The Beijing Municipal Bureau of Economy and Information Technology recently released the Beijing Action Plan for Advancing the High-Standard Opening Up of High-End, Precision, and Cutting-Edge Industries (2025) (hereinafter referred to as the “Action Plan”). A total of 24 measures have been introduced across five key areas to support the development of foreign-funded enterprises in the city. The aim is to accelerate foreign capital participation in building the modern industrial system, assist foreign-funded small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in integrating into the local industrial ecosystem, and comprehensively enhance the services for opening up and international cooperation.
According to the Action Plan, Beijing will support foreign-funded enterprises in accelerating the development of new quality productive forces and launch a group of key projects, including promoting the opening up of Beijing’s entire biopharmaceutical industrial chain and developing the Bio-Park to high standards. Meanwhile, the city will expedite pilot programs to further open up value-added telecommunications services, and assist eligible foreign-funded enterprises in obtaining operating licenses in areas such as internet data centers, content distribution networks, online data processing and transaction processing, and app stores.
Under the Action Plan, foreign-funded enterprises are encouraged to integrate into Beijing’s industrial innovation ecosystem. The city will support new types of innovation institutions in collaborating with foreign-funded enterprises, encourage these enterprises to participate in key application scenarios such as the Beijing High-Level Autonomous Driving Demonstration Zone and hydrogen energy initiatives, and promote mutual recognition and compatibility of domestic and international software products in terms of protocols, interfaces, and standards.
To boost foreign involvement in Beijing’s modern industrial system, the Action Plan proposes measures on advancing pilot programs for Qualified Foreign Limited Partners (QFLP), welcoming overseas investment institutions to establish industrial investment funds in Beijing. It also supports the overseas listing of companies invested by government funds, state-owned capital, and foreign-funded enterprises. In addition, Beijing will support foreign-funded enterprises in leveraging China’s large-scale equipment renewal policy to pursue intelligent transformation and upgrading, and participating in the development of pioneering smart factories and “lighthouse factories”.
The Action Plan outlines measures to serve SMEs in integrating into the local industrial ecosystem. These include leveraging empowerment centers and service stations for specialized, high-end and innovation-driven SMEs that provide distinctive products or services, so as to offer foreign-funded innovative SMEs access to physical spaces, testing and validation services, industry-academia-research collaboration, talent introduction support, and industry resource connections. The plan also emphasizes the importance of establishing supply-demand matching channels between foreign-funded SMEs and leading enterprises in Beijing’s industry chains, supply chain OEMs, and platform companies.
Another focus is supporting foreign-funded enterprises in contributing to Beijing’s efforts to become a global leader in the digital economy. Under the Action Plan, in Beijing’s pilot zone for basic data regulation, foreign enterprises will be able to access one-stop services for the entire process of cross-border data flow. Foreign-funded enterprises are also encouraged to engage in data asset right confirmation, registration, trading, and incorporation into balance sheet at institutions such as the Beijing International Big Data Exchange, where they will enjoy the same supportive policies as domestic entities.
The Action Plan also sets out a series of initiatives to enhance the quality of services for opening up and international cooperation. It encourages enterprises to leverage the starting station marshalling and regular operation services of the China-Europe (Asia) Railway Express. Meanwhile, it calls for accelerating the development of service platforms such as the Beijing Digital Economy Enterprise Overseas Innovation Service Base to offer information support, compliance consulting, business facilitation and other services for foreign-funded enterprises as well as Beijing enterprises with overseas presence.
To better serve the development of various institutions in the city, the Action Plan supports international organizations involved in key sectors such as the digital economy and industry to establish branch offices in Beijing. It also proposes measures to encourage local enterprises to pursue certification in alignment with international advanced standards, participate in the formulation of international standards, and apply for international patents. Assistance services for the protection of companies’ intellectual property rights overseas will also be strengthened.
