On 19 July 2023 China published the Opinions on Promoting the Development and Growth of the Private Economy, setting out thirty-one measures across eight areas. The document covers market access, fair competition, production factors, overdue payments, property rights, entrepreneurial spirit and rule-of-law safeguards. It is a systemic policy statement for the private sector.
For an enterprise, the value of a policy document is not measured by the strength of its language but by whether it changes behavioural expectations: can we enter a market, obtain a factor of production, recover unpaid receivables, and find a clearer remedy for a property dispute?
Market access and fair competition
The Opinions call for continued removal of market-access barriers, implementation of fair-competition policy, and clearance of policies that obstruct a unified market and fair competition. For private firms, this means ownership-based differences should be progressively eliminated in tendering, government procurement and licensing.
Implementation still requires specific rules. Where an enterprise encounters obvious differential treatment, it can retain tender documents, evaluation records and correspondence, and assert rights through challenges, complaints, administrative review or litigation. Records turn a sense of unfairness into verifiable facts.
Factors of production and financing
The Opinions require improved financing support, support for private enterprises listing and refinancing, and a normalised mechanism to prevent and clear overdue payments. Financing and receivables are the two cash-flow points most sensitive to private firms.
For smaller companies, receivables are often more immediate than financing. The Opinions state that government bodies, public institutions and large enterprises may not delay payment on grounds such as changes in personnel or internal payment procedures. At the contract stage, payment milestones, acceptance criteria and late-payment liability should be clear; during performance, reconciliation records and collection evidence should be retained.
Property rights and legal safeguards
The Opinions emphasise protecting private property rights and entrepreneurs’ rights in accordance with law, regulating compulsory measures involving property, and improving legal services for enterprise-related cases. This part connects most directly with legal practice.
When facing property disputes, equity conflicts or administrative investigations, enterprises need to distinguish several questions: is the subject matter clear, is the evidence chain complete, and have procedural rights been exhausted? Many outcomes differ not on substance but on procedural response. Maintaining contract, equity, IP and compliance files in advance significantly reduces the cost of proof when a dispute arises.
Entrepreneurial spirit and compliance
The Opinions also call for guiding private enterprises toward compliant operation and stronger credit-building. Policy support and compliance duties are two sides of the same coin: fairer access comes with clearer responsibilities.
A workable starting point is not a large compliance system but control of high-risk areas: tax, employment, data, environment, tendering and bribery. Minimum institutions and records in each area are more effective than a thick manual.
How to read the document
First, read the provisions directly relevant to your industry rather than the whole text. Second, look for supporting mechanisms, such as complaint channels for overdue payments and handling standards for enterprise-related cases. Third, translate policy language into corporate actions: which contract clauses to amend, which files to complete, which disputes to assess early. Fourth, keep reasonable expectations. Policy documents provide direction; specific rights still require individual cases and procedures.
For compliance systems, see our annual legal counsel service; for equity and property disputes, see incorporation and corporate and commercial dispute resolution; for receivables and contract management, see commercial contracts.
This article is based on the Opinions on Promoting the Development and Growth of the Private Economy published on 19 July 2023. It is for reference only and does not constitute legal advice.