中伦观点 | 国务院出台新政加大吸引外资力度
英国脱欧、美国特朗普上台预示着全球的贸易保护主义和民族主义正在重新抬头。在此种背景下，中国政府审时度势，下决心加大中国改革开放的力度，更多地吸引外资来华投资。这在一方面有利于中国树立开放包容的国际形象，另外一方面也有利于振兴国内经济、增加就业机会。因此，中国的对外经济政策导向也从“控流入、扩流出”转为“控流出、扩流入”。
这个转型很明显地体现在最近的政策变化上：2016年12月国家外汇管理局加大了对境外投资合规性的审查，宣布对外支出超过500万美元的，需要向外管局进行大额交易汇报，这在一定程度上抑制了对外投资的热潮；而在2017年1月12日，国务院发布了《关于扩大对外开放积极利用外资若干措施的通知》（国发[2017]5号，以下简称“5号文”）以深化和扩大外资的流入。
根据5号文的要求，预计中国政府今年将陆续出台众多鼓励外商投资的优惠政策，形成对外商投资企业的重大利好。我们下面对5号文进行简述并分析其影响。
Britain’s exit from the EU and Donald Trump’s election as the President of the United States indicates that trade protectionism and nationalism are re-surging globally. After assessing the situations under this background, the Chinese government determines to expand the open-door policy so as to attract more foreign capital inflows into China. On one hand, this helps to build an open and inclusive international image of China; on the other hand, it also helps to boost China’s domestic economy and increase job opportunities. Therefore, the guidance of Chinese external economic policy, which used to be “limiting inflows and expanding outflows”, is now turning to “limiting outflows and expanding inflows”.
This transition was apparently reflected in recent changes of the new policies: In December 2016, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (“SAFE”) imposed greater scrutiny on overseas investments and announced that investors should report to SAFE large transactions involving over USD5,000,000 outflows, which to some extent restricted the booming outbound investments; on the contrary, the State Council issued the Notice of Measures on Expanding Open-door Policies and Active Use of Foreign Capitals (Guo Fa [2017] No.5, the “No.5 Notice”) on January 12, 2017, to expand foreign capital inflows.
According to the requirements in the No.5 Notice, it is anticipated that more preferential policies for foreign investments will be released by the Chinese government this year, which will be a great benefit for foreign-invested enterprises (“FIE”). Below is a summary of the No. 5 Notice and analysis of its implications.
一、进一步扩大对外开放
I. Further Expanding Open-door Policies
5号文要求修订《外商投资产业指导目录》进一步扩大对外开放，从而放宽服务业、制造业和采矿业等领域的外资准入限制。国家发改委已经于2016年12月7日发布《外商投资产业指导目录》的修改意见稿，预计2017年上半年会颁布正式的指导目录。届时金融服务业、高端制造业、采矿业、油气行业、基础设施建设、研发中心等领域都很可能会放开外资准入限制，并将可能享受某些政策和税收优惠待遇。同时中国政府也会对海外高层次人才来华创业提供更多便利条件。5号文进一步说明外商投资企业和内资企业将同等适用“中国制造2025”战略政策鼓励措施。
The No. 5 Notice requires a modification of the Catalogue for the Guidance of Foreign Investment Industries to expand the open-door policies and lift market entry restrictions on foreign investors in a variety of industries, such as service, manufacturing and mining. Since the National Development and Reform Commission released a revised draft of the Catalogue for the Guidance of Foreign Investment Industries on December 7, 2016, it is anticipated that an official catalogue for foreign investment will be issued in the first half of 2017. By that time, restrictions on foreign investment in a variety of industries, such as financial service, high-end manufacturing, mining, oil and gas, infrastructure construction, R&D center, may likely be lifted; and investment in these industries may even enjoy certain preferential policies and tax treatment. The Chinese government will also provide greater facilities for high-level overseas talents to start their businesses in China. The No. 5 Notice further specifies that both FIEs and domestic enterprises will equally enjoy the incentives stipulated in the strategic policy - Made in China 2025.
二、创造内外资企业公平的竞争环境
II.Creating an Even Playground between FIEs and Domestic Enterprises
鉴于最近国际社会有较多针对中国打击和歧视外资的传言，国务院特别强调了政策法规执行的一致性，要求不得擅自增加对外商投资企业的限制。
比如5号文明确要求：(i) 政府部门要按照统一的要求和时限办理内外资企业的业务牌照和资质申请；(ii) 促进外资平等参与标准化工作；(iii) 促进外资企业公平参与政府采购；(iv) 严格保护外资企业的知识产权（包括推动国际组织在中国设立知识产权仲裁分中心）；(v) 支持外资企业在中国进行融资（如在中国上市、新三板挂牌、发行企业债券等）；以及 (vi) 取消外商投资企业的最低注册资金要求，实现内外资企业统一的注册资本制度。
为强调内外资竞争的公平性，5号文特别要求政府各部门在制定外资政策时，要按照《国务院关于在市场体系建设中建立公平竞争审查制度的意见》（国发〔2016〕34号）规定进行公平竞争审查并公开征求意见，从而破除地域性保护和行政性保护对外资设置的不公平壁垒。
In consideration of the rumors about China’s restraint on and discrimination against foreign capitals among the international society, the State Council particularly emphasizes the uniformity of enforcing relevant laws and regulations, and requires that no extra burdens should be added to FIEs discretionally.
For example, the No. 5 Notice explicitly requires that: (i) government agencies shall process FIEs’ applications for business licenses, permits and certificates according to uniform requirements and the time limits; (ii) FIEs should be encouraged to participate in standardization work on an equal basis; (iii) FIEs should be fairly invited to join government procurement; (iv) FIEs’ intellectual properties shall be strictly protected, which means the Chinese government will facilitate the establishment of intellectual property arbitration center in China by the international organizations; (v) FIEs will be encouraged to raise funds in China, such as being listed on China’s stock exchanges or on the National Equities Exchange and Quotations, or issuing corporate bonds etc.; and (vi) the minimum registered capital requirement for FIEs will be cancelled, and FIEs and domestic enterprises will be applied a uniform capital registration system.
Further, to emphasize the fair competition between FIEs and domestic enterprises, the No.5 Notice particularly requires each government agency to conduct a fair competition review and to seek for public comments when enacting foreign investment policies, which should be carried out in accordance with the Opinion of the State Council on Establishing a Fair Competition Review Mechanism in the Construction of Market System (Guo Fa [2016] No. 34), so that the regional protection and administrative protection, which are unfair to foreign investors, will be eliminated.
三、要求地方政府加强吸引外资的工作
III.Requiring Local Governments to Improve Work on Attracting Foreign Capitals
针对过去几年中国一些地方确实出现了不少外资撤离的情况，5号文出台了下列具体措施予以应对：(i) 明确允许地方政府在法定权限范围内制定招商引资优惠政策；(ii) 鼓励外商投资企业向中西部及东北转移并提供土地和税收优惠措施；(iii) 对鼓励类外商投资工业项目优先供应土地并提供土地价格优惠；(iv) 积极吸引外资企业在中国设立地区总部和采购中心并允许本外币资金集中运营和双向流动；(v) 完善外资企业的外债管理制度以提高其境外融资能力和便利度；(vi) 实行外资准入前的国民待遇另加负面清单管理模式，简化外资与企业的设立和变更程序。
Responding to the fact that some foreign investors did have withdrawn from some regions of China during the last few years, the No.5 Notice comes up with the following specific solutions: (i) explicitly allows local governments to issue preferential policies within their statutory scope of authority to attract foreign investments; (ii) encourage FIEs to move to the Midwest and the Northeast of China, and provide preferential treatment on land use and tax for such relocation; (iii) supply lands on a priority basis and provide discounts on land price to encouraged foreign-invested industrial projects; (iv) actively encourage foreign investors to establish regional headquarters and sourcing centers in China, and allow centralized operation and bidirectional flow of domestic currency and foreign currencies; (v) improve foreign debt administrative system of FIEs to enhance their overseas financing ability and convenience; (vi) carry out national treatment and negative list administrative system for foreign investment market entry, and simplify FIEs’ establishment and change procedures.
上述吸引外资的措施实际上有不少在5号文出台前后已经落实到位。
比如2016年9月3日，全国人大通过了《修改〈中华人民共和国外资企业法〉等四部法律的决定》，将不涉及国家规定实施准入特别管理措施的外商投资企业的设立和变更，由审批改为备案管理，大大简化和便利了外资企业的设立和变更程序。
又如在2017年1月26日，外管局就出台了《关于进一步推进外汇管理改革完善真实合规性审核的通知》（汇发[2017]3号），允许内保外贷项下的境外融资调回境内使用，这大大降低了外商投资企业（尤其是外资房地产企业）的境外融资难度，即无需再采取境内外平行贷款的双重融资结构模式，以避免被认定为内保外贷从而使资金回流境内受到限制。
另外，作为对5号文的积极响应，2017年1月27日，上海市修订了《上海市鼓励跨国公司设立地区总部的规定》，拓宽了地区性总部的内涵和规定的适用范围，进一步增加了地区总部在资金管理、人才引进和出入境管理方面的便利措施，同时鼓励各区政府根据本地区情况制定适合总部经济发展的政策。
Some of the forgoing measures on attracting foreign capitals actually have been implemented before the issuance of the No.5 Notice.
For example, on September 3, 2016, the National People's Congress approved the Decision on Modifying Four Laws including the Law of the People's Republic of China on Foreign Capital Enterprises, which provides that the establishment and changes of FIEs which do not fall under special market entry administrative measures shall be subject to record-filing administration, rather than approval administration. This greatly simplified and facilitated the establishment and changes of FIEs.
For another example, on January 26, 2017, SAFE released the Notice of Further Conducting Foreign Exchange Administrative Reforms and Improving the Work for Authenticity and Compliance Review (Hui Fa [2017] No. 3), which allows overseas financing proceeds raised through domestic guarantees to be sent back to China. This significantly reduced the difficulty of overseas financing for FIEs (especially foreign-invested real estate development enterprises), i.e. they will no longer need to adopt the parallel financing structure through a domestic loan and an overseas loan, so that the financing structure will not be deemed as an “overseas financing under domestic guarantee” under which the financing proceeds can hardly be remitted back to China.
Further, as an active response to the No.5 Notice, on January 27, 2017, Shanghai Municipal Government revised the Rules Encouraging Multinational Corporations to Establish Regional Headquarter in Shanghai, which broadened its applicable scope and expanded the meaning of regional headquarters, further increased convenience for regional headquarters in terms of capital management, talents introduction and entry and exit administration; meanwhile, it also encourages each district government to enact policies promoting economic development of the headquarters according to the local circumstances.
随着更多吸引外资措施的出台，中国将会对外资变得更具有吸引力[1]。同时，随着美国退出跨太平洋伙伴关系协定（TPP），原先一些环太平洋国家（如越南、墨西哥等）对中国吸引外资的竞争威胁将实质性降低，中国完全可能迎来新一轮的外商投资高峰。
With more favorable policies to be issued to attract foreign capitals, China will become much more attractive to foreign investors. Meanwhile, as the United States recently quitted from the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP), the competition threats to China from some Pacific Rim nations (such as Vietnam, Mexico and etc.) regarding attracting foreign capitals will be reduced substantially, and we expect that a new peak of foreign investments in China is coming.
注：
[1] 根据联合国贸发会的统计，中国在2016年获得总计1390亿美元的境外投资，仅次于美国和英国。According to statistics of UNCTAD, China absorbed US$ 139 billion foreign investment in 2016, only after USA and UK.
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作者简介：
非权益合伙人 上海办公室
业务领域：房地产，收购兼并，合规和反腐败
上海办公室 房地产和基础设施部