Reforms in manufacturing and healthcare sectors will attract more foreign capital

The intelligent production line of a photovoltaic enterprise in Yangzhou, east China’s Jiangsu Province. Photo: VCG

China’s recent decision to fully open its manufacturing sector to foreign investment and expand space for foreign capital in the health and medical care sector has attracted considerable global attention.

However, some foreign media outlets used the opportunity to fan the narrative that “confidence in the Chinese market is waning among international investors.”

The mistake of downplaying China’s market prospects is not one to be dismissed. The latter two policy measures are undoubtedly important expressions of China’s commitment to high-level openness, as well as key steps in promoting an open economy. In the context of rising protectionism in some countries, China has shown a strong determination to advance high-level openness.

Continued high-level opening-up underscores China’s ability to navigate the world’s complex political and economic landscape. It also indicates China’s unwavering commitment to continue to play a positive role in the global economy.

The resolution adopted in July at the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, which put forward a comprehensive plan for China’s reform and opening-up, underscored the strong commitment to pursuing high standards of opening-up.

According to the resolution, China will foster a first-class business environment that is market-oriented, law-based and internationalized; further reform the institutions and mechanisms that promote foreign investment; expand the catalog of industries promoted by foreign investment; appropriately shorten the negative list of foreign investment; and remove all market access restrictions in the manufacturing sector.

In recent weeks, China has moved quickly to put greater emphasis on promoting high-level openness and deepen reform of its foreign investment governance system, including lifting all market access restrictions in the manufacturing sector.

China boasts a complete industrial and supply chain across manufacturing sectors, constantly evolving with technological innovation. The country’s opening-up measures have created supply chain optimization opportunities and expanded market access for the development of the global manufacturing sector.

In this sense, China’s huge market provides significant opportunities for foreign companies, helping them to achieve higher levels of development. Industries and companies from other countries can leverage China’s supply chain to increase efficiency and reduce costs, thus increasing their global competitiveness.

China’s recent decision to increase the opening-up of the healthcare and medical care sector in major cities is an important step towards promoting openness on a large scale and accelerating the development of the modern services industry.

The healthcare industry is highly regulated around the world. From a policy perspective, this move reflects China’s strong determination to open up its services sector.

The policy is closely tied to the China International Fair for Trade in Services 2024, which will be held in Beijing from September 12 to 16. It represents significant progress for China in making its modern services sector more open. As this initiative progresses, it is likely that more foreign companies will be attracted to the Chinese market in search of new development opportunities.

The introduction of wholly foreign-owned hospitals in pilot regions will strengthen China’s healthcare system by expanding options and diversifying healthcare delivery. This move will facilitate the transfer of advanced practices and expertise from overseas hospitals, while also driving the improvement and optimization of domestic healthcare services.

The author is a senior researcher at the China Foreign Trade Association. [email protected]