China will strive to make itself more inviting to foreign direct investment and foreign talent by widening market access and improving the business environment, according to a decision made on Friday at a State Council executive meeting presided over by Premier Li Keqiang.

The negative-list based market access regime for foreign capital, already being tried in the country's 11 free-trade zones, will be rolled out nationwide as soon as possible, and more sectors will be further opened for FDI, the meeting decided. Profits of foreign-invested companies will be guaranteed free flow out of China.

To make China more appealing to foreign talent, the government will put in place an improved work permit system for foreigners working in China. Detailed guidelines for visa application and evaluation benchmarks for widened access to foreign talent will be developed in the second half of the year. Five-to 10-year multiple-entry visas will be issued to qualified expatriates.