Beijing asks for foreign companies' input on plan
Beijing had for the first time consulted foreign companies in the process of drawing up its five-year plan, the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China said.
In a statement released yesterday it said the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) solicited input from foreign-invested companies last year as it formulated the mainland's 12th five-year plan, which will guide the nation's development until 2015.
'Such consultation is a sign of the Chinese government's commitment to increasing transparency,' the chamber said.
The chamber, which has 1,600 member companies, said it had submitted 'a single, comprehensive document' which included comments and information provided by individual European companies to NDRC, the mainland's top economic planning agency.
The 12th five-year plan is scheduled to be finalised and approved at the annual meeting of the National People's Congress in March.
'This is the very first time that the process has become so open,' chamber president Jacques de Boisseson said. 'And it is a very important change. Foreign companies had previously requested better and closer communication with the Chinese government many times.
'We are aware that the making of the plan is a Chinese matter, but we are pleased to see the new process, in which international chambers of commerce are invited to give their comments.'
Foreigners have previously been invited to give views and comments during the drafting of the mainland's development plans, but this is the first time that foreign companies have been involved.
International financial organisations have also been working with government agencies at various levels on their development plans.
Li Li, a media specialist for World Bank China, said it had been consulted on the 12th five-year plan.
And internationally renowned economists and development experts had been asked from time to time for their individual views on reform and opening up, He Di, an investment banker and director general of the Beijing-based Boyuan Foundation, said.
With China becoming increasingly affluent and influential, the drafting and implementation of its five-year plan is attracting more attention from overseas businesses.
'It helps China's reputation if the process can be made more open and transparent,' He said.
De Boisseson said he was looking forward to a larger and more systematic process that could grow out of the openness exhibited by the NDRC - one that would allow for better communication and co-operation between Beijing and international companies.
On the local level, the Beijing municipal development and reform commission also said it had collected views and opinions from overseas sources in its drafting of the capital's 12th five-year plan.
'We had many meetings with foreign investment companies in Beijing in our pre-drafting research process,' Dai Ying, a municipal reform and development commission official, said.
At the same time, however, not every foreign chamber of commerce was invited to give views to the Beijing commission.
While the US chamber could not be contacted yesterday, other chambers, including those of Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Korea and Singapore, said the NDRC had not approached them for ideas on year plan.
The EU chamber's comments highlighted the need to redress economic imbalances, tax problems, lack of a legal system that could meet the requirements of further opening up and a lack of protection for intellectual property rights.
