China’s newly appointed Minister of Commerce Zhong Shan vowed to further boost foreign direct investment (FDI) and let foreign companies play a bigger role driving local manufacturing and the service sector. He spoke of the importance of pilot free trade zones (FTZs) and supply-side reform at a national conference to attract FDI. “A total of 114 innovative ways to get things done have been duplicated as a result of experiments that have taken place in the country’s four FTZs, including Shanghai and Guangdong,” he said. The experiments have included allowing foreign firms to run healthcare and educational businesses, and removing restrictions on foreign financial institutions like securities and fund management companies. Products such companies manufacture in China also will be treated fairly in government procurement, he said. Such measures will be promoted nationwide and are expected to further drive FDI, said Li Gang, Vice President of the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation in Beijing. China attracted USD489.42 billion in foreign capital in the past four years, and annual FDI from high-tech enterprises rose by 11.7% year-on-year on average from 2013 to 2016. Foreign-invested businesses contributed almost half of China’s foreign trade volume, even though they accounted for less than 3% of the total number of enterprises. Li said China must become an innovative economy and create new growth points to encourage foreign companies to invest in its high-end and service industries, the China Daily reports.