Shanghai's Jinshan district recently introduced its action plan 8.0 for the optimization of its business environment, which focuses on five key areas including aligning its reforms with the World Bank Group's Business Ready (B-READY) standards.

The other four key areas are enhancing overall services for enterprises, streamlining enterprise-related inspections, strengthening grassroots business foundations and fostering a positive social atmosphere.

The action plan comprises 52 initiatives and 163 specific tasks. These underscore Jinshan's commitment to fostering a conducive business environment, attracting foreign investment and enhancing international trade practices.

Let's delve into some of its highlights:

Bolstering international trade

• Expand coverage of benefits under control and inspection model for high-tech goods.
• Facilitate implementation of preferential policies on integrated circuits, encouraged projects and consumption tax refunds under "levy first, refund later" mechanism.
• Promote application of e-version certifications at customs checkpoints.
• Boost "Smart Customs" initiative, offering services such as overtime reservations and advance declarations.
• Ensure effective implementation of service packages for key enterprises and enhance recommendation of major companies for Authorized Economic Operators cultivation within customs jurisdictions.

Boosting high-level opening up

• Implement policies for high-level investment liberalization and facilitation.
• Establish comprehensive foreign investment service mechanism encompassing access, promotions, management and protection.
• Implement management systems of pre-establishment national treatment and negative list for foreign investment.
• Remove policies and measures extending different treatment to domestic and foreign investment.

*"Pre-establishment national treatment" refers to the treatment given to foreign investors and their investments during the investment access stage, which is not lower than that given to their domestic counterparts; negative list refers to special administrative measures for the access of foreign investment in specific fields as stipulated by China. China shall give national treatment to foreign investment beyond the negative list.

Attracting foreign investment

• Strengthen resource connections and optimize reserve for foreign-invested projects.
• Attract investment through exhibitions and fairs with themed investment attracting plans like "one exhibition, one scheme".
• Participate in "Invest in Shanghai, Share the Future" global promotion initiative.

Enhancing services for foreign-funded businesses

• Establish special service windows for foreign-funded enterprises in each town and industrial park.
• Explore service club model to facilitate clustering of headquarters as well as research and development centers.
• Establish robust mechanism for handling complaints from foreign-funded enterprises.
• Provide one-stop services for foreign-related commercial disputes for foreign-funded enterprises.

Source: Jinshan district government

Note: The English version of the action plan is for reference only; the official Chinese document shall prevail.