Press Release for Media Briefing of the Shanghai Municipal Government on January 8, 2026

2026.01.08

On the afternoon of January 8, the Information Office of the Shanghai Municipality held a media briefing. Gu Jun, deputy secretary-general of the Shanghai Municipal Government and director of the Shanghai Municipal Development and Reform Commission, introduced the details of Shanghai 2026 Action Plan to Accelerate the Development of a World-Class Business Environment. Tao Changsheng, deputy director of the Financial Office of the CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee, Zhou Xiaoyan, deputy director of the General Office of the Shanghai Municipal Government, Chen Yanfeng, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Development and Reform Commission, Liu Yanhao, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Justice, Chen Rui, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Administration for Market Regulation, and Shen Honghua, second-level inspector of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, attended the briefing and answered questions from reporters.On the first working day of 2026, Shanghai held its ninth consecutive conference on optimizing the business environment. The meeting marked a concrete step in delivering on the directives by the CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee and the Shanghai Municipal Government to seize the momentum at the start of the year, highlighting that improving the business environment is central to high-quality development. It also aims to boost market confidence, guide social expectations, attract leading domestic and international enterprises and talent, and fully stimulate innovation.In 2025, Shanghai implemented the 8.0 version of its business environment optimization plan, focusing on enterprise needs, adopting a problem-oriented approach, and strengthening reform efforts. The city fully executed all 58 reform tasks in the plan, delivering significant progress in enterprise services, resource support, and regulatory enforcement. In the World Bank’s assessment, Shanghai achieved the highest global scores in 22 of 59 enterprise survey indicators, outperforming New York, Singapore, Hong Kong, Seoul, and London. The All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce survey of 10,000 private enterprises also showed a marked improvement of Shanghai compared with 2023.Recently, Shanghai released the Shanghai 2026 Action Plan to Accelerate the Development of a World-Class Business Environment. Building on the progress of versions 1.0 through 8.0, the plan further enhances the top-level design of the city’s business environment. It focuses on accelerating the construction of a world-class business ecosystem and comprehensively advancing improvements in government services, market competition, industrial development, and social c0-governance.I. Key Considerations of the 2026 Action PlanReviewing Shanghai’s action plans from version 1.0 to 8.0, they can be broadly divided into two phases. The first phase, from 2018 to 2022, focused on benchmarking reforms against World Bank Doing Business indicators, achieving targeted breakthroughs to reduce procedures, time, and costs, and securing high scores in key areas. The second phase, beginning in 2023, shifted from benchmarking toward comprehensive optimization of the business environment across the entire enterprise lifecycle, enriching its scope, expanding coverage, and improving the overall reform system. In 2026, Shanghai will continue to follow the “comprehensive business environment” concept, guiding improvements across the four major environments — government services, market competition, industrial development, and social co-governance — and issuing an annual action plan for business environment optimization. Work will focus on three key areas of integration. First, integrating overall progress with key focus areas. Shanghai emphasizes both top-level design and grassroots implementation, while paying attention to the granularity of reform measures. Initiatives such as deepening the one-stop services for shops, promoting SME financing platforms, and establishing a “first-stop for entrepreneurship” drive continuous improvements across related sectors. Second, combining continuous progress with annual priorities. Anchored to the overarching goal of fostering a world-class business environment characterized by market orientation, rule of law, and internationalization, the city continuously optimizes the business environment, focusing on priority tasks and refining phased measures. Efforts to improve market access, ensure fair competition, and provide equal protection aim to deliver tangible results and measurable benefits for businesses within the year. Third, aligning international benchmarking with local practices. Drawing on the World Bank Doing Business methodology, Shanghai integrates principles of fairness, inclusiveness, transparency, and digitalization. By combining global best practices with local reform actions and experience, the city strengthens enterprise services, industrial ecosystems, and collaborative development, shaping a new, comprehensive competitive advantage in its business environment.II. New Features of the 2026 Action PlanThe 2026 Action Plan is more focused and concise, outlining 26 specific tasks and measures on four aspects of business environment optimization. It highlights three main features.First, addressing new demands and supporting the healthy development of emerging business models. Shanghai has released action plans to optimize the business environment for nine consecutive years, with each year’s reforms tailored to the stage-specific needs of enterprise development. In recent years, the rapid growth of new economic formats and business models, such as online platforms and ACG (Anime, Comics, and Games) entertainment, has created fresh demands for industry regulation and services. The 2026 action plan actively responds to these challenges. For instance, to address rat race competition, it calls for strengthening platform algorithm governance, regulating online platform operations, and promoting mutually beneficial development for enterprises, operators, and platform workers. Regarding the approval and supervision of emerging business models, it proposes clarifying regulatory responsibilities for formats such as short dramas and ACG activities, enhancing transparency and timeliness in approvals, and supporting the growth of emerging industries.Second, focusing on key concerns and continuing efforts to tackle challenges. In 2025, Shanghai addressed enterprise pain points such as preferential policies, regulatory inspections, and financing services, launching 10 major tasks to improve the business environment and achieving positive phased results. In 2026, the city will continue to implement targeted measures to further resolve these challenges. For preferential policies, Shanghai plans to “streamline the full process of application, acceptance, review, and delivery” and organize relevant authorities to “develop integrated policy packages by industry and promote rapid delivery through street offices, towns, industrial parks, and buildings.” To optimize administrative inspections, the plan proposes “standardizing the use of inspection codes, promoting cross-departmental joint inspections,” and deepening measures such as “credit- and risk-based hierarchical and classified supervision” to enhance the quality and efficiency of enterprise-related regulatory oversight.Third, strengthening support and fully optimizing the industrial ecosystem. For the first time, the 2026 action plan emphasizes the creation of a “friendly and compatible industrial ecosystem,” focusing on key industries and factor guarantees through industrial parks and buildings. The goal is to build an innovation ecosystem that better supports industrial development, entrepreneurship, and innovation, tailored to local conditions. For example, to enhance space carrier support, the plan proposes “accelerating the implementation of eligible industrial projects through enterprise commitments and recommendations by parks or buildings, optimizing the ‘vertical industrialization’ model, encouraging customized construction based on enterprise production needs, and improving the efficiency of space carrier utilization.” To improve integrated service capabilities in parks and buildings, it encourages establishing “one-stop” platforms that combine policy services, financing, property carriers, scenario applications, and demand resolution, while strengthening the use of digital tools for government and enterprise services. Regarding the promotion of key industries, the plan aims to “focus on the industrial chain and regulatory approvals, and develop targeted measures to optimize the business environment for key sectors.”A world-class business environment, like sunshine, water, and air, permeates every stage and detail of enterprise development, shaping Shanghai’s inherent efficiency, vitality, and charm. As the city enters the 15th Five-Year Plan period, Shanghai will seize every opportunity to ensure the timely and effective implementation of initiatives to optimize the business environment, enabling both enterprises and the city to thrive together and create a brighter future.