Xiamen Sea World. [Photo/Xiamen Daily]

Xiamen has recently introduced a comprehensive set of measures to enhance its foreign investment environment and attract greater foreign capital. The package includes 13 practical measures across three key areas.

The measures will remain in effect until Dec 31, 2027. Incentive policies applicable within this period will continue to implement until all commitments are fulfilled. Additionally, the policies will be retroactively applied to eligible cases from Jan 1, 2025, until the official release date.

Enhancing openness to foreign investment

The measures stipulate that Xiamen will fully implement the pre-establishment national treatment plus a negative list management system for foreign investment. The city will uphold the "permission unless prohibited" principle, and work to eliminate barriers hindering market access and exit comprehensively.

Focusing on its "4+4+6" modern industrial system, Xiamen aims to attract targeted investment along industrial chains, directing foreign capital toward priority sectors and addressing critical gaps to strengthen and expand industrial clusters. Eligible foreign-invested enterprises listed in the Catalogue of Industries Encouraging Foreign Investment Main contents will benefit from import duty exemptions on equipment. 

The city will support foreign-funded R&D centers with preferential policies, such as tax exemptions on innovation-related imports and VAT rebates for domestic equipment procurement. Additionally, foreign-invested enterprises are encouraged to obtain the national high-tech enterprise certification to qualify for corporate income tax incentives in accordance with regulations.

To incentivize foreign-invested enterprises to capitalize investments, Xiamen will provide financial rewards for newly established (including M&A) or existing (including capital-increased) foreign-invested enterprises (excluding equity investment and real estate development enterprises) that achieve actual utilized foreign capital increments of $10 million or more within a single calendar year from 2025 to 2027.

Once investment conditions are met, a reward will be issued over three years. Manufacturing investment projects will receive a three percent reward for their annual actual foreign investment in Xiamen, while other investment projects will receive a two percent reward. The maximum annual reward for a single enterprise shall not exceed 20 million yuan ($2.75 million).