The government may relax rules on inward foreign direct investment (FDI) sources from the Ministry of Commerce have said.
An official from the Ministry of Commerce, who did not want to be named but should be thought of as an inforrmed source, said, ‘We have drawn up a plan to relax some restrictions on foreign investment, particularly in the real-estate sector.
‘This is a coordinated job, involving a number of other ministries.’
The proposal — submitted to the State Council or the Cabinet — lists 42 rules covering taxation, foreign exchange and regulatory supervision, and calls for an easier approval process for foreign investment.
One of the biggest changes is loosening regulation on foreign investment in the property sector.
‘The loosening of foreign investment rules in the real-estate sector would help to boost FDI quickly,’ said Grant Ji, director of Savills (Beijing), a UK-based real estate service provider. ‘And the change will be particularly attractive to international property developers who do not have a presence in China.’
China Daily further quoted Grant Ji in saying a number of US property developers dropped investment plans at the end of last year because of too many restrictions and the slow approval process.
The government introduced a slew of policies to prevent the influx of foreign capital into the sizzling real-estate market in 2006 and 2007. But the decline in property prices and transactions amid the economic slowdown last year has prompted policymakers to consider relaxing controls to bolster economic growth.