Quanzhou refinery plant in Fujian province. Yi Qiang / for China Daily

Opening up to attract foreign investment has become a competitive position and offers potential for Fujian province, as well as a lifeline for its economic development.

As the province steps into a new stage of scientific development, it is vital for Fujian to introduce large-scale high-end foreign-funded projects to develop its variety of industry and extend its chain, as well as to enhance the global competitiveness of overall industrial sectors and build a modern business system.

To further improve the quality and effectiveness of using foreign investment, the Fujian provincial government has published a series of new guidelines in line with national policies to encourage foreign investments as follows:

I. To optimize the structure of foreign investment

1.To encourage foreign investment in advanced manufacturing, high-tech industries, the modern service industry and strategic emerging industries, projects with a total investment of more than $500 million will get funding support up to 1 million yuan ($157,374). Projects in Sanming, Nanping, Longyan, and Ningde cities with a total investment from $100 million to $500 million will get funding support up to 50 million yuan.

The introduction of Fortune 500 multinational corporations and Top 100 companies in Taiwan will be given funding support of up to 20 million yuan at the negotiation stage.

2. Projects approved for the supporting policies will enjoy subsidies in their purchase of imported equipment within the total investment value. Qualified projects will be listed as the key support target and receive 5 percent subsidies of their purchase fee of advanced equipment.

3. Foreign industrial enterprises with annual taxable revenues in the province exceeding 1 billion yuan, 5 billion yuan and 10 billion yuan for the first time will have returned to them respectively 20 percent, 25 percent and 30 percent of the increments of their local-level tax (this mainly refers to the value-added tax, business tax and corporate income tax).

For foreign-funded industrial enterprises with an annual tax payment of more than 5 million yuan, or more than 30 percent of an annual tax increase, 30 percent of the increment outside of the 30 percent increase will be returned to the enterprises.

The above incentives will be paid by financial authorities in local counties, cities and districts in accordance with the principle of territoriality.

4. The national and provincial supporting policies for industry restructuring and revitalization, industrial transformation and upgrading, technological innovation, energy conservation, technology development and headquarters economy apply equally to qualified foreign-funded projects.

II. To widen the channels for the introduction of foreign investment

5. Local companies will be encouraged to undergo mergers and acquisitions using foreign capital. A group of key companies with financing of more than $10 million will be selected to be offered subsidies equal to 50 percent of their preconstruction costs, which is no more than 300,000 yuan for each company.

6. To improve the performance of funds, the government will guide overseas-listed companies to invest back via setting up an investment company or venture capital.

7. Foreign companies are encouraged to invest with their overseas yuan stock.

8. To support foreign-funded enterprises to increase equity capital via the capital fund, retained earnings, foreign debt and equity in a foreign-held domestic company, the above registered capital will be free of the administrative charges for the corporate registration. The department responsible for the promotion of foreign investment enterprises to increase their investment will be rewarded 0.2 percent of the actual increased capital.

III. To strengthen the resource support

9. Foreign-funded projects qualified for the supporting policies will be given a resource guarantee. Encouraged projects will be given priority in land supply, with a base price no less than 70 percent of the level regulated in the national standard. Forests, waters and sea reclamation works required by the projects will also be granted policy support. Modification works on existing factories will no longer be charged the additional land grant fee.

10. Provincial (and above) development zones should give priority to foreign-funded projects, while Taiwan investment zones should focus on Taiwan-funded projects.

11. Professional investment inviting and promoting bureaus set up by cities and Pingtan Comprehensive Experimental Zone aiming to attract foreign funds will receive a one-time 500,000 yuan support from the provincial government.

12. People skilled in overseas entrepreneurship, innovation and leading technologies, qualified personnel in short supply or those needed in the Catalogue for the Guidance of Overseas Talent, as well as overseas technical experts introduced by the joint R&D Center and the key lab, should be enabled to actively facilitate their work and life in Fujian with the establishment of a contact database and service system.

Meanwhile, priority should be given to their applications for visas, work permission and foreign expert certificates, as well as assistance in the extension of their visa. For overseas skilled people who make a significant contribution to the economic and social development of the province, it is recommended that their work should participate in the review of the Province "Friendship Award" and the State "Friendship Award".

IV. To improve the service standard

13. More approval power will be offered to city government. Starting from July 1, the city government will be eligible for the approval of encouraging projects with a total investment no more than $300 million and general projects with investment less than $100 million.

14. The service standard will be improved to further improve the management of the settlement of foreign capital for foreign-funded enterprises.

15. For foreign-funded enterprises that have been operating legally but face funding shortages, extensions can be given to the time limit for providing funds.

16. To further simplify the approval process, administrative departments, such as the development and reform commission, economic and trade department, land and resources, environmental protection, forestry, sea fishery and foreign exchange management should provide sound services to promote a speed landing of the projects.

(China Daily 09/08/2012 page7)