Press Release for Media Briefing of the Shanghai Municipal Government on April 17, 2025

2025.04.17

On the morning of today (April 17), the Information Office of Shanghai Municipality held a press briefing. Wu Wei, member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee and executive vice mayor, introduced the details of “Several Measures to Promote the High-Quality Development of the Private Economy in the New Era and New Journey.” Gu Jun, deputy secretary-general of the Shanghai Municipal Government and director of the Shanghai Municipal Development and Reform Commission, Zhou Xiaoquan, executive deputy director of the Financial Commission Office of the CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee, Chen Yanfeng, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Development and Reform Commission, Zhai Jinguo, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Science and Technology, and Liu Yanhao, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Justice attended the briefing and answered questions from reporters.The private economy plays a pivotal role in advancing Chinese modernization and serves as a cornerstone for high-quality development. On February 17 this year, General Secretary Xi Jinping attended a symposium on private enterprises, delivering an important speech that outlined the direction for fostering the high-quality development of the private economy in the new era. His remarks have provided strong confidence and momentum for this endeavor. As the birthplace of modern Chinese industry and commerce, Shanghai has long been home to numerous outstanding private entrepreneurs who have innovated and built businesses, growing in tandem with the city since the reform and opening up. The CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee and Shanghai Municipal Government have consistently placed great emphasis on the development of the private economy, striving to create an improved environment for its growth. On April 3, the Shanghai Conference on Promoting the High-quality Development of the Private Economy was held. At this meeting, Chen Jining, Secretary of the CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee, stressed the importance of thoroughly studying and understanding General Secretary Xi Jinping’s speech, focusing on key areas, enhancing services, and ensuring the effective implementation of policies and measures, with the goal of unlocking new opportunities for the development of Shanghai’s private economy.Recently, the CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee and Shanghai Municipal Government officially issued the “Several Measures to Promote the High-quality Development of the Private Economy in the New Era and New Journey,” which outlines 26 actionable measures across six key areas.I. Further Optimize the Development Environment for the Private EconomyFour measures have been introduced to ensure that private enterprises can access production factors on an equal footing and participate fairly in market competition in accordance with the law.First, strictly enforce the national negative list for market access. Adhere to the “one list nationwide” principle, and continue efforts to identify and eliminate hidden barriers to market entry.Second, rigorously implement the fair competition review system. When formulating local laws, government regulations, normative documents, or specific policy measures involving business activities, fair competition reviews must be conducted in accordance with legal requirements.Third, ensure openness, fairness, and impartiality throughout the entire bidding process for construction projects. Continue to promote on-site and remote decentralized bidding, standardize credit evaluation criteria for construction enterprises, and regulate contracting and subcontracting practices — especially for government-funded projects.Fourth, guarantee equal participation of private enterprises in government procurement. Enhance procurement transparency, regularly update supplier shortlists, make full use of policies such as reserved quotas and price preference mechanisms, strengthen integrity-based performance evaluations, and fully leverage the insurance compensation mechanism for first-unit (or first-set) equipment.II. Accelerate the Improvement of Investment and Financing Support Policies for Private EnterprisesTo address financing challenges and broaden development opportunities for private enterprises — particularly in key areas and critical sectors — four targeted measures have been introduced.First, support private enterprises in expanding effective investment. Encourage private capital to participate in the construction, operation, and management of projects in transportation, energy, and affordable rental housing. Support private enterprises in developing key application scenarios for green and low-carbon transformation — such as green fuels and the circular economy — and establish a database of major private investment projects.Second, facilitate the participation of private enterprises in the implementation of major national strategies, the strengthening of security capabilities in key areas, and the new round of large-scale equipment upgrades and consumer goods trade-ins. Strengthen policy guidance, training, and services to help private enterprises engage in these initiatives. Develop relevant support policies, and encourage private enterprises to fully leverage refinancing tools for technological innovation and transformation. These may be combined with the city's existing interest subsidy policies for technological upgrades.Third, expand credit support from financial institutions. Optimize the coordination mechanism for financing small and micro enterprises. Extend financing service centers to more key industrial parks and local communities. Implement the city’s credit incentive and subsidy policies for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Support leading enterprises in adopting blockchain technology to improve supply chain management, promote the use of supply chain bills, expand the scale of policy-backed financing guarantee funds, and roll out “chamber of commerce batch loans.”Fourth, diversify financing channels for private enterprises. Provide enhanced pre-public listing guidance and legal services. Encourage private enterprises to carry out mergers and acquisitions in areas such as the upgrading of traditional industries and the strengthening of key links in emerging industrial chains, with a focus on new quality productive forces. Support private listed companies in using tools such as stock repurchase and private placement by shareholders to manage market value. Encourage government investment and industrial support funds to back qualified private investment projects.III. Address the Issue of Payment Arrears Owed to Private EnterprisesTwo key measures have been introduced to tackle the issue of arrears.First, continue to advance special campaigns to clear outstanding payments to enterprises. Strengthen the long-term mechanism for preventing and resolving arrears owed by government bodies and state-owned enterprises to SMEs. Enhance audit oversight of arrears clearance, promote supply chain optimization by large enterprises to improve payment efficiency, and strengthen legal remedies for contract disputes involving SMEs. Industry associations and relevant institutions will be encouraged to establish regular disclosure systems for payment term information.Second, strengthen incentives for creditworthiness and penalties for dishonesty. Enforce mechanisms that reward trustworthy behavior and penalize breaches in accordance with the law. Continuously update the list of disciplinary measures for acts of dishonesty within the scope of market regulation. Incorporate breaches of contract and trust by government entities into the government credit evaluation index system, and explore collective mechanisms to support credit repair.IV. Protect the Legitimate Rights and Interests of Private Enterprises and Entrepreneurs in Accordance with the LawTo support the compliant and law-based development of private enterprises, Shanghai will promote more scientific, targeted, and efficient supervision and law enforcement through five key measures.First, strengthen legal protections for the private economy. Shanghai will study and formulate local Regulations on the Promotion of the Private Economy, safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of entrepreneurs, regulate profit-seeking professional claims and whistleblower actions in accordance with the law, and guide private enterprises toward compliant and lawful operations.Second, optimize administrative inspections involving enterprises. Fully implement a “risk plus credit” graded inspection system, roll out the “inspection code” for enterprise-related checks, and improve standardization, consistency, and coordination to reduce unnecessary on-site inspections.Third, enhance inclusive and prudent regulation. Specify circumstances where administrative coercive measures should not be applied for minor violations. Collaborate with Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui to jointly release an updated version of the Guidelines on Non-Punitive and Lenient Administrative Penalties for Minor Violations in Market Regulation across the Yangtze River Delta region.Fourth, handle enterprise-related cases strictly in accordance with the law. Improve long-term mechanisms to prevent excessive seizures of assets, refine approval procedures for escalating economic crime cases, enhance collaboration between public security organs in handling criminal cases, and strengthen the integration of commercial mediation, arbitration, notarization, and appraisal.Fifth, foster a healthy and transparent online public opinion environment. Crack down on the fabrication and dissemination of enterprise-related rumors, extortion via negative publicity, and similar illegal activities, thereby safeguarding the online reputation and legal rights of private enterprises.V. Vigorously Support Innovation and Opening-Up of Private EnterprisesTo further foster new quality productive forces, private enterprises will be encouraged to embrace innovation, focus on their core businesses, strengthen real industries, expand internationally, and enhance their competitiveness. Five key measures are proposed.First, encourage private enterprises to actively participate in major scientific and technological research initiatives. Support private enterprises in undertaking key R&D tasks through mechanisms such as the open competition mechanism to select the best candidates, and participating in major projects related to the city's strategic emerging industries, municipal-level science and technology programs, and basic research initiatives. Improve diversified investment mechanisms for basic research and promote private-sector participation in the development and utilization of public data resources.Second, promote the sharing of innovation resources. Encourage universities and research institutes to open their key laboratories and public R&D platforms to private enterprises. Facilitate equal access to major scientific infrastructure, increase the number of enterprise users, and promote the opening of digital transformation application scenarios — owned by municipal state-owned enterprises — to a broader range of market participants.Third, attract a variety of functional institutions. Support private enterprises in establishing R&D centers, global supply chain management hubs, fund settlement centers, trade headquarters, and other functional entities in Shanghai. Provide corresponding support and services in areas such as innovative product application, R&D material customs clearance, talent mobility, cross-border fund settlement, and data flow.Fourth, strengthen intellectual property (IP) services and protection. Offer expedited patent pre-examination for private enterprises in key areas. Leverage IP protection assistance workstations and multi-dispute resolution systems to provide legal services. Implement high-value patent cultivation programs, support pilot initiatives for trade secret protection, enhance coordination between administrative enforcement and judicial processes, crack down on IP infringement and trade secret theft, and improve the global IP dispute response service network.Fifth, support the international expansion of private enterprises. Build an integrated service platform for “going global,” assist private enterprises in implementing global development strategies, organize SME participation in international exhibitions and forums, encourage outbound investment in key sectors, and promote commercial banks to offer comprehensive cross-border RMB financial services, including financing, settlement, and investment.VI. Effectively Strengthen Service Guarantees for the Development of the Private EconomyTo create a more supportive environment for private enterprises, efforts will be made to enhance regular communication between government bodies, enterprises, chambers of commerce, and industry associations. A joint mechanism for implementation will be formed, with stronger policy promotion and interpretation. Six key measures are proposed:First, optimize policy services for enterprises. Leverage the city’s Online Corporate Service platform for enterprise-friendly policies to provide smart, targeted “policy-to-enterprise” services for various business entities, and step up efforts to publicize and explain supportive policies.Second, enhance guarantees for key development factors. Implement national policies on the renewal of industrial and commercial land-use rights, streamline approval procedures, actively include top talent from private enterprises in the expert database for professional title evaluations, and facilitate the professional title assessment of private-sector technical personnel through dedicated fast-track channels.Third, improve mechanisms for regular communication with private enterprises. Make full use of platforms such as the 12345 government service hotline and the “service package” system for key enterprises, and strengthen government–enterprise dialogue through forums, roundtables, and other interactive formats.Fourth, build a clean and collaborative government–business relationship. Encourage leaders at all levels to engage sincerely and openly with private entrepreneurs, and support private entrepreneurs in proactively communicating with Party committees, government agencies, and related departments.Fifth, support private enterprises and entrepreneurs in fulfilling their responsibilities in the new era. Actively promote the entrepreneurial spirit and enhance the visibility of exemplary private enterprises and outstanding entrepreneurs through targeted publicity and media coverage.Sixth, strengthen implementation and follow-up. Establish a dedicated coordination mechanism to promote the high-quality development of the private economy, enhance statistical monitoring, and ensure policies and measures are effectively implemented.