Foreign investors applaud expedited services

Foreign investors wishing to incorporate a company in Beijing are now able to complete its entire registration process online, making it the first Chinese city to offer this service.

The entire registration process has been shortened to just one day from between two and three months earlier for the fastest option, Yang Xiuling, director of the Beijing Municipal Development and Reform Commission, said at a recent news conference.

"In recent years, Beijing has carried out a series of measures to make it simpler and easier for foreigners to settle down in the capital or for multinational corporations to set up research centers," Yang said. "The service has been continuously improved and completed."

By the end of 2023, Beijing was home to 245 regional headquarters of MNCs and 149 foreign research and development centers, according to the commission.

Emilia Mpwo Bywaters from the United States became one of the first beneficiaries of the new policy, which went into effect at the beginning of the year.

With the assistance of a staff member at the government service center of Fengtai district, Bywaters completed the registration of a cultural development company in less than 10 minutes. The process involved submitting the company's information and undergoing a facial scan through a WeChat mini program on her phone.

"The entire process for foreigners to get a business license used to take two to three months," said Liu Ruo of the market regulation bureau at Fengtai district.

Before the implementation of the facial recognition system, foreign nationals applying for the registration of foreign-funded enterprises in Beijing were required to furnish additional proof of identity issued by their home country or region. Alternatively, they could undergo real-name verification by acquiring a bank card in China, and the applicant had to be physically present for identity authentication, said Liu.

Beijing has also recognized 122 overseas professional qualifications and has fully implemented a one-stop application process for both work permits and work-type residence permits in order to provide convenience to foreign professionals.

The processing time for these permits has been reduced from 17 working days to five working days.

Meanwhile, Beijing Capital International Airport and Beijing Daxing International Airport have established demonstration zones for foreign visitor payment services, handling 450,000 foreign card transactions in total.

In the realm of cross-border trade facilitation, Beijing has also introduced several reforms. For instance, the number of handover procedures for domestic export goods at ports has been reduced from four to one.

Over the past seven years, Beijing has implemented over 1,500 business environment reform measures.

The results are obvious — on average, 337 new science and tech companies are established daily in Beijing, equating to one new tech company being founded every five minutes.

Li Boyu contributed to this story.