March 21st, 2018
The General Office of the State Council’s legislative work plan for 2018 indicates that several policies affecting foreign companies may be revised this year, including foreign investment restrictions, ecommerce, tax, and environmental regulations.
March 19th, 2018
China’s legislature over the weekend and today approved a new round of leaders for the State Council and its ministries. The appointments put some reform-minded officials in key roles, but whether that leads to faster movement on economic reforms remains to be seen.
February 22nd, 2017
China’s legislative body is expected to deviate from the typical economic agenda when it convenes March 5 for its final session before the 19th Communist Party Congress in the fall. Instead, the focus will be on preparing for the Party Congress and a leadership shuffle for President Xi Jinping’s second five-year term.
January 19th, 2017
March 16th, 2016
The start of 2016 brought several personnel shifts in China’s central government, including in agencies responsible for publishing economic data and for taxation, financial system, and state-owned enterprise (SOE) regulation.
Notable recent personnel changes include:
November 10th, 2015
China has announced further details about plans to gradually decrease government control over investment decisions. The Opinions on Implementing the Market Access Negative List System, a document released by the State Council on October 19, 2015, offer a firmer roadmap towards adopting a “negative list” approach in China, which would allow foreign investment in all fields except those expressly restricted.
October 28th, 2015
Hindered by redundancies in the approval process, problems securing suitable data for clinical trials, and disparities in the drug classification system between China and other countries, foreign companies have rarely found it easy to navigate China’s lengthy regulatory framework for approving pharmaceuticals and medical devices.
September 16th, 2015
The State Council’s long-awaited framework for reforming China’s state-owned enterprises (SOEs) marks limited progress on areas of SOE reform such as mixed ownership, asset management, and SOE classification.
April 15th, 2015
The State Council on March 23, 2015 issued a notice requiring all ministries and affiliated institutions under the State Council to complete and publish English translations of relevant trade-related department rules.
April 1st, 2015
The State Council on March 26 released the full text of a new standards reform plan that will have major implications for companies in China, including those using product standards as well as those participating in standards-setting processes.
