China’s New Foreign Investment Law: Challenge and Opportunity

The "Foreign Investment Law of the People's Republic of China" was adopted at the Second Session of the Thirteenth National People's Congress on 15 March 2019, rushed through drafting and acceptance in a manner rarely seen in recent legislative history. It instructs the State to adopt a system of national treatment applicable to all which do not fall into the so-called "negative list" and cancels the current market access mechanism. The Law is also meant to provide guidance in many areas of concern for foreign investors such as expropriation and compensation, intellectual property protection and technology transfer.