China supports innovation efforts of both domestic and foreign enterprises: premier

BERLIN -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said here Thursday that his country offers policy support for both domestic and foreign enterprises in their pursuit of innovation.

Li, who was in Germany for a two-day official visit, made the remarks at a bilateral forum on innovation cooperation, which is also attended by his German counterpart, Angela Merkel.

China follows the rules of the World Trade Organization and treats Chinese and foreign companies equally, said the premier, adding that Beijing is improving the negative list management system and cutting red tape so as to provide foreign companies an easier access to the Chinese market.

China started employing the negative list approach to foreign investment in 2013 in the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone (FTZ), and expanded the trial run to four regions in 2015.

The negative list model adopted at the Shanghai FTZ is basically a catalogue of sectors in which foreign investment is restricted. To all those industries not on the list, overseas investors have equal access as their Chinese counterparts.