2015年1月19日，中國商務部公布了《外國投資法》（草案），以公開徵求意見。它引起了外國投資者、行業協會、法律從業者和其他國家決策者的廣泛討論。意見反饋截止日為2月17日。雖然看到《外國投資法》的最終版本可以還需要時間，但它說明中國政府致力於改革開放、促進外來投資和規範外商的投資行為。

新法一經頒佈，將取代現有的外資三法，即《中外合資經營企業法》、《外資企業法》和《中外合作經營企業法》。與現有外資法相比，草案的顯著特點是它將從根本上改變中國的外國投資結構。

·明確“外國投資”的定義。草案把“外國投資”的範圍擴大到公司或投資人所從事的七類活動（第二章），而且“無論投資者是否是在中國註冊，也無論註冊者是不是中國人”。這取代了從前簡單劃一的標準。過去幾年外資大量流入，情況日益複雜，草案是對這一現象的積極的回應。草案還首次將“協議控制（VIE）”概念納入外國投資。根據第15條，外國投資還包括“通過合同、信託等方式控制境內企業或者持有境內企業權益”。然而是否算外國投資，要取決於對實際控制人的審查。第45條補充，如果受中國投資者控制，從事限制實施目錄範圍內的投資，那麼就可以申請視作中國投資者的投資。

·簡化外國投資准入程序。草案規定除了被列入“負面清單”的投資（第三章），所有投資者都享受國民待遇。也就是說，如果投資不在“負面清單”內，投資者不需要向商務部的地方機構申請批准。他們只需像國內投資者一樣按相同程序到地方工商局註冊投資即可。這種做法出自上海保稅區試點的實踐。2013年創建的上海自貿區，是了解如何進一步開放中國市場和穩定高效地實現金融自由化的先行者。兩年後出台的草案與建立上海自貿區的初衷一樣，都是中國政府為簡化外國投資程序、繼續促進對華投資而作出的努力。

·強調外國投資監管。由於草案規定，絕大多數外國投資不再需要向地方工商局報告，因此將推出新的信息報告系統（第五章）。草案規定外國投資者對下列情況有覆行信息報告的義務：（1）新的投資；（2）投資事項變更；（3）定期報告。建立信息報告系統和簡化准入程序，意味着對投資從嚴格審批向事中事後適度監管的重大轉變。

·提供透明的友好型投資環境。草案的另一個特點是既強調促進外來投資也強調對外國投資者的保護。第六章顯示，為吸引外資，對特殊區域將提供政策支持和行業政策。同時，將設立專門機構實施外資管理，向外國投資者提供信息和諮詢服務，促進與海外投資促進機構的交流，協助外國投資者解決糾紛。另外，第七章明確了外國投資者的權利，包括徵收、賠償和轉移。值得注意的是，草案顯示與外國投資有關的法律法規和司法判決將以透明方式公布，外國投資方將有機會參與外國投資法的規則制定過程。

草案的這些特點表明，中國政府承諾在21世紀建立穩定、透明、可預期的投資環境。這符合中國促進外資的一貫做法，也是對十八大四中全會“適應對外開放不斷深化，完善涉外法律法規體系，促進構建開放型經濟新體制”這一國家計劃的貫徹實施。

對國家安全審查制度的批評聲已經開始出現。一些外國投資者對可能被排除在中國市場之外表示擔心。但草案第四章規定了申請國家安全審查程序的詳細手續，安審聯席會議將依照程序行使權力。另外，第57條列出了聯席會議進行國家安全審查的考慮因素。在這一系統下，受審查的企業只限於某些行業。所以，國家安全審查制度會影響所有外國投資者是誇大其詞。最後，中國並不是第一個採用國家安全審查制度的國家。美國也有同樣的制度，並由美國外國投資委員會進行審查。國家建立審查制度是一種普遍做法，東道國有權判定外國投資是否危害國家的安全。

總之，草案不僅是中國重構外國投資法律制度的重要一步，也是建立透明、穩定、可預期投資環境的重要舉措。實行開放政策30年後，中國進入了規範市場活動、為國內生產者和外國投資者雙方提供健康競爭環境的時代。外國投資者或許能放棄偏見，把它作為進一步介入中國市場的巨大機遇，並讓改革進程獲益。

On January 19, 2015, the Ministry of Commerce of China (“MOFCOM”) issued a draft of Foreign Investment Law (“The Draft Law”) to solicit public comments. It attracted extensive discussion from foreign investors, industry associations, law practitioners, and policy makers in other countries. The comments were due on February 17th. It may take a while to see the final version of the Foreign Investment Law, but it demonstrates the Chinese government's efforts to engage in openness and reform, to promote foreign investment, and to regulate foreign investment behavior.

The Draft Law, once promulgated, will replace the current three foreign investment laws: The Chinese-Foreign Equity Joint Ventures, Law on Foreign Capital Enterprises, and Law on Chinese-Foreign Contractual Joint Ventures. Compared with the existing foreign investment law, the Draft has remarkable features that fundamentally change the structure of Chinese foreign investment.

•  To clarify the definition of “foreign investment.” The Draft law broadens the scope of “foreign investment” by offering 7 types of activities taken by a company or an investor (Chapter 2), to substitute for the simple and straightforward standard, “whether the investor is registered in China or is not a Chinese citizen.” It is a positive response to the increasingly complicated situations with tremendous foreign investment inflow in past years. The Draft Law, for the first time, incorporates the concept of VIE (“Variable Interest Entity”) into the foreign investment. According to Article 15, the foreign investment also includes investments which control or hold companies in China by the means of contracts or entrust.” However, whether or not it is foreign investment is also under scrutiny by whom it is controlled. Article 45 adds that if controlled by Chinese investors, it will apply to authority as Chinese investors when its investment is in the list of restricted implementation catalogue.

• To simplify foreign investment admission process. The Draft simplifies foreign investment admission process by granting national treatment to all investors except the ones whose investments are listed on the “negative list” (Chapter 3).  That is to say, investors are not required to apply for the approval of local branches of MOFCOM, if their investment is not listed in the “negative list.” They only need to follow similar procedures as domestic investors do to register their investment with local Administration for Industry and Commerce (“AIC”). This approach refers to the practice of Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone (“Shanghai FTZ”) which was first established in 2013 to as a pioneer to find out how to further open Chinese market and achieved financial liberalization in a stable and efficient manner. The Draft Law, which comes out two years later, consistent with the initiative of establishing Shanghai FTZ, is part of China's government's efforts to simplify procedures of foreign investment and further facilitate investment in China.

• To address supervision on foreign investment. A new information reporting system is introduced （Chapter 5), given that most of foreign investments are no longer required to report to local branches of MOFCOM under the Draft Law. The Draft Law imposes foreign investors obligations to report their information in any of the following situation: (1) new investment; (2) the change of investment and (3) periodic report. The filing information reporting system, combined with the simplified admission process, implies a significant shift from the approach of strict approval to the approach of moderate supervision during and after investment.

• To offer a transparent and investment-friendly environment. Another feature of the Draft Law is its emphasis on promoting foreign investment as well as providing protection for foreign investors. In Chapter 6, it states that policy support and industrial policies for certain region are offered to attract foreign investment. Also, a specialized institution will be established as the organization to achieve the governance on foreign investment, to provide information and consultancy for foreign investors, to facilitate its communication with overseas corresponding parties, and to help foreign investors settle disputes. In addition, Chapter 7 clarifies rights for foreign investors, including expropriation, compensation, and transfer. It is noteworthy that it addresses the transparency (Article 115) to disclose laws and judgments related to foreign investment and to grant chances to foreign investors to participate in foreign investment law's rule-making procedures.

The features of the Draft Law demonstrate China's government engagement to establish a stable, transparent, and predictable investment environment in 21st century. It is consistent with China's usual practices to promote foreign investment. And it is also an implementation of the national plan stated at the Third Plenary of 18th CPC Central Committee to “adapt into the deepening opening-up, improving foreign-related laws and regulations and promote construction of new open economic system.”

Criticism of the national security review system has already arisen. Some foreign investors expressed their concerns on the possibility that they might be excluded from Chinese market. However, Chapter 4 of the Draft Law provides detailed procedures on the national security review process for approval. The Reviewing Committee shall follow procedures to exercise its authority. In addition, Article 57 also speculates factors that the Reviewing Committee considers in national security reviews. Companies under the scrutiny of authority under the system are only limited to certain industries. Therefore, it is overstated that the national security review system would affect all foreign investors. The last but not the least, China is not the first country that introduced a national security review system. The U.S. has similar system and conducts review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”). It is a common practice among states to set up a national security review and it is to the host country's discretion to decide if foreign investment harms their national security.

In all, the Draft Law is not only an important step for China to restructure its foreign investment legal systems, but also a cutting-edge move to building up a transparent, stable and predictable investment environment. After a 30-year open policy, China enters into a period of time to regulate market activities and to provide both domestic producers and foreign investors a healthy and competitive environment. Foreign investors may be open-minded and embrace it a great opportunity to further involve into China's market as well as benefit this evolution.