China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) on 26 June answered media questions about the recently issued ‘Action Plan to Consolidate, Stabilise and Optimise the Use of Foreign Capital’. Endorsed by the State Council, the document sets out 15 measures across five pillars, ranging from expanded market access in services and healthcare to faster cross-border M&A approvals and streamlined entry procedures for overseas talent. Under the plan, provincial authorities must establish ‘green-channel’ desks for key foreign-funded projects, providing expedited work permits for essential expatriate staff and their dependants.
Navigating these new visa and work-permit rules can be complex, but VisaHQ’s dedicated China portal (https://www.visahq.com/china/) keeps companies and travellers abreast of the latest requirements. The platform offers step-by-step application support for business, work and residence visas and can coordinate with local authorities to align documentation with the new green-channel processing times, helping HR teams avoid costly delays.
MOFCOM also pledged to promote mutual recognition of professional qualifications and to simplify the conversion of short-term business visas into residence permits for senior managers overseeing project implementation. The action plan dovetails with parallel efforts by the National Development and Reform Commission to modernise rules on cross-border data flows, aiming to let multinational R&D centres move anonymised data across borders without a separate security assessment where risks are classified as “low”. Together, the measures seek to halt a slide in FDI inflows, which fell 6 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter. For HR and mobility teams, the most immediate benefit will be harmonised processing times: Beijing wants work authorisations in pilot zones such as Shanghai’s Lingang and Beijing’s Service Free Trade Zone cut to five working days, down from the current 10–15. Companies are advised to review their China hiring timelines and to engage with local commerce bureaus now that points-based quota systems for foreign experts are being replaced with case-by-case evaluations. MOFCOM officials stressed that market opening will be matched with better after-care, including regular ‘service-into-enterprises’ visits to resolve visa, customs and taxation issues. Multinationals that embed compliance teams early and keep close contact with the green-channel desks should be best placed to capture incentives as they materialise.
Navigating these new visa and work-permit rules can be complex, but VisaHQ’s dedicated China portal (https://www.visahq.com/china/) keeps companies and travellers abreast of the latest requirements. The platform offers step-by-step application support for business, work and residence visas and can coordinate with local authorities to align documentation with the new green-channel processing times, helping HR teams avoid costly delays.
MOFCOM also pledged to promote mutual recognition of professional qualifications and to simplify the conversion of short-term business visas into residence permits for senior managers overseeing project implementation. The action plan dovetails with parallel efforts by the National Development and Reform Commission to modernise rules on cross-border data flows, aiming to let multinational R&D centres move anonymised data across borders without a separate security assessment where risks are classified as “low”. Together, the measures seek to halt a slide in FDI inflows, which fell 6 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter. For HR and mobility teams, the most immediate benefit will be harmonised processing times: Beijing wants work authorisations in pilot zones such as Shanghai’s Lingang and Beijing’s Service Free Trade Zone cut to five working days, down from the current 10–15. Companies are advised to review their China hiring timelines and to engage with local commerce bureaus now that points-based quota systems for foreign experts are being replaced with case-by-case evaluations. MOFCOM officials stressed that market opening will be matched with better after-care, including regular ‘service-into-enterprises’ visits to resolve visa, customs and taxation issues. Multinationals that embed compliance teams early and keep close contact with the green-channel desks should be best placed to capture incentives as they materialise.
