The full text of the Foreign Investment Law of the People's Republic of China (Draft) (the "Draft"), deliberated at the Seventh Session of the Standing Committee of the 13^th National People's Congress, has recently been released for public consultation by February 24, 2019.

 The Draft, expected to be a unified fundamental legislation for foreign investment, will provide stronger legal guarantee for further opening up and making positive and effective use of foreign investment in the new situation. The Draft provides for: 1. the definition and scenarios of foreign investment; 2. investment promotion; 3. investment protection; and 4. investment administration. Among others, with a view to actively boosting foreign investment, the Draft states that in principle, China will carry out policies in favor of high-level investment liberation and facilitation, establish and improve its mechanisms for the promotion of foreign investment, and create a stable, transparent and foreseeable investment environment, and then mainly introduces detailed rules in five aspects, including "implementing the pre-establishment national treatment and negative list management systems". Furthermore, the Draft sets out provisions from four perspectives, such as "improving the protection of property rights held by foreign-invested enterprises", so as to better safeguard legal rights and interests of foreign investors.

 (Source: http:// www.npc.gov.cn )