The General Office of the State Council has recently issued the Opinions on Further Stabilizing Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment (the "Opinions").
The Opinions put forward 15 policy measures for stabilizing foreign trade and foreign investment, mainly from four aspects including, increasing fiscal, taxation and financial supports, developing new business forms and models for trade, raising the facilitation levels of customs clearance and personnel movements, and supporting key industries and key enterprises. Among others, with respect to the first aspect, the Opinions make clear that efforts should be made to better play the role of export credit insurance to actively prevent the risk of cancelling orders before shipment, support qualified regions to replicate or promote the financing model of "credit insurance plus guarantee" to provide credit enhancement support for financing by foreign trade enterprises in various ways, further expand supply of export credits for micro, small and medium-sized foreign trade enterprises, provide financial support for key foreign-funded enterprises, have the special lines of re-lending and re-discounting apply to foreign-funded enterprises on an equal basis, and lower the standards for foreign-funded research and development centers to enjoy preferential policies, and encourage foreign investors to invest and establish research and development centers in China.