China has released its first comprehensive plan to strengthen support services for its companies with foreign operations, underscoring Beijing's effort to provide coordinated, state-backed assistance for cross-border businesses at a time of growing regulatory and geopolitical risk. The joint-issued guidelines outline a "whole-chain" service system to help Chinese enterprises expand abroad while safeguarding their interests in increasingly complex markets.
China has released its first comprehensive plan to strengthen support services for its companies with foreign operations, underscoring Beijing's effort to provide coordinated, state-backed assistance for cross-border businesses at a time of growing regulatory and geopolitical risk.The guidelines — jointly issued by the Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Development and Reform Commission and two other agencies — outline a "whole-chain" service system to help Chinese enterprises expand abroad.
The initiative marks Beijing's first unified framework for supporting outbound investment — and its timing suggests a strategic effort to shield Chinese enterprises from intensifying foreign scrutiny and sanctions pressure.
— Integrating services, raising compliance capacity —
Published on Oct. 14, the document calls for a national integrated service platform to align resources across foreign affairs, legal, tax, financial, customs and trade-promotion bodies. It also urges stronger regional coordination and new foreign service networks to assist companies with compliance, intellectual property, financing and dispute resolution.
The document instructs authorities to upgrade the existing "go global" platforms into a national digital hub that links databases on bilateral treaties, tax and trade agreements, intellectual property and dispute resolution.
It also calls for establishing overseas service stations in key countries through Chinese business chambers, legal-service providers and industrial parks to offer firms on-the-ground legal, financial and logistical support.
The guidelines explicitly mention support for companies dealing with trade and investment disputes, encouraging mediation, arbitration and judicial measures to address overseas legal conflicts. They also promote stronger international cooperation on competition, intellectual property, taxation and social-security issues — signaling Beijing's intent to align elements of its corporate governance with international standards.
Authorities have also been told to strengthen the cross-border operational capabilities of foreign-bound enterprises, expand compliance training and improve alignment with international business norms.
Enterprises should be guided to localize operations and fulfill social responsibilities, while professional service providers are urged to use in-person training and other methods to raise awareness of overseas compliance requirements.
— Strategic timing, policy rationale —
China's outbound investment continues to grow steadily, reflecting both the scale of its global economic reach and the challenges that come with it. According to the Ministry of Commerce, outward investment reached $162.8 billion in 2024, up 10.1 percent from a year earlier. In the first eight months of 2025, outbound direct investment totaled 782.8 billion yuan ($107 billion), a modest year-on-year increase of 0.8 percent.
Against this backdrop, the new plan reflects Beijing’s recognition that its global companies — particularly in strategic sectors — are confronting heightened regulatory and compliance pressures in foreign markets. These include tighter investment-screening regimes, sanctions, and enforcement in areas such as data privacy, antitrust and export controls.
“Chinese enterprises operating overseas must now confront compliance risks, supply-chain disruptions, localized political risks and higher market-access thresholds,” said Liu Ying, a researcher at Renmin University’s Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies. “Insufficient local service capacity and lack of familiarity with international rules have also constrained their global expansion.”
Recent developments in Europe underscore those risks. The Dutch government’s move to take control of Chinese-owned chipmaker Nexperia under the Goods Availability Act highlights the growing political and security sensitivities surrounding Chinese investment in critical industries — a warning to other Chinese firms about intensifying national-security and regulatory scrutiny abroad (see here).
The release of the guidelines also coincides with the ongoing “fourth plenum” meeting of China’s top leadership in Beijing from Oct. 20 to 23, where officials will map out the country’s next five-year plan — a blueprint expected to define priorities in economic growth, trade, technology and social policy. The timing suggests the new initiative may form part of a broader strategy to strengthen China’s global economic resilience and protect its interests overseas.
— Analysis by Emily Liu
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