China Market Watch: Scientific & Technology Enterprises and Catering Industry

March 7, 2016 Posted by China Briefing Reading Time: 4 minutes

China to promote Scientific and Technology Enterprises across the Country

On February 26, the Ministry of Finance along with several other departments jointly issued the “Interim Measures for Equity and Dividend Incentives of State-owned Scientific and Technology Enterprises,” which aims to promote Equity and Dividend Incentives for companies in Zhongguancun National Independent Innovation Demonstration Zone across China. It sets out that eligible state-owned science and technology-based enterprises may provide incentives such as equity sale, equity reward and equity options, or dividend incentives such as project income dividend and post dividend to key technical and managerial personnel.

China Simplifies Licensing Procedures for Catering Enterprises

The State Council has issued the Decision on Integrating and Adjusting the Public Health Permits and Food Operating Permits for Catering Service Places, which abolishes health permits issued by local health departments to public places including restaurants, cafes, pubs and tea houses. The principle content of the Food Safety Permit will be incorporated into the Food Operating Permit issued and subject to uniform approval and supervision by the food and drug supervision department. This reform will affect nearly 2.5 million catering enterprises and nearly 14.5 million practitioners across China, which will result in a significant reduction of burdens on catering enterprises.

The largest in the world, China’s food service market offers many exciting opportunities for foodies and savvy business people alike, but foreigners can be daunted by the often bureaucratic process of establishing a business in China. More details about China’s food and beverage market can be found in our previous article here.

China to Further Regulate Foreign Investment Market

On March 2, a Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) spokesman reported that the ministry was aiming to speed up the revision of the “three laws on foreign investment.” They also added that they would make efforts to formulate a foreign investment law and submit it to the National People’s Congress for consideration within 2016. In reaction to the increasing use of foreign capital, he stated that efforts would be made to remove access restrictions for foreign investment, channeling capital towards the high tech, green and modern service industries.

Earlier in January 2015, the MOFCOM released a draft of the proposed new Foreign Investment Law to solicit public opinions. The proposed law is set to significantly reduce barriers to foreign investment, whilst at the same time increase scrutiny of foreigners trying to evade the regulations on investing in restricted industries. However, the law has yet to be finalized and released by the State Council.

Update on China’s Parallel Import of Automobiles Pilot Program

China’s MOFCOM, Ministry of Industry & Information Technology, Ministry of Transport and General Administration of Customs, among other departments, recently issued the “Opinions on the Pilot Program of Promoting Parallel Import of Automobiles.” It sets out plans to simplify the policy for application management of the automatic import license of automobiles. This means that enterprises enrolled in the pilot program are not required to obtain the authorization of the automobile supplier in order to import automobiles and establish a distribution network, and may apply for the automatic import license of automobile products according to the actual needs of relevant business activities.

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