China Unveils 2026 Business Environment Practices Across Ten Regions

China's National Development and Reform Commission introduced a new batch of innovative business environment practices at the 4th Business Environment Forum in Xiamen on September 8, 2026. The highlighted measures from ten provincial-level jurisdictions and municipalities focus on key pain points for enterprises, including digitizing policy delivery, curtailing disruptive regulatory inspections, monitoring government contractual commitments, and cleaning up online infringement targeting corporations. Officials indicated that mature practices will be selected for nationwide replication to lower institutional costs and support corporate confidence.

Optimizing the business environment remains central to sustaining investment confidence and stimulating market entity vitality in China. The selected case studies demonstrate tangible shifts from broad administrative deregulation toward targeted institutional safeguards, such as code-based limits on municipal inspections and contract fulfillment tracking. For domestic and multinational firms operating across China, national scaling of these local models could noticeably reduce regulatory frictions and administrative overhead.

China's central economic planning agency has unveiled a slate of regional innovations aimed at improving the country's business climate, spotlighting digital policy delivery, disciplined regulatory enforcement, and enhanced government integrity. The 2026 national business environment innovative practice cases were officially presented on September 8 during the 4th Business Environment Forum, held in parallel with the 26th China International Fair for Investment and Trade in Xiamen, state media outlet Xinhua reported via People's Daily. Yu Wentao, deputy director-general and first-class inspector of the Department of Laws and Regulations at the National Development and Reform Commission, outlined the selected municipal and provincial case studies during the forum. The highlighted measures cover ten local jurisdictions addressing diverse operational hurdles. On policy delivery, Shandong Province was recognized for facilitating direct, rapid access to corporate support policies, while Jinhua City in Zhejiang Province introduced digital mechanisms enabling policies to automatically locate eligible enterprises. To tackle administrative disruptions during routine oversight, Hebei Province established a smart inspection platform requiring authorities to scan codes before entering enterprise premises, and Sichuan Province developed non-intrusive supervision models to minimize daily operational interruptions. Addressing contractual reliability and official commitments, Heilongjiang Province applied intelligent oversight to track government contract performance, while Hainan Province instituted monitoring mechanisms to enforce government compliance. In the digital domain, Shanghai and Fujian implemented targeted cleanups of online corporate infringement and related commercial disruptions. Administrative grievance resolution also featured prominently: Guangdong Province upgraded its 12345 public service hotline to handle corporate requests immediately, and Chongqing established dedicated responsive governance platforms designed to address enterprise appeals. Yu stated that the National Development and Reform Commission will continue serving as the leading national department for business environment improvements, coordinating across agencies to guide local pilot projects and track implementation results. Yu added that the agency will select mature practices from these regional pilots for nationwide rollout, aiming to establish a market-oriented, law-based, and internationalized business environment that provides long-term stability for commercial operations.