AmCham China Statement on Foreign Investment Law

AmCham China in principle welcomes and appreciates this legislative effort to improve the foreign investment climate. We are concerned, however, that such an important and potentially far-reaching piece of legislation will be enacted without extensive consultation and input from industry stakeholders, including FIEs. Despite some revisions, the provisions set forth in the latest public draft of the Foreign Investment Law are still quite general and do not address a number of the persistent concerns of foreign companies or foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) in China, including the potential for unequal treatment of domestic and foreign businesses, the broad scope of proposed "National Security Reviews," the opportunity for broad protections to be overridden by industry-specific regulations, and the lack of details in many of the draft Articles.

With the legislation set to be voted on this week, we look forward to engaging fully with the government as it drafts and promulgates implementation regulations and procedures.