Xinhua reported on December 23, that a draft law on foreign investment was submitted to a bimonthly session of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee on December 23. Once adopted, the unified law will replace three existing laws, namely the laws on Chinese-foreign equity joint ventures, non-equity joint ventures (or contractual joint ventures) and wholly foreign-owned enterprises. The draft law underlined protection of intellectual property rights of foreign investors and foreign companies, and encouraged voluntary technological cooperation based on business rules. It said conditions of technological cooperation concerning foreign investment should be decided by all parties of investment through negotiation and that government departments and officials cannot use administrative means for forced technology transfers.

(Comment: At the end of November, a total of 950,000 foreign-funded companies were registered in China and brought in more than US$ 2 trillion, becoming a major driving force in China's economic and social development.)