China’s central government has told ministries to open up more sections of the economy to foreign investors, as foreign firms operating in China have expressed increasing frustration over limited access to markets, and government policies which they say discriminate against overseas companies. The central bank and foreign exchange regulator were told to ensure that “foreign investors can freely remit their profits, dividends and other forms of investment returns in China overseas”. The Chinese government said ministries and related government agencies must draft clear timetables on opening up sectors of the economy, including new energy vehicle (NEV) manufacture, ship design, aircraft repairs, maritime transport, railway passenger transport, petrol stations and call centers, as well as banking, brokerages and insurance. The Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Public Security were told to make it easier for foreigners to live and work in China. In particular, the cabinet said China must issue more long-term, multiple entry visas lasting five to 10 years to “qualified” foreigners. Some of those measures have been proposed before, but it is the first time the government has put them together in one list and urged ministries to deliver on the promises. Foreign stakes in Chinese securities houses and insurance firms, which are now capped at 49%, may be raised in the coming months. Ministries were also ordered to crack down on the infringement of foreign firms’ intellectual property rights (IPRs), and the tax authorities and land ministry were told to work out tax breaks and preferential land policies to encourage foreign companies to expand investment in China, especially in high-tech sectors and less developed regions of the country. China attracted CNY485 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) from January to July, down 1.2% on the same period last year.

China has launched an anti-dumping investigation into imports of Brazilian broiler chicken and products after a complaint from the domestic industry that Brazil has been selling the meat below market value. Brazil accounted for more than 50% of broiler product supplies to China, the world’s second largest poultry consumer, between 2013 and 2016. Brazil accounted for 85% of China’s frozen chicken imports last year, which totaled almost 600,000 tons, valued at as much as USD1.23 billion. Any move to penalize imports worth more than USD1 billion a year would be a major blow to Brazil’s meat industry following a scandal over its beef exports earlier in the year. Brazil replaced the United States as the top supplier of chicken after China slapped anti-dumping duties on U.S. broiler chicken products in 2010. China relies on imports for its supply of white feather broiler chickens, which are favored by fast-food chains like KFC and McDonald’s for their more rapid development and plumper meat, compared with yellow-feathered birds, which are native to China and generally sold retail. The investigation comes just months after Beijing slapped hefty penalties on sugar imports from top growers such as Brazil and Thailand after lobbying by domestic mills, the South China Morning Post reports.

The Chinese government hit back at U.S. plans to investigate intellectual property violations by China, as it urged to protect China’s bullet train technology from theft. Developing countries had “spied on and stolen” China’s fast-train technology to get the competitive edge at the expense of Chinese companies, a commentary in the Procuratorial Daily noted, without naming the countries. It added that China had developed its own technology to build an extensive high-speed railway network, but had failed to adequately protect its know-how. China should follow the lead of Western countries by securing patents when it developed new technology, it said. Starting in 2004, China got its fast-rail know-how off the ground by setting up joint ventures with market leaders from Germany, France and Japan. The foreign partners signed technology transfer contracts with the Chinese government, giving them access to the vast Chinese market. But years later, after helping to train the Chinese engineers and develop a local supply chain, the foreign companies said they had lost out – and their former partners were now rivals. They accused the Chinese companies of breaching contracts that had limited the use of their technology to China – with those firms now trying to sell Chinese technology abroad – and said that they had replicated rather than innovated. Lu Xiang, Researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), said China had improved in the area of intellectual property protection and it would be willing to negotiate with the U.S. if it provided evidence of forced technology transfers, the South China Morning Post reports.

The Chinese Communist Party journal Qiushi (Seeking Truth) has warned that when bureaucrats stay away from business because they don’t want to be targeted in the anti-corruption campaign, the result is just as damaging as corruption itself. “It is a drag on economic development and it has led to missed growth opportunities,” the journal said. The business community has complained that it has become difficult to communicate with government officials, who can now be punished for accepting gifts or attending lavish banquets. Some bureaucrats were now simply unwilling to take the risk of interacting with businesspeople.

China’s government has tapped 14 strategic investors to shake up the ownership structure of China United Network Communications, the Shanghai-based holding company of Hong Kong-traded China Unicom. The government will sell a 35.2% stake for about CNY78 billion to a consortium of private-sector investors, according to Unicom Chairman and Chief Executive Wang Xiaochu. The transaction is scheduled to close by the end of this year. The transaction marks the first case of the Chinese government’s so-called mixed-ownership program, which aims to introduce private-sector vigor and expertise, fresh capital and innovation to the country’s state-owned enterprises (SOEs). The consortium of investors include Alibaba Group Holding, Baidu, Tencent Holdings and JD.com. Unicom plans to collaborate with those four companies in areas that include etail, payment and internet finance, content aggregation, big data and the Internet of Things (IoT). The other investors include retailer Suning Holdings, diversified technology conglomerate Kuang-Chi Group, ride-sharing market leader Didi Chuxing, data center services provider Wangsu Science & Technology, business software provider Yonyou, China Life Insurance, railway rolling stock manufacturer CRRC Corp and the Qianhai Fund of Funds. “Unicom will be able to leverage the strength of each strategic investor to further develop its business,” Jefferies Equity Analyst Edison Lee said. The proceeds of the investment will be used to enhance Unicom’s 4G mobile capability, conduct 5G technical trials, build test networks, and invest in innovative businesses, the South China Morning Post reports. The ownership shakeup comes on the heels of a 68.9% jump in Unicom’s first-half net profit to CNY2.4 billion, as the company effectively cut its operating expenses.