China's national legislature on Friday passed the foreign investment law, which will become effective on Jan 1, 2020. The law aims to improve the transparency of foreign investment policies and ensure domestic and foreign enterprises are subject to a unified set of rules and compete on a level playing field, according to an explanatory document. The law stipulates that the state shall protect the IP rights of foreign investors and foreign-invested enterprises, and shall manage foreign investment according to the system of pre-establishment national treatment plus a negative list. By the end of 2018, about 960,000 foreign-invested enterprises had been set up in China, with the accumulated foreign direct investment exceeding 2.1 trillion USD, according to China's Ministry of Commerce.

Source: www.chinadaily.com.cn