Henan Provides better Investment Environment

Central China's Henan Province will push forward a series of projects with the potential to attract foreign investment.

Henan Governor Li Keqiang said recently that his province will break up the monopoly over management of communications, power, and infrastructure facilities. Henan will select a series of expressways and bridges for construction and invite foreign bids.

The province also issued regulations encouraging foreign firms to invest in high-tech, high-efficiency agriculture, green food base and eco-environment construction, as well as in tourism, commerce and telecommunications.

Multinational enterprises and their key projects will receive special attention from Henan Province.

Since China implemented the policy of opening up to the outside world, Henan Province has approved a total of 6,447 foreign invested enterprises, involving a total overseas investment of 8.79 billion US dollars.

Henan Clears Way for Overseas Investment

Henan Province in central China is abolishing out-of-date policies and government documents that have posed undue restrictions on overseas investment and are hampering its efforts to opening wider to the world.

Governor Li Keqiang said all the local policies, which are contrary to the entry of the World Trade Organization, like advocating a monopoly and protectionism and imposing illegal levies, will be abolished.

Problems and cases that are related to foreign investment and have not been settled for long should be sorted out and resolved, he said at a provincial meeting last week.

The province also plans to improve facilities and sites that promote tourism like railway stations, airports, along with efforts to clean streets in major cities, maintain public security and improve the professional quality of the law enforcement contingent in the province, the governor said.

Li called for local governments to simplify administrative procedures and collect government charges on a regular basis.

Centers to take complaints will be set up at the provincial and municipal levels for foreigners to express their dissatisfaction in a bid to protect their legitimate rights and interests, he noted.

Henan is the fifth largest economy in China, but it lags behind the coastal provinces and some of its neighboring provinces in the use of overseas capital and the development of foreign trade.






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