Shanghai sets up online archive of business policies, regulations
Seminars on optimizing the business environment were held today with 22 experts attending.
"Optimizing the business environment is a project that will never be completed," said Peng Wenhao, deputy director of the Shanghai Administration for Market Regulation.
On the road towards the optimization of Shanghai's business environment, many milestones have been achieved. Shanghai has once again led the nation by launching an online archive of business regulations and policies today to benchmark the international evaluation system, categorizing and collecting over 1,700 laws and regulations, normative documents, case data, and more.
In May 2023, the World Bank released a methodology document to officially launch a new business environment evaluation system: the Business Ready (B-ready) Report.
It includes 10 indicators, ranging from market access, access to business premises, and infrastructure services, to access to financial services, resolution of commercial disputes, and promotion of market competition.
"The World Bank's Business Ready Report has brought us a lot of insight," Peng said.
"Shanghai is the window through which the world observes China, and this historical moment is critical for the optimization of our business environment, as we are now in the midst of a major change not seen in a century."
Government officials, scholars, and reporters from mainstream media attended the ceremony as well as the seminar.
Seminars on optimizing the business environments from different prospects were also held today after the launch ceremony, with 22 experts providing in-depth discussions.
"Shanghai is duty-bound to explore and practice the access of foreign capital," said Huang Feng, president of the Shanghai Foreign Investment Association.
"For foreign investment, the keyword is national treatment when talking about market access," Huang added. "There has been a great improvement in giving national treatment to foreign-funded enterprises in the access segment."
Early in 2013, the Shanghai Free Trade Zone formulated and introduced the first negative list for foreign investment access, and after seven reductions, the entries of special management measures have been reduced from the initial 190 items to the current 27, zeroing out the entries of the manufacturing industry, continuously expanding the opening up of the service sector, and improving the level of investment liberalization.
"In the past two years, I deeply feel the convenience brought by digital applications, such as digital licenses, electronic seals, and legal person authorization. Data sharing enables multi-departmental cooperation, which saves a lot of time for enterprises," said Deloitte China partner Xu Zuming.
As of July 2024, the number of registered business entities in Shanghai had reached 3,395,200.
In the World Bank's 2020 publicly released report on the global business environment, the ranking of China's start-up business indicator had risen from 93rd in 2017 to 27th worldwide.
The archive collection of Shanghai Business Environment Policies and Regulations" (in Chinese only) can be viewed on the website of the Shanghai Commission of Development and Reform in the "Business Environment" column.
People can scan the code below to learn more about the latest business entry policies in Shanghai.
