CHINA’S latest attempt to attract foreign investment includes pledges to offer overseas firms better tax treatment and make it easier for them to obtain visas, according to a statement issued by State Council, or Cabinet.

The 24 specific measures in six aspects also promise to relax regulations on transferring data overseas, among other measures.

The State Council plan published Sunday includes a government pledge to accelerate foreign projects related to the biopharmaceutical industry, as well as to increase the trial area for certain telecommunication services.

Qualified foreign companies will also be encouraged to set up investment units and regional headquarters.

The government will also make it more convenient for employees of foreign companies to apply for visas and residence permits, and it will increase fiscal and taxation support for those businesses, according to the statement.

China will create a market-oriented, law-based and first-class international business environment, give full play to the advantages of the country’s ultra-large market, and attract and utilize foreign investment more vigorously and more effectively, according to the document.

The part of Sunday’s proposal focused on the pharmaceutical industry is notable given the size of China’s drug market, the second-largest in the world.

It’s very attractive to foreign drug companies, which have been increasing their footprint in the country since its pandemic restrictions ended.

Last month, American firm Moderna Inc. said it would push toward producing messenger RNA vaccines for China. This month, U.K.-based AstraZeneca Plc signed a cooperation agreement with a Chinese company to work on mRNA technology.

The State Council also emphasized its commitment to ensuring that foreign-invested enterprises fully engage in government procurement activities according to law. The government will introduce relevant policies and measures as soon as possible to further clarify the specific standards for “manufactured in China” and accelerate the revision of the Government Procurement Law.

It will also explore a convenient and secure management mechanism for cross-border data flows and establish a green channel for qualified foreign-invested enterprises to efficiently carry out security assessments for the export of important data and personal information, and promote the safe, orderly and free flow of data.

All these policies will make it easier for foreign investors to develop in the Chinese market, as they are designed to meet the expectations of multinational corporations, China Daily quoted Pan Yuanyuan, an associate researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’ Institute of World Economics and Politics in Beijing, as saying yesterday. (SD-Agencies)