Since reform and opening up, the state has been making a series of reforms to break up the investment management mode under the traditional planned economic system; and a new pattern with diversified investment modes, multiplicity of capital sources and market-oriented system is taking shape. But the existing investment system also has some problems: especially, enterprises do not have complete decision-making rights over investment and the basic role of the market in allocation of resources is not fully developed. The scientific and democratic level of the government's decision-making over investment shall be further upgraded and the effectiveness of macro-control measures and supervision shall be enhanced. Therefore, the State Council has decided to further deepen investment reform.

In 1997, the State Council issued the notice (Guofa Paper No. 37) about “Adjustment Import Equipment Tax policy ”, decided to encourage in foreign capital project import equipment exemption Customs duty and value add tax. For many years, this policy has raised technical equipment level of the enterprises, promoted the transformation of traditional industry and sped up the step of the industrial structure. It plays the key role to promote the competitive power of the enterprise.

Lately, the determination encourages to develop the industry, the product and the technology. The principle is as follows: (1) keeps the big market demand, the prospects developing the domestic market; (2) promotes to renew the equipments of enterprise and the advanced technology of industry, as well as enhances the competitive power; (3) researches the domestic industrial technology base to develop the technical innovation and becomes new economical point of growth; (4) conforms to the sustainable developmental strategy to save the resources and the improve ecological environment; (5) sharpens the supplies ability to enhance economic structure rationalization and maintains the national economy to continue the fast healthy development. It is the strategic adjustment of national economic structure to improve the investment structure as well as one of main measures to examine and approve the investment project.

With the above principle, the government encourages 28 domains, general 526 kinds of products, technical and partial infrastructure and service. To conforms to the encouragement items of " Catalogue of Foreign Investment Industry Instruction " or the investment project of technology transformations of "Catalogue of Mid-west Area Foreign Merchant Investment Superiority Industry ", the foreign investor can import the equipment, necessary and the spare parts for this investment project with duty-free, except the commodity issued by " Catalogue of Prohibition Duty-free importation Article of Foreign Investment Project”.

This business service has been succeeded in Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, Jiangsu Province, Zhejiang Province, Henan Province, Hebei Province, Shanxi Province, Shanxi Province, Guangdong Province, Shandong Province, Guizhou Province, Hainan Province, Hubei Province, Liaoning Province, the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the Guangxi Autonomous Region and so on.