amendments to the relevant supporting rules and design laws and regulations of the foreign investment law of the people's republic of china have been carried out to ensure that the foreign investment law will be effectively implemented as of january 1 next year. the author believes that we should seize the opportunity of the implementation of the supporting rules of the foreign investment law, comprehensively improve china's foreign investment policy system, introduce the principle of competition neutrality, optimize the overall institutional environment of the market economy, and release the deep vitality of the economy.
in the decision of the state council on amending some administrative regulations on march 19, the regulations on the administration of technology import and export delete provisions on foreign enterprises' liability for infringement and restrictive clauses in technology import contracts. these adjustments are consistent with the principle of strengthening investment protection in technology transfer in the foreign investment law.
on april 3, the executive meeting of the state council adopted draft amendments to the administrative licensing law, the trademark law and other laws. the specific modifications include adding the principle of "non-discrimination" in the establishment and implementation of administrative license, increasing the punishment for the infringement of the right to exclusive use of trademark and substantially increasing the amount of compensation for infringement. the law on foreign investment places special emphasis on protecting the intellectual property rights of foreign investors and foreign-invested enterprises, and on strictly investigating legal liabilities for infringement of intellectual property rights. obviously, the introduction of punitive damages system in the trademark law is consistent with this principle. in fact, the draft amendment to the patent law submitted to the standing committee of the national people's congress last december reflects the same idea.
after the adoption of the foreign investment law, the formulation of supporting regulations and rules and the revision of existing laws and regulations have the following significance:
first, the foreign investment law around the supporting, comprehensive improvement of china's foreign investment policy system. the present foreign capital management regulation involves the content many, is a complex system. at present, the ministry of commerce is actively promoting the formulation of the supporting regulations of the foreign investment law and comprehensively cleaning up the existing regulations on foreign investment management. undoubtedly, this is an important opportunity to improve the foreign investment policy system.
second, adjust relevant provisions inconsistent with the foreign investment law and improve the existing international economic and trade laws and regulations system. the foreign investment law combines the three original laws on foreign investment into one and becomes a basic law regulating china's attraction of foreign investment and the development of export-oriented economy. in addition to international investment, the adoption and implementation of this law may also affect a series of rules related to international trade, finance, technology transfer, data flow and other contents, thus promoting the perfection of china's international economic and trade laws and regulations system.
thirdly, take the implementation of the foreign investment law and its supporting regulations as an opportunity to introduce the principle of competition neutrality and optimize the overall institutional environment of the market economy. it is very important to introduce the principle of competition neutrality in the field of foreign capital, which is conducive to truly implementing the principle of national treatment and fair and just treatment in the operation stage of enterprises, avoiding discrimination against foreign-funded enterprises and realizing fair competition among enterprises of different ownerships.
the concept of "competitive neutrality" is of great significance in china today. it can be said that the establishment of the principle of "competition neutrality" is a major breakthrough in the market-oriented reform. obviously, the connotation and influence of "competitive neutrality" are different in the western mature market economy countries and china, an emerging economy. from the concrete practice, the implementation of the principle of competition neutrality in china involves many aspects, such as state-owned enterprise reform, foreign capital policy, anti-monopoly policy, industrial policy, science and technology policy, small and medium-sized enterprise policy and so on. on the one hand, the introduction of the principle of competition neutrality can promote fair competition and improve economic performance; on the other hand, it can enhance the confidence of foreign-funded enterprises and private enterprises in china's economic and policy environment. the importance of these two aspects should not be underestimated.
the implementation of the principle of competition neutrality in many fields, including foreign investment policies, will help optimize the market institutional environment and unleash the deep vitality of the economy. the real realization of "competitive neutrality" means the final elimination of the classified management of enterprise ownership. it is not easy for our country to establish such a policy framework in the short term, but the long term prospect is foreseeable.
source: china financial information network