On 28 October 2022, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Commerce of the PRC jointly released the Catalogue of Encouraged Industries for Foreign Investment (2022 Edition) (hereafter referred to as the Encouraged Catalogue). The new catalogue will take effect on 1 January 2023 and replace the previous edition that took effect in January 2021.

Just like the 2020 Edition, the new catalogue includes two parts, i.e., the national catalogue of encouraged industries for foreign investment (hereafter referred to as the national catalogue) and the catalogue of encouraged industries for foreign investment in central and western regions (hereafter referred to as the regional catalogue). The 2022 Edition of Encouraged Catalogue contains a total of 1,474 items, among which 239 are new and 167 are modified from that in the previous catalogue released in 2020. The key changes are as follows:

1. Continue to Encourage Foreign Investment in the Manufacturing Industry
   
   The national catalogue continues to take manufacturing industry as the key direction to encourage foreign investment and upgrade the industrial and supply chains. In the field of end products, items such as aviation ground equipment, glow discharge mass spectrometer, transmission electron microscope, and industrial water-saving equipment, etc., have been added or modified. In the field of components and parts, items such as shield machine bearings, key parts related to autonomous driving, high performance light metals, etc., have been added or modified. In the field of raw materials, items such as high-purity electronic chemicals, high-performance coatings, and organic polymer materials, etc., have been added or modified.
   
   
2. Continue to Encourage Foreign Investment in Production Oriented Services
   
   The modifications of the items in the national catalogue mainly target promoting the integration of services and manufacturing industries. In the field of technical services, items such as advanced system integration technology and service of low carbon, environmental protection, green energy saving and water saving, development and application of environmentally friendly technology, design and research and development of offshore wind power equipment and marine new energy equipment, etc., have been added or modified. In the field of business services, items such as retired wind turbine blades and waste photovoltaic modules recycling and processing, clean operation of traditional energy, engineering construction and technical services, language services, etc., have been added or modified.
   
   
3. Continue to Optimize the Foreign Investment Layout.
   
   To add relevant items catering to the specific advantages of the central and western regions. To give full play of human resource advantages in inland China, labor-intensive processing trade related industries have been added as encouraged items in Jiangxi, Anhui, Henan, Guizhou, Gansu, Ningxia, Guangxi, etc. To take advantage of the strong traditional manufacturing basis, encouraged items such as equipment manufacturing have been added in Chongqing, Sichuan, Hubei, Hunan, Shaanxi, etc. Items related to agricultural and livestock products processing have been added to the regional catalogue in Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liaoning, etc., due to their rich agriculture resources. To improve the level of export-oriented economic development in the border areas, items such as commercial logistics and tourism and leisure businesses have been added to the regional catalogue in Tibet, Xinjiang, Yunnan, etc. To promote green transformation in resource-based areas, relevant industries have been added as encouraged items in Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, etc.

Those foreign investments falling into the encouraged categories may be able to enjoy preferential treatment such as taxation and land use in accordance with laws, administrative regulations or the provisions of the State Council of the PRC.

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