanks to the continuous enhancement of the quality of its labor force.

That it took Tesla less than a year to build its Gigafactory from scratch and realize mass production in Shanghai is a good example showing China's comprehensive advantages as a global manufacturing and logistic hub.

The elimination of restrictions on foreign investment access in the manufacturing sector will further enhance the confidence of foreign-funded enterprises in the Chinese market. At the same time, the move will also open up broader fields in the world's second-largest economy for global investors to invest in, and share China's development opportunities and dividends.