Chongqing- Foreign capital, essential to China's basic national policy of opening to the outside world, plays a vital role in the country's economic development. 

The Three-Year Action Plan to Build a High-Quality Foreign Investment Cluster in Chongqing (2022-2024) was released on September 20 this year, aiming to attract foreign capital in the high-tech manufacturing and service industries, as well as promote the city's development. 

The action plan consists of four parts: general requirements, main objectives, key tasks, and safeguard measures. 

The Three-year Action Plan for Chongqing to Build a High-quality Foreign Investment Cluster (2022-2024) was issued on September 20, 2022 (Graphics/ Chen Zhan)

According to the plan, the actual use of foreign direct investment (FDI) will maintain annual growth of over 10% from 2022 to 2024, and the proportion of foreign investment in the manufacturing industry will occupy over 30%. 

To enhance the role of foreign capital in the city's high-quality development by 2024, the city will significantly improve its ability to attract foreign capital into its high-tech manufacturing and service industries. 

Six key tasks 

There are six key tasks: promoting high-level opening up, accelerating the gathering of high-end and high-quality foreign capital resources, facilitating foreign investment, strengthening the support for foreign investment development, optimizing the development environment for foreign investment, and improving the life service level of foreign investors.

According to the plan, it should promote high-level opening up, including implementing the market access policy for foreign investment, deepening openings in key areas to allow foreign investment, and promoting foreign investment in infrastructure construction.

The Chongqing municipal government will continue optimizing the foreign investment system to provide foreign investors with more business opportunities.

Developing high-end and high-quality foreign resources requires stimulating open platforms to utilize foreign capital, building a foreign headquarters economy, and encouraging foreign research and development (R&D) centers.

Three measures should be taken to promote foreign investment: innovating how to use foreign capital, optimizing the industrial structure of using foreign capital, and taking specific actions to attract foreign investment.

Optimizing the development environment for foreign investment involves implementing the national treatment for foreign investment and improving the level of customs clearance facilitation.

Foreign investors in Chongqing can benefit from optimized international education services and foreign medical services by improving the foreign living service level.

Key tasks of the Three-year Action Plan for Chongqing to Build a High-quality Foreign Investment Cluster. (Graphics/ Chen Zhan)

Policy support for foreign investment development 

Furthermore, policy support for foreign investment development can also include financial incentives and service assistance.

According to an approval notice issued by the State Council in October, Chongqing is welcoming new foreign investment rules in the industries of tourism and nursing. 

In the approval notice, foreign-invested travel agencies are allowed to set up in Shanghai and Chongqing to engage in outbound tourism in most regions; foreign-funded non-profit elderly care institutions are allowed to host in Tianjin, Hainan, and Chongqing.

The initiatives represent China's comprehensive pilot project of opening up the service industry in Chongqing, the only province in China to get the "double pilot."

"The policy plays a role in the international promotion of the city of Chongqing and accelerates the upgrading of local tourism enterprises," said Michael Lee, secretary general of the Chongqing Association of Travel Agency. 

(Tan Jingyue, as an intern, also contributed to this report.)