WICHAI KINCHONG CHOI:LEGAL ENVIRONMENT KEY TO ALL-ROUND OPENING-UP

By Wang Fengjuan

“The recently adopted Foreign Investment Law will protect the rights and interests of foreign investors, which demonstrates how China will further its reform and openingup more transparently,” commented Wichai Kinchong Choi, senior vice president of Kasikornbank of Thailand.

Increasingly Mature Investment Environment

Born in Singapore, Choi majored in marketing in the United States before starting his career in the financial sector. Since the 1990s, he has been involved in business related to China. Since he became vice president of the bank quite some time ago, he has been overseeing business in the Chinese market. He has frequently traveled between Thailand and China and witnessed the process of China's reform and openingup including its steadily improving foreign investment environment.

“There's some speculation that China's investment environment is on the downturn, but actually the volume of foreign direct investment (FDI) in China increased last year,” remarked Choi. “FDI in China still increased in a year that global FDI declined. That figure evidences to some extent that China's investment environment is maturing.”

According to China's Ministry of Commerce, global cross-border direct investment fell 19 percent year-onyear in 2018 for the third consecutive year. In contrast,China's actual use of foreign capital in the same year was US$134.97 billion, up 3 percent year-on-year, despite a global decline. Furthermore, the composition of FDI in China continued to improve: The foreign capital used by the manufacturing industry rose 30.6 percent, while the foreign capital used by the high-tech manufacturing industry increased by more than 35 percent.

“The growth of FDI in China proves the confidence of foreign investors in the favorable business environment in China,” commented Choi. He believes that foreign businesses will invest more in the high-tech industries and the real economy in China.

Promotion and Protection

Wichai Kinchong Choi,senior vice president of Kasikornbank of Thailand.

The foreign investment legislation follows and embodies four important principles:highlighting the main theme of actively expanding opening-up and promoting foreign investment, adhering to the positioning of the Foreign Investment Law as a fundamental law, adhering to the integration of Chinese characteristics and international rules and adhering to equal treatment of domestic and foreign investment. “The Foreign Investment Law places particular focus on the promotion and protection of foreign investment,” explained Choi. “China has attracted considerable investment with its preferential policies such as the exemptions and reductions of taxes and fees. I believe that the development of China's economy will continue to drive or promote the development of the world economy.” Since the beginning of reform and openingup in 1978, China has attracted massive foreign investment. By the end of 2018, China had welcomed around 960,000 foreign-invested enterprises, and the actual use of foreign capital exceeded US$2.1 trillion.

In 1994, Kasikornbank opened its first branch office in Shenzhen. In 2017, it obtained a foreign capital legal person bank license. Since then, it has opened four branches and two representative offices in China. As a financial expert, Choi has often traveled with Thai government officials, chambers of commerce and entrepreneurs to China to promote various projects and negotiate trade deals. In 2018 alone, he made more than 20 such trips.

It is important for China to provide foreign investors with a very good legal environment, which is also very important for fostering international economic cooperation and implementing comprehensive openingup to the outside world. The Foreign Investment Law will play an important role in reducing uncertainty and transaction costs. It will also respond to international demand for things such as policy transparency,intellectual property protection and assurance of a level playing field.

Choi added that his bank will continue to strengthen cooperation with Chinese counterparts in e-commerce,electronic settlement systems and other areas.