Foreign firms to see broader market access

A1 Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, and especially since its reform and opening-up, China has lifted over 700 million people out of poverty, and the quality of life and services across sectors has improved dramatically. GE has enjoyed rapid development and cultivated strong local capabilities in R&D, manufacturing as well as sales and services on the Chinese mainland for the past 40 years. Today, GE China has over 16,000 employees, 30 manufacturing bases, and more than 30 joint ventures, with a presence across 40 cities in the country.

A2 China's economy has entered a critical transition period. Under the guidance of the "new development" concept, the dramatic changes taking place in China represent huge opportunities for future development. Our strategies of localization, partnership and digitization are poised to take advantage of these changes.

Meanwhile, GE's businesses in China are aligned with China's "mega-needs" in the years to come. This includes a power market that is expected to grow at an annual rate of nearly 5 percent until 2020, all while moving toward clean energy and natural gas; a healthcare market expected to grow as the number of people above 65 years will hit 170 million by 2020; and an air travel sector that is expected to make China the largest aviation market by passenger flow within 10 to 15 years.

A3 We believe that an integrated Foreign Investment Law will be a significant improvement and a crucial step forward for China as it moves toward further openness in legislation. We are happy that the law clearly stipulates that foreign enterprises will receive "pre-establishment national treatment", in addition to a "negative list system for market access". The law covers significant ground regarding national treatment and intellectual property rights, which are of great concern to foreign-invested enterprises.

A4 Sustainable growth in today's world requires every business to possess local capabilities inside a global footprint. At GE China, we have focused on investing in our people, processes and technologies to expand our localization efforts throughout the value chain, so we can design, manufacture, and service our products closer to our customers. For over a decade in China, GE has developed strong R&D capabilities. GE's innovation centers in Chengdu, Xi'an, and Harbin, as well as R&D centers in Beijing, Tianjin and Wuxi allow us to customize innovation for local customer requirements.

A5 In recent years, we are pleased to see that the Chinese government has given full consideration to the development needs of different market entities in China. By constantly deepening reform in free trade zones, establishing and improving the negative list, reforming and streamlining regulations on foreign investment, and adopting a service-oriented mindset, the government has given strong support to foreign enterprises like GE to develop in China.