Meeting with Beijing Investment Promotion Service Centre

2019-07-11 | Beijing

On 11^th July, a delegation from the Beijing Investment Promotion Service Centre (formerly the Beijing Investment Promotion Bureau) visited the Beijing office of the European Chamber. They were received by Carl Hayward, general manager, Beijing cffice, and Ziting Zhang, head of Government Affairs with the European Chamber.

GM Hayward expressed his appreciation for the visit and presented several key findings from the recently released Business Confidence Survey 2019 to deputy director-generals Xu Zongjun and Ren Baojian, in particular findings related to Beijing Chapter members.

GM Hayward also discussed concerns raised by Beijing Chapter members, such as ambiguous regulations, market access barriers in certain sectors, and indirect market access barriers, primarily in licensing.

Zhang expressed her gratitude for the Beijing Investment Promotion Service Center’s help in resolving two issues previously faced by Chamber members: one raised by the fashion & leather working group members regarding losses suffered due to “professional whistleblowers,” and the second regarding a government issuance of a relocation order to a company on short notice, leaving the company to find itself in a difficult situation—trying to comply to regulations while working to avoid a major disruption in its production.

Hayward detailed a specific case in which a Chamber member faced unjust ruling, suffered substantial financial losses, and lost faith in the credibility of China’s rule of law, to which Deputy Director-General Xu responded in reassurance that great progress has been made to open the market, reduce administrative hurdles, shorten approval times, and more. Xu added that some concerns raised earlier are faced by Chinese companies as well, and Beijing continues to strive for a market economy and improve the implementation of the law. He said in a few years, China’s business environment will witness dramatic changes. Xu added that the Beijing Investment Promotion Service Center is willing to help the Chamber establish relevant connections with government authorities.

Xu introduced the upcoming August meeting between the Mayor of Beijing and representatives from foreign chambers of commerce, associations, and enterprises. The two sides discussed preparation details.