China News Service, Beijing, September 10. Title: The National Development and Reform Commission responded face-to-face to the concerns of US companies and released a signal for China's opening up.
China News Service reporter Wang Enbo
"Which areas will become the new engine of China's consumption?" "How will the '15th Five-Year Plan' be implemented at the local level?"
On the 10th, at the high-level roundtable meeting between the National Development and Reform Commission and US multinational companies in China held in Beijing, representatives of Apple, Honeywell, Corning and other US-owned companies in China raised questions one after another, and the heads of relevant departments and bureaus of the National Development and Reform Commission of China responded one by one.
During the Q&A, there were not only the specific concerns of US companies about China's huge market, but also the signal that China would further expand its opening up and continue to attract foreign investment.
As a giant in consumer electronics, Apple has always benefited from China’s trade-in policy for consumer goods. Apple Vice President Cui Yushan asked on the spot: Will the "two new" (large-scale equipment updates and consumer goods trade-in) policy continue next year?
Zhang Lupeng, deputy director of the Environmental Protection Department of the National Development and Reform Commission, said that from 2024 to 2026, China will arrange a total of 700 billion yuan to support the trade-in of consumer goods, of which 187.5 billion yuan of the 250 billion yuan in funds for 2026 has been allocated.
Zhang Lupeng said that he is currently organizing an evaluation of the implementation effects of the "two new" policies in 2026 to comprehensively analyze the role of policy implementation in promoting investment, consumption, green transformation, and ensuring people's livelihood. He will speed up the proposal of arrangements for the continuation of the "two new" policies in 2027 based on the economic and social operations. "We continue to support all types of enterprises, including US-owned enterprises, in participating in the 'two new' policies."
U.S.-funded companies are not only focusing on current policies, but also looking for future directions.
"Which areas have the greatest potential to become the new engine of China's consumption growth? How can foreign-funded enterprises better participate in it?" Zimmerman, chairman of the board of directors of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, asked a very representative question.
Wu Yuetao, director of the Employment Department of the National Development and Reform Commission, responded that during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, China's consumption will enter a stage of expansion and quality improvement, with increasing scale, more optimized structure, and development-oriented and improvement-oriented consumption will continue to grow.
Taking inbound consumption as an example, Wu Yuetao said that in 2025, the total expenditure of Chinese inbound tourists will increase by 39.2% year-on-year. From January to July this year, the number of overseas tourists applying for departure tax refunds more than tripled year-on-year.
On this basis, during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, China will improve the international service level of public places, optimize the inbound consumption and payment environment, and promote the facilitation of inbound tourists' quick customs clearance, accommodation registration, transportation and other matters. Wu Yuetao said that this will also provide a lot of opportunities for foreign-funded enterprises.
Corning, which specializes in optical communications, mobile consumer electronics and other products, has invested a total of US$9.5 billion in China by 2025. Zhang Wenqing, the company's vice president of China, is particularly concerned about China's considerations during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period in areas such as the digital economy and advanced manufacturing where foreign-funded enterprises are deeply involved.
Tan Wei, deputy director of the Planning Department of the National Development and Reform Commission, mentioned that the "15th Five-Year Plan" outline proposes to build a modern industrial system with advanced manufacturing as the backbone. On the one hand, we will promote the adjustment and upgrading of traditional industrial structures, accelerate the development towards mid-to-high-end directions, and develop intelligent manufacturing, green manufacturing, and service-oriented manufacturing; on the other hand, we will cultivate and expand emerging industries and future industries, and accelerate the construction of application scenarios and ecosystems.
Tan Wei responded that in the fields of digital economy, advanced manufacturing, biomedicine and other fields, he hopes that more foreign-funded enterprises will participate in the upstream and downstream supporting collaboration of the industrial chain to achieve common development through mutual benefit and win-win results.
In response to the series of policy goals proposed in the "15th Five-Year Plan" outline, Yu Feng, President of Honeywell Greater China, is looking forward to understanding how to form a specific implementation mechanism at the local level.
Zhao Kun, deputy director of the Foreign Investment Department of the National Development and Reform Commission, said that one of the key tasks in the field of foreign investment is to implement the "access and operation permission" for foreign-invested enterprises. We will supervise all localities to continue to clean up documents and regulations that are inconsistent with the foreign investment law, clear up the obstacles that hinder foreign-invested enterprises from operating, and at the same time steadily promote relevant localities to carry out pilot projects such as value-added telecommunications, biotechnology, and foreign-invested hospitals.
