The skyline of Lujiazui in Shanghai Photo: CFP

China announced to further expand high-level opening-up for cross-border trade and investment by optimizing business procedures and boosting transaction efficiency.

China's State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) on Friday announced the expansion of pilot programs of high-level opening-up policies for cross-border trade and investment throughout Shanghai, Jiangsu, Guangdong, Beijing, Zhejiang, and Hainan, according to a statement released by SAFE. 

The expansion will help more business entities to conduct cross-border trade and investment in a compliant manner and promote high-quality development through high-level opening-up, SAFE said in a separate notice. 

Experts said that the move will further bolster China's high-quality opening-up and continue the strong momentum gained by previous trials, while contributing to stabilizing the nation's fundamentals in foreign investment and trade amid the current complex global environment.

A total of eight measures will be implemented for the trial expansion, which will optimize business procedures and transactions in various aspects. 

For instance, when a foreign-invested enterprise engages in domestic reinvestment, the investee enterprises or equity transferors in the pilot areas do not have to register to receive domestic reinvestment. 

Prudent and compliant banks in the pilot regions are also encouraged to innovate financial services, and independently handle new international trade settlements. 

Continuing the success from previous trials, the expansion will cover more business models, and the innovative measures will better facilitate foreign trade and the utilization of investment, Wang Peng, an associate research fellow from the Beijing Academy of Social Science, told the Global Times on Friday.

Wang added that the move will have a demonstrative effect, as the measures could be applied to more trade and service industries, which will further accelerate the development of high-quality opening-up and elevate the efficiency of utilizing foreign investment. 

The measures, which aim to boost convenience for cross-border trade and investment, will help China stabilize the fundamentals for the sectors, which will lower the transaction costs, Hu Qimu, a deputy secretary-general of the digital-real economies integration Forum 50, told the Global Times on Friday.

Hu said that the innovative measures will contribute to better realizing the nation's strengths in global trade, such as its mega-market scale, comprehensive industrial categories and massive application scenarios. 

China has been ramping up efforts to continuously boost its high-quality opening-up. 

The State Council, China's cabinet, recently issued a general plan for advancing institutional opening-up of China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone in alignment with high-standard international economic and trade rules, unveiling details in fields from cross-border data transfer to security management. The government's work focuses on seven aspects, presenting 80 specific measures, actively and comprehensively aligning with high-standard rules. 

The recently concluded Central Economic Work Conference noted that efforts should be made to foster new drivers of foreign trade, consolidate the overall performance of foreign trade and foreign capital, and expand the intermediate goods trade, service trade, digital trade and cross-border e-commerce exports on the opening-up front, the Xinhua News Agency reported. 

Experts also disputed recent reports of "foreign capital leaving China" hyped by some Western media outlets. 

China has a strong appeal for global investors in real industries, especially as industries in China have been upgrading and transforming, so investing in the Chinese market will remain a major trend with a continuously growing attraction, Hu said. 

Hu said that some capital outflow may be deployed for mid- and low-end industries, and this outflow may also leave more space for China to utilize resources to develop more advanced industries.

China has huge potential in various aspects, especially with its continuous efforts to promote high-quality opening-up, Wang noted.