BEIJING China's top legislature Tuesday passed draft amendments to laws on foreign funded firms to make them more consistent with World Trade Organization (WTO) membership, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
It said the amendments were part of the commitments China made during its negotiations for WTO membership. The announcement came amid preparations for fresh trade talks in Geneva, according to AFP. The draft amendments, passed at the 18th session of the standing committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), involved the law on foreign-capital enterprises and the law on Chinese-foreign contractual joint ventures, Xinhua said. According to the amendments, articles requiring foreign funded enterprises to balance their foreign exchanges will be deleted.
Also abolished were stipulations requiring foreign funded enterprises to give priority to Chinese-made raw materials for their production, the agency said. It said foreign funded enterprises would also not have to report their production plans to government departments.
The amendments to the law on Chinese-foreign equity joint ventures will be submitted to next year's fourth plenary session of the ninth NPC for approval. Chen Guangyi, chairman of the NPC's financial and economic committee, said draft amendments to the laws were part of efforts China has made in the legal realm to prepare itself for WTO entry.
"It also indicates that China is serious about carrying out the commitment it has made on its WTO accession," Xinhua quoted Chen as saying. The report said foreign companies in China had reacted positively to move claiming it was due. "The revisions are evident of China's improvement in its market mechanism, and we would express our welcome to them," said Steve Chan, president of Coca-Cola (China) Co., Ltd.