BEIJING, May 5 (Xinhua) -- The following are the takeaways of major economic decisions announced by the Chinese authorities in the past week:

-- Updating negative list for foreign investment

A shorter negative list for foreign investment will be released in the first half of the year to expand market access for foreign investors, Wang Shouwen, vice minister of Commerce and also deputy China International Trade Representative, told a press conference Monday.

Efforts will be made to ensure the protection of the rights and interests of foreign intellectual property owners, to ban forced technical transfer and to enhance trade secrets protection, he noted.

The Foreign Investment Law approved by the national legislature will take effect starting Jan. 1, 2020.

-- Better facilitation for cross-border e-commerce settlement

The State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) issued a guideline Monday to facilitate the settlement for cross-border e-commerce.

Payment institutions are allowed to offer market entities electronic payment services via banks under current accounts, according to the guideline, depending on relevant electronic transaction information.

They can also provide Chinese residents with foreign exchange services for cross-border shopping, overseas education and tourism, the guideline said.

-- Upskilling workforce to expand employment

The State Council, China's cabinet, on Tuesday decided that China will finance vocational training with 100 billion yuan (about 14.8 billion U.S. dollars) from the country's unemployment insurance fund balance to upskill the workforce.

A special capital account will be established to advance the task of vocational skills upgrading, according to the executive meeting presided over by Premier Li Keqiang.

Utilization of the fund will be tracked and relevant information will be disclosed to the public, while those who fake training to fraudulently obtain the fund will be punished in line with laws, the meeting noted.

-- Further opening up financial markets

China plans to unveil 12 new measures to further open up its financial markets to improve the sector's management and competitiveness, said Guo Shuqing, chairman of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC), Wednesday.

Detail in regulations for foreign banks and foreign insurance companies has been revised in accordance with the new rules and will soon be released, according to the CBIRC spokesperson Xiao Yuanqi.

"Further opening up the banking and insurance sectors is not only essential for the development of Chinese economy and finance but also is conducive to enriching market entities and stimulate market vitality," Guo said. Enditem

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