BEIJING — Premier Li Keqiang has said that China will create better environment for foreign investment.

China will lift restrictions in sectors including rail transportation equipment, motorcycles, fuel ethanol and oil processing, according to a statement released after a State Council executive meeting presided over by Premier Li on Dec 28.

The Foreign Investment Industrial Guidance Catalogue will be revised to encourage investment in advanced manufacturing and productive service industries.

Accounting, auditing and architectural design are now open to foreign investment, which will also be allowed in energy, water conservation, environmental protection and urban development, by way of franchising.

China will push for the full implementation of a foreign investment management system featuring pre-establishment national treatment and a negative list, the statement said.

Foreign-funded enterprises (FFE) will be exempt from minimum registered capital requirements and enjoy simplified procedures in formation and modification.

Their intellectual property rights will be protected and they are allowed to participate in China’s science and technology projects and standardization, according to the statement.

FFEs will enjoy equal status to local counterparts in government procurements with products made in China, it added.

Moreover, the country’s central and western regions will be encouraged to receive foreign industrial transfers and offer favorable conditions to encouraged foreign investment.