CYIL vol. 9 (2018)

ANRAN ZHANG CYIL 9 ȍ2018Ȏ and evaluating its foreign investment policy. With a unique geographical advantage, the Shanghai port has become a field test for China to test its investment policy. In March 2009, China’s State Council officially approved the “Opinions on Accelerating Shanghai’s Development in Modern Services, Manufacturing, Finance, and Shipping.” 23 As a response, the Shanghai Government released the “Opinions of Shanghai Municipal People’s Government on Accelerating the Construction of Shanghai International Trade Center.” 24 In August 2013, the Shanghai Free Trade Zone (FTZ) was approved, and this marked the establishment of mainland China’s first special customs supervision zone aligned with international practices. 25 The Shanghai FTZ aims to achieve the seamless integration of logistics services to form a mechanism to rapidly respond to economic opportunities and to apply its successful experience nationwide. 26 Building on the practice and experience of the Shanghai FTZ, China’s National Development and Reform Commission and Ministry of Commerce officially published the “Foreign Investment Industrial Guidance Catalogue” on 28 June 2017. This 2017 catalogue, for the first time, includes special administrative measures on access to foreign investment. One of the important highlights is the use of a negative list system, which involves specific projects that are not open or are restricted to foreign investment. Foreign investment projects outside this list are considered fully open to a foreign investor. This outcome marks a significant achievement on how the practice of the Shanghai FTZ regarding regulation of foreign investment applies nationwide. This significant achievement announces that China has officially adopted a negative list system in its foreign investment laws. China is slowly modifying its national rules in relation to foreign investment. For instance, the record-filing system is another critical implementation. In October 2016, the Ministry of Commerce issued “the Interim Measures for Record-filing for the Establishment and Alteration of Foreign-invested Enterprises”. This demonstrates that the previous foreign investment approval system has been replaced, which means that the foreign investment access becomes open if the investment projects match other criteria under the rules. 2.2.2 OBOR, Modification of Constitution Law and Beyond The Chinese President, Xi Jinping, proposed his most representative and significant proposal in relation to global business after his election in 2013 – the OBOR. The “Silk Road Economic Belt” proposed during Xi’s keynote speech in Kazakhstan, and the “Maritime Silk Road of the Twenty-First Century” proposed later in Indonesia are both part of the OBOR initiative. Since then, China has announced a number of legal regulations on international trade and investment in response to the OBOR. China also proposed the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in 2013 which was launched shortly after, in 2014. As a multilateral development bank with a mission to improve both social and economic outcomes in Asia and all over the world, the AIIB has attracted 86 states and economic members. 27 These countries 23 See at < http://www.gov.cn/xxgk/pub/govpublic/mrlm/200904/t20090429_33313.html > accessed 7 March 2018. 24 Shanghai Government, See at [accessed 7 March 2018]. 25 WAN, Zheng, ZHANG, Yang, WANG, Xuefeng, CHEN, Jihong. ‘Policy and Politics Behind Shanghai’s Free Trade Zone Program’, 1, 2. 26 Ibid, 5. 27 Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, “Introduction”, [accessed 16 May 2018].

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