China to Relax Market Regulations for Foreign Companies

China's embassy in Washington defended its business practises on Aug 29, after US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said American companies had told her that China had become "uninvestible."

When asked to comment on Raimondo's remarks in China, embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu said that most of the 70,000 American companies doing business in China wanted to stay, that nearly 90% were profitable, and that Beijing was working to improve market access for foreign companies.

"China is actively advancing its high-level opening-up and making efforts to provide a world-class, market-oriented business environment governed by a sound legal framework," he stated. "China will only open its doors even wider to the outside world."

Raimondo said on Aug 29 that U.S. companies have complained that China has become "uninvestible," pointing to fines, raids and other actions that have made it risky to do business in the world's second-largest economy.

The remarks, made to reporters aboard a high-speed train as Raimondo's delegation of US officials travelled from Beijing to Shanghai, painted a bleak picture of how American businesses view China and were the most direct Raimondo has made on her trip.

"Increasingly, I hear from American business that China is uninvestible because it's become too risky," she said.

Raimondo stated that American businesses are facing new challenges, including "exorbitant fines without explanation, revisions to counterespionage law that are unclear and sending shockwaves through the US community; raids on businesses - a whole new level of challenge that we need to address."