On October 30, the Seventh Congress of the China Association of Enterprises with Foreign Investment (CAEFI) and the first meeting of its seventh council were held in Beijing. Wang Wentao, Minister of Commerce, delivered a video address, and Ling Ji, Vice Minister of Commerce and Deputy China International Trade Representative, attended and spoke at the meeting.

Wang Wentao noted that CAEFI serves as a bridge linking the government and foreign-invested enterprises. Over the years, the association has faithfully implemented the decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, stayed committed to its founding purpose, and fully leveraged its functional role, thus contributing to efforts to stabilize foreign investment. The outline of China’s 15th Five-Year Plan sets out important arrangements for attracting foreign investment with greater efforts. Taking this council transition as a new starting point, CAEFI should study and act on the guiding principles from President Xi Jinping’s important remarks when meeting representatives of the international business community, keep a clear grasp of its duties and positioning, uphold fundamental principles and break new ground, strengthen its service-oriented mission, and act as a service provider for foreign-invested enterprises, a liaison for government-business communication, and a messenger for open cooperation. It should attract more multinational enterprises to invest and operate in China, and make greater contributions to building up the “Invest in China” brand and expanding high-standard opening up.

The congress reviewed and adopted the draft revisions to the CAEFI Articles of Association and other relevant documents, and elected the new council. More than 300 participants attended, including representatives from member enterprises, relevant MOFCOM departments, and local foreign-investment associations. (Released on October 30)