On the morning of October 29, the Information Office of Shanghai Municipality held a press briefing to introduce the Action Plan for Promoting the High-Quality Development of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Shanghai. Liu Jian, deputy secretary-general of the Shanghai Municipal Government and director of the Shanghai Municipal Development and Reform Commission, outlined the plan. Tao Changsheng, deputy director of the Financial Regulatory Office of the CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee, Chen Yanfeng, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Development and Reform Commission, Pu Yapeng, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization, Yu Chen, deputy director of the Shanghai Intellectual Property Administration and Zhu Wenqun, second-level inspector of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce attended the briefing and answered questions from reporters.Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are vital to innovation, job creation and people’s livelihoods. They also play a key role in Shanghai’s efforts to foster new quality productive forces and build a modern industrial system. To date, Shanghai has cultivated 22,000 innovative SMEs, 14,000 specialized and sophisticated SMEs, and more than 1,000 national-level Little Giant enterprises.To implement the decisions and arrangements of the Central Committee of the CPC and the State Council on supporting SME development, Shanghai recently issued the Action Plan through the General Office of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government. The plan aims to further improve the business environment, unleash the vitality of market entities, ease the burden on businesses, accelerate their transformation and upgrading, and promote high-quality SME development.Shanghai has made SME development a long-term strategic priority and continues to build a world-class business environment that is market-oriented, law-based and internationalized. The action plan sets out four key principles: First, ensuring fair competition. Shanghai will remove implicit barriers in the market and ensure that SMEs enjoy equal rights in accessing production factors, entering markets, conducting business and using public services. Second, driving innovation. The city will strengthen enterprises’ capacity for endogenous growth and accelerate their transformation, upgrading, quality improvement and efficiency gains. Third, promoting coordinated development. Shanghai will foster collaboration among large, medium-sized and small enterprises, building an ecosystem based on complementary strengths, resource sharing and mutually beneficial cooperation. Fourth, strengthening legal protection. With transparent rules and fair law enforcement and judicial processes, the city will protect the legitimate rights and interests of SMEs and entrepreneurs in accordance with the law. By 2028, Shanghai aims to further improve the quality and structure of its SME sector, strengthen enterprises’ innovation and operational capabilities, and increase their contributions to society. By creating a stronger foundation for high-quality development, the city will help SMEs embrace innovation and move up the value chain, enabling them and Shanghai, a megacity, to empower each other and grow together.To address key bottlenecks facing SMEs, the Action Plan sets out nine major initiatives comprising 21 tasks.1.Regulating Market Practices. Two tasks will ensure fair participation in government procurement and construction project bidding, and encourage online platforms to better support SMEs. The plan calls for improving mechanisms to identify and address abnormally low bids in construction projects to curb malicious price competition. It also encourages platform companies to reasonably reduce commissions and other fees while making better use of their platforms to support SME growth.2.Strengthening Financing Services. Three tasks will expand financing channels, improve government-backed financing guarantee systems, and strengthen credit enhancement mechanisms for SMEs. The plan calls on banks in Shanghai to increase lending to technology-oriented and traditional SMEs, expand access to first-time loans and credit-based lending, and improve the quality and effectiveness of government-backed financing guarantees. It also aims to expand the use of the Suishenrong financing service platform and accelerate credit record restoration.3. Clearing Overdue Payments. Two tasks will strengthen long-term mechanisms for clearing arrears and accelerate efforts to resolve outstanding payments. The plan calls on large enterprises to disclose overdue payments to SMEs in their annual reports in accordance with the law. It also seeks to incorporate arrears clearance into the performance assessments of state-owned enterprises, encouraging them to set an example by making timely payments. In addition, Shanghai will strengthen the regulation of non-cash payment instruments, including commercial bills and electronic payment certificates.4. Easing the Burden on Businesses. Three tasks will implement tax and fee relief policies, reduce labor costs, and lower land-use costs. Shanghai will fully implement national tax and fee support policies and continue the phased policy of cutting employers’ contribution rate for employee medical insurance by one percentage point. The city will also encourage SMEs to access industrial land through flexible arrangements, including lease-first-then-transfer, combined leasing and transfer, and long-term leasing.5. Unlocking Innovation Potential. Two tasks will expand access to and sharing of innovation resources and facilitate the transfer and commercialization of scientific and technological achievements. The plan calls for setting targets for opening up major scientific research infrastructure to technology-based SMEs. It will also provide vouchers for professional services, new quality productive services and overseas expansion. Shanghai will explore establishing more pilot-scale testing platforms and opening up services such as prototype development, process validation and small-batch production to SMEs.6. Accelerating Transformation and Upgrading. Two tasks will drive digital and intelligent transformation and improve the quality and innovation of consumer-facing services. Shanghai will help SMEs adopt digital and intelligent technologies and refine its policies on computing power vouchers, AI model vouchers and data corpus vouchers to extend their reach to more SMEs. The city will also accelerate the development of pilot cities for retail innovation and upgrading, encouraging smaller retail businesses to pursue differentiated development.7. Promoting Collaboration and Global Expansion. Two tasks will foster collaboration among large, medium-sized and small enterprises and help SMEs expand overseas. Shanghai will launch a partnership initiative to promote collaborative innovation across businesses of different sizes, with ongoing matchmaking events where large enterprises announce needs and SMEs submit solutions. The city will also encourage municipally owned state-owned enterprises to set reasonable lease terms for property and strictly prohibit disorderly or successive subleasing. In addition, Shanghai will strengthen its service network to provide SMEs expanding overseas with access to trade and investment channels, business information, legal support, cross-border financing and risk prevention services.8. Strengthening Support for Key Resources. Three tasks will ensure stable and affordable energy and resource supplies, strengthen talent support, and develop a stronger pool of entrepreneurs. Shanghai will lower electricity prices for industrial and commercial users and refine electricity pricing policies for computing centers. The city will also support SMEs in establishing postdoctoral research workstations and provide training for SME managers to improve their business and management capabilities.9. Strengthening Legal Protection. Two tasks will improve the efficiency of law enforcement and judicial services and strengthen intellectual property services and protection. Shanghai will regularly update its lists of matters exempt from unnecessary inspections and entities eligible for unobtrusive oversight. It will adopt a tolerant and prudent regulatory approach to new business models and industries, standardize the handling of business-related cases, and provide SMEs with faster patent pre-examination, authorization and rights protection services.The action plan also sets out three measures to improve implementation: strengthening overall coordination, improving the SME service system, and establishing dynamic monitoring and evaluation mechanisms. First, strengthening coordination. Shanghai will enhance collaboration among government departments and coordination between municipal and district authorities to ensure effective implementation. Second, improving public services for SMEs. The city will accelerate the development of a comprehensive public service system for SMEs, build an intelligent service agent for SMEs, and make better use of dedicated task forces. Digital tools will also be leveraged to improve the business environment. Third, strengthening monitoring and evaluation. Shanghai will improve its statistical monitoring and analysis of SMEs and assess the effectiveness of policy measures to ensure their effective implementation.Going forward, Shanghai will continue to solicit feedback and suggestions from SMEs and entrepreneurs as it works to implement the Action Plan. The city will also publicize exemplary cases, share and promote effective practices, and foster a supportive environment for SME development.