JC Master Legal News Issue 1074

Key Takeaways for This Issue

The China Securities Regulatory Commission has issued the Provisional Regulations on Position Management in the Futures Market.
To implement the Futures and Derivatives Law of the People’s Republic of China, strengthen the systematic and targeted management of futures market positions, and further enhance regulatory transparency and efficiency, the China Securities Regulatory Commission recently issued the Interim Provisions on Position Management in the Futures Market.
The National Development and Reform Commission has outlined six key tasks, including intensifying macroeconomic policy adjustments.
On the 30th, the National Development and Reform Commission convened a briefing on the development and reform situation for the first half of 2023. The meeting outlined six key tasks: strengthening macroeconomic policy adjustments, boosting consumption and expanding investment, supporting the development of the real economy, deepening reform and opening-up, consolidating the foundations of economic security, and ensuring and improving people’s livelihoods.
Two departments have announced a batch of tax and fee preferential policies.
On the 2nd, China’s Ministry of Finance and the State Taxation Administration announced a package of tax and fee preferential policies covering areas such as income tax and value-added tax.
The Supreme People’s Procuratorate has released the 46th batch of guiding cases.
Recently, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate released its 46th batch of guiding cases, themed “Safeguarding State Property and Territorial Resources, and Promoting the Implementation of Policies Benefiting the People,” to guide procuratorial organs across the country in exercising their public-interest litigation functions during case handling, thereby protecting state-owned property and land-use rights and ensuring the effective implementation of national policies designed to benefit the people.
Finance & Capital Markets
The China Securities Regulatory Commission has issued the Provisional Regulations on Position Management in the Futures Market.
To implement the Futures and Derivatives Law of the People’s Republic of China, enhance the systematic and targeted nature of position‑management in the futures market, and further improve regulatory transparency and efficiency, the China Securities Regulatory Commission recently issued the Interim Provisions on Position Management in the Futures Market (hereinafter referred to as the “Interim Provisions”).
In the preliminary stage, the CSRC publicly sought comments from the public on the Interim Provisions. Stakeholders generally endorsed the provisions’ underlying rationale, overall framework, and key content. Following careful deliberation, the CSRC has incorporated and adopted certain suggestions received.
The Provisional Regulations primarily set forth provisions regarding the substance, principles for formulation or adjustment, applicable circumstances, and obligations of all participating parties with respect to fundamental systems such as position limits, hedging, large‑holder position reporting, and position aggregation. First, they clarify the principles and methods for establishing or adjusting position limits, thereby standardizing trading practices. Second, they provide principled regulations on hedging activities, specifying the approval and management responsibilities of futures exchanges. Third, they refine the large‑holder position reporting system by expanding the scope of reporting requirements and defining the obligations of reporting entities. Fourth, they explicitly delineate the principles governing position aggregation and, at the same time, lay out general guidelines for the exemption regime related to such aggregation.
Going forward, the China Securities Regulatory Commission will guide futures exchanges and industry institutions to earnestly implement the Provisional Regulations, continuously refine the institutional framework of the futures market, further standardize position‑holding practices, promote the stable operation of the futures market, and better support the high‑quality development of the real economy.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission has issued two financial industry standards, including the “Technical Specifications for Core Trading Systems of Securities Companies.”
Recently, the China Securities Regulatory Commission issued two financial industry standards—“Technical Specifications for Core Trading Systems of Securities Companies” and “Regulatory Data Collection Standards for Futures Companies, Part 1: Basic Information and Brokerage Business”—which shall take effect from the date of their publication.
The financial industry standard “Technical Specifications for Core Trading Systems of Securities Offices” specifies the technical requirements for core trading systems in securities offices, covering the system’s reference architecture and technical‑specification framework, as well as performance, reliability, security, compatibility, portability, maintainability, and functional metrics. It also clarifies the definitions, measurement functions, and measurement methodologies associated with these metrics. The development and implementation of this standard will guide securities offices in conducting quality assessments and testing of their core trading systems, thereby fostering the continuous improvement and evolution of such systems.
The Financial Industry Standard “Regulatory Data Collection Specifications for Futures Companies – Part 1: Basic Information and Brokerage Business” defines the scope of regulatory data collection and the business‑specific data elements related to a futures company’s basic information and brokerage activities. The development and implementation of this standard will effectively guide futures companies in accurately interpreting the content required for regulatory data reporting, enhance the standardization of regulatory data collection and utilization, improve the timeliness and accuracy of data collection, and facilitate data interoperability and sharing.
Going forward, the China Securities Regulatory Commission will continue to advance the informatization of the capital market, with a strong focus on developing foundational standards and promoting the formulation of standards in areas such as industry‑wide technical management and data governance, thereby steadily strengthening the foundation for technology‑driven regulatory oversight.

Is there still room for interest-rate cuts and reserve requirement ratio reductions? The central bank responds.
The National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance, the People’s Bank of China, and the State Taxation Administration jointly held a press conference to provide details on “delivering a coordinated package of macro policies to promote high-quality economic development.” Regarding whether there is still room for interest-rate cuts and reductions in the reserve requirement ratio, Zou Lan, Director-General of the Monetary Policy Department of the People’s Bank of China, stated that, on the one hand, measures such as RRR cuts, open-market operations, the medium-term lending facility, and various structural monetary policy tools all have aggregate effects in injecting liquidity. These tools must be carefully coordinated and flexibly deployed to ensure that liquidity in the banking system remains appropriately ample. A comprehensive assessment of the reserve requirement ratio policy is underway, with the goal of maintaining an adequate level of liquidity across the banking system.
On the other hand, interest rates must be managed in a scientifically sound and prudent manner. While timely and appropriately implementing counter-cyclical adjustments in line with economic and financial conditions and macroeconomic policy objectives, it is equally important to strike a balanced approach between growth and risk, as well as between domestic and external factors, thereby curbing arbitrage and idle capital flows, enhancing policy effectiveness, and bolstering the resilience of banks’ operations.
Zou Lan stated that in recent years, the decline in corporate loan interest rates has been notably effective. Going forward, efforts will continue to leverage the reform of the Loan Market Quote Rate and its guiding role, instructing banks to adjust existing personal housing loan rates in a lawful and orderly manner. At the same time, it is essential to sustain the pivotal role of the market-based deposit rate adjustment mechanism, safeguard market competition, help banks manage their funding costs appropriately, and strengthen the financial sector’s capacity to provide sustained support to the real economy.

Financial technology security hinges on “prevention.”
In recent years, global cloud security incidents have been frequent, with data breaches accounting for the majority. As a result, fintech security has become one of the industry’s key areas of focus. At the 2023 Financial and Insurance Technology Security Operations Summit, experts emphasized that the focus of financial security should shift from “patching vulnerabilities” to “preventing risks before they occur.”
“New technologies are a double-edged sword: while accelerating the digital transformation of the financial sector, they have also become a catalyst for the growth of illicit cyber activities. Examples include privacy breaches stemming from data misuse, heightened risks of financial fraud, and phenomena such as lending discrimination and disruptions to equity trading caused by imperfections in the design of AI algorithms.” According to Xu Xiu, Senior Business Director at the Cloud Computing and Big Data Research Institute of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, although China has already established a solid foundation in advancing digital security within the financial industry, the “treat‑the‑symptom” approach remains widespread. Various security safeguards—covering network security, data security, application security, and more—have yet to be seamlessly integrated, necessitating coordinated, synergistic efforts to achieve coupled‑layered defense. Furthermore, a systematic overhaul is required across multiple dimensions, including top-level planning, technology, and governance.
Ensuring security is always the lifeline of financial technology development. Looking ahead, how can we uphold both development and security, balance innovation with regulation, and build a robust cybersecurity firewall for fintech? Experts recommend: first, scientifically select and deploy technologies that are relatively mature, controllable, stable, and reliable; focus on strengthening independent R&D capabilities in key technologies that have a significant impact on business operations and growth; reduce external dependencies and avoid over-reliance on any single source. Second, enhance the security of digital channels to safeguard the rights and interests of financial consumers. Third, protect financial data security in accordance with laws and regulations. Fourth, continuously strengthen the security of outsourcing partnerships.
Focusing on the insurance industry, digital transformation likewise poses numerous cybersecurity challenges. “The volume of critical data—ranging from personal privacy to asset information—is growing exponentially, and insurers are confronted with the storage and processing of vast amounts of customer data and policy details, thereby increasing the risks of data breaches and data security incidents. Insurance companies must implement robust measures to prevent data leaks, unauthorized access, or misuse,” said Xu Bin, former secretary-general of the National Technical Committee for Insurance Standardization. He added that evolving attack vectors—including hacking, ransomware, and phishing—continue to threaten insurers’ data security and business operations. Moreover, many small and medium-sized insurers leverage IT outsourcing to bolster their core competitiveness, reduce operating costs, and rapidly adopt cutting-edge technologies; however, this approach also introduces significant risks, with frequent occurrences of critical business disruptions, source-code leaks, and unauthorized access to sensitive data.
Xu Bin recommends that, while the insurance industry focuses on cutting-edge technologies and reaps the benefits of innovation, it must consistently prioritize the prevention of technological security risks. Taking “controllable risk” as the bottom line, it should rigorously enforce safety standards for insurance‑technology innovation and, as needed, engage specialized institutions to conduct testing and certification. Given the high complexity of new technologies and the rapid pace of product iteration, small and medium‑sized insurers might consider launching joint research initiatives to address shortcomings in their human‑resource capabilities. At the same time, they could explore establishing an industry‑wide public cloud platform, led by financial infrastructure operators, to facilitate the secure, efficient, and orderly flow of industry data resources. Furthermore, insurance companies should place great emphasis on cybersecurity, ensuring adequate budgetary allocations for cybersecurity technologies and personnel—such as intrusion detection and prevention systems, security monitoring, and dedicated cybersecurity experts—to bolster their network defense capabilities.
Guo Donghai, a responsible official at BYD Property Insurance, stated that the company’s security operations and maintenance practices are shifting from a post‑incident response model to a modular, system‑based approach. “Initially, we faced numerous application scenarios across the internet, with limited visibility into potential vulnerabilities. Our response largely relied on round‑the‑clock manual monitoring, and whenever an issue was detected, the entire team would work overtime. While this approach prioritized speed, it often resulted in prolonged stagnation in security operations management. Moreover, many organizations lacked a dedicated information security department.” By implementing a security operations solution developed in collaboration with Beijing Huaqing Xin’an Technology Co., Ltd., the company has addressed the challenge of unified data management across network, business, and host layers, establishing an enterprise‑wide security data‑driven response mechanism that significantly enhances operational efficiency. Guo Donghai added that the next step will be to further strengthen the company’s internal capabilities for unified security data management, thereby building a highly efficient and secure operations framework.
“Faced with increasingly complex, intelligent, and rapidly evolving cyber threats, traditional security vendors, no matter how hard they try, cannot keep pace with attackers in terms of the speed at which their signature and rule databases are updated. In recent years, emerging security technologies have proliferated, yet they remain limited to isolated capabilities or single‑purpose approaches. To fundamentally enhance security monitoring and achieve proactive defense—preventing threats before they materialize—it is essential to adopt a more holistic strategy.” At this forum, the Financial Insurance Technology Security Research Center of University of International Business and Economics released the “White Paper on Intelligent Cloud Security Operations for the Financial and Insurance Industries,” which advocates building a systematic, continuous security operations framework. This framework would be grounded in conventional security capabilities, centered on next‑generation threat‑detection technologies such as big data analytics and AI‑driven automation, and supplemented by automated response mechanisms, thereby enabling end‑to‑end threat detection, awareness, monitoring, early warning, and remediation. Encouragingly, the security‑operations‑centric approach to cybersecurity is gaining increasing recognition across the industry, with most enterprises, public institutions, and government agencies either already establishing or in the process of deploying comprehensive security operations systems.

Financial support for science and technology innovation hinges on tiered coordination and synergy.
As of the end of June 2023, the outstanding balance of loans to technology‑focused small and medium‑sized enterprises in China’s banking sector stood at RMB 2.36 trillion, up 25.1% year on year, with growth rates exceeding 25% for three consecutive years. The outstanding balances of science‑and‑technology innovation notes and science‑and‑technology innovation corporate bonds totaled approximately RMB 450 billion. More than 1,000 “specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative” SMEs have been listed on the A‑share market, while the assets under management of venture capital and private equity funds approached RMB 14 trillion.
Financial support for science and technology innovation has evolved into a multi‑tiered, all‑encompassing framework. For a long time, China’s financial supply model has been dominated by bank lending, with banks typically serving as the mainstay of services for such initiatives. However, technology offices—particularly those in their early stages—often exhibit high risk profiles, which are at odds with banks’ objective of minimizing non‑performing loans, giving rise to a series of bottlenecks. How can these challenges be addressed? Through ongoing exploration, stakeholders have gradually reached a consensus: financial support for science and technology innovation should prioritize equity investment, integrate equity, debt, and insurance mechanisms, and mobilize diversified sources of funding to provide comprehensive backing.
Financial support for technological innovation hinges on a tiered, coordinated approach. This is because technology offices—whether at different stages of development or operating in distinct sectors—have varying financing needs; one-size-fits-all solutions simply won’t work. For instance, start-ups are typically in urgent need of capital and often willing to dilute equity in exchange for funding, while growth-stage companies may already meet certain banks’ credit‑eligibility criteria and prefer a balanced mix of equity and debt. Meanwhile, mature enterprises focus on cross‑border financing, optimizing capital‑use efficiency, and reducing financial costs, among other considerations.
Financial support for technological innovation is also challenging to implement in a tiered, coordinated manner. Addressing multi‑level demand and facilitating tiered alignment requires robust cross‑stakeholder collaboration, the key to which lies in striking a balance—sharing both returns and risks. Take the “investment‑loan linkage” pilot as an example. The original intent was for commercial banks either to partner with external venture capital offices or to deploy equity investments in enterprises through their own investment‑focused subsidiaries, while simultaneously extending credit, thereby using investment returns to offset credit‑related risks. However, past experience suggests that investment and lending entities remain relatively independent, often proving difficult to align, and that balancing the relationship between investment returns and potential non‑performing loans has proven equally challenging.
The key challenge lies in finding the impetus for breakthroughs. Moving forward, banks, capital markets, insurers, and financing‑guarantee institutions should fully leverage their respective strengths and, through appropriate institutional arrangements, complement one another to create synergies.
Banks must enhance their lending capabilities. They need to revise the criteria they use to assess enterprises. Under the traditional credit model, banks place greater emphasis on whether a company has stable cash flows and accumulated assets; going forward, they should focus more on the office’s future growth prospects and learn to “read” businesses. Banks can collaborate with technology departments, leveraging data from the “Enterprise Innovation Scoring System” to gain a multi‑dimensional understanding of companies and conduct thorough assessments, thereby establishing a credit‑rating framework tailored to the characteristics of science‑and‑technology‑driven enterprises.
The capital market must strengthen its functions. At present, it is essential to enhance financial support for science and technology enterprises in the seed and early‑stage phases, encouraging the market to boldly invest in early‑stage, small‑scale ventures. To this end, we need to ensure smooth operation across the entire value chain of venture capital offices—fundraising, investment, management, and exit—and establish robust evaluation and accountability mechanisms, as well as fault‑tolerance and liability‑exemption frameworks, so that these institutions can shed their burdens and adopt a holistic, long‑term perspective.
Insurance protection must continue to innovate. Given the high degree of uncertainty inherent in science and technology innovation activities, risk-sharing mechanisms are indispensable. Insurance and financing guarantees naturally fulfill risk‑sharing functions; therefore, it is essential to further innovate financing‑guarantee models for science‑and‑technology enterprises, refine pilot policies on insurance‑compensation schemes for the first‑of‑its‑kind major technical equipment and the initial applications of key new materials, and enhance the sustainability of financial support for science and technology innovation.
In addition, it is essential to refine supporting policies and foster a conducive ecosystem. To address the bottleneck of information asymmetry between banks and enterprises, we must enhance data interoperability, strengthen the development of information databases for science and technology–driven offices, and transform financing needs into effective financing matches. To tackle the challenge of securing financing through intellectual property, we will establish an IP trading platform, broaden channels for the monetization and disposal of IP assets, and help these offices turn their intellectual property into tangible capital. Ultimately, through multi‑level coordination and comprehensive exploration, we will enhance the alignment between financial services and the needs of science and technology enterprises.

The central bank: Guiding financial resources to flow more heavily into the private sector.
On August 3, Pan Gongsheng, Secretary of the Party Committee and Governor of the People’s Bank of China, chaired a symposium on financial support for the development of private enterprises, where he listened to relevant opinions and suggestions, promoted supply‑demand matching between banks and enterprises, and examined measures to strengthen financial support for private offices. Pan Gongsheng stated that financial resources would be steered more toward the private sector, and that guiding documents to support private enterprises would be formulated and issued. He also announced plans to expand and increase the scale of the bond‑financing support tool for private enterprises—the “Second Arrow”—and to bolster financial market mechanisms in supporting their growth. In addition, he emphasized the need to implement targeted, differentiated housing credit policies to meet the reasonable financing needs of private real estate companies.
Pan Gongsheng believes that the private sector is a major achievement of the development of the socialist market economy and a vital driving force for economic and social progress. Supporting the development of private enterprises is both an inescapable responsibility of the financial sector and a key component of supply-side structural reform in finance. In recent years, the People’s Bank of China has resolutely implemented the decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, upheld the principle of “two unwavering commitments,” introduced a series of policies and measures, and worked closely with financial institutions to ensure that financing for private enterprises continues to expand in scale, coverage, and affordability, thereby making every effort to help the private sector grow bigger, better, and stronger.
Pan Gongsheng stated that the People’s Bank of China will earnestly implement the requirements set forth in the “Opinions of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on Promoting the Development and Growth of the Private Sector,” precisely and effectively conduct a prudent monetary policy, maintain reasonably ample liquidity, strengthen coordination among financial, fiscal, and industrial policies, and guide financial resources to flow more extensively into the private sector. The Bank will formulate and issue guiding documents to support private enterprises, encourage commercial banks to refine their internal control and management systems, intensify efforts to publicize and interpret relevant policies, and expand the dissemination of best practices. It will also support local governments in proactively addressing the issue of overdue payments to businesses, and advance the expansion and enhancement of the bond‑financing support tool for private enterprises—the “Second Arrow”—to bolster financial market‑based support for the development of private enterprises.
Pan Gongsheng stated that financial institutions should proactively foster a favorable environment that supports the growth and expansion of private enterprises, enhance their risk‑assessment capabilities, comprehensively review policy frameworks related to performance appraisal, business authorization, internal funds transfer pricing, and due‑diligence exemption, and refine incentive mechanisms for serving private offices, thereby boosting their willingness, capacity, and sustainability in extending credit. They should also gain an in-depth understanding of the financial needs of private enterprises, address their concerns and demands, facilitate effective bank‑enterprise financing matchmaking, and provide reliable, efficient, and convenient financial services. Furthermore, they must implement targeted, differentiated housing‑credit policies to meet the reasonable financing needs of private real estate companies and promote the stable and sound development of the real estate sector.
Private enterprises including Yili Group, Hongqiao Group, Longfor Properties, Chint Group, New Hope Group, Sunac China, Midea Real Estate, and Hongdou Group, along with representatives from several financial institutions and the National Association of Financial Market Institutional Investors, attended the symposium. Liu Guoqiang and Zhang Qingsong, members of the Party Committee and vice governors of the People’s Bank of China, also attended the meeting.
At the symposium, the heads of eight private enterprises each outlined their offices’ financing situations, noting that in recent years, corporate financing costs have remained stable while trending downward and that financial support has stayed robust. They also voiced calls to further broaden bond‑financing channels. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and the China Construction Bank stated that they would earnestly fulfill their role as leading state-owned banks, enhance the stability of loan provision to private enterprises, expand credit coverage for small and micro businesses, and support the underwriting and issuance of bonds by private offices. Meanwhile, the National Association of Financial Market Institutional Investors indicated that it would continue to strengthen its efforts to provide bond‑financing support tools—known as the “Second Arrow”—to private enterprises, accelerate innovation in the bond market, and meet the diversified financing needs of private companies. Pan Gongsheng listened carefully to the views and suggestions of all participants, sought detailed information on the implementation of various financial policies, engaged in in-depth discussions with them on key bottlenecks and challenges, and provided on‑the‑spot responses to some of the proposals.

Commercial & Corporate
The criteria for recognizing start-up technology enterprises will remain in effect until the end of 2027.
To further support entrepreneurship and innovation, the Ministry of Finance and the State Taxation Administration issued on August 1 the “Announcement on Extending the Application of Policy Conditions Related to Venture Capital Enterprises and Angel Investors’ Investments in Early-Stage Technology-Based Startups” (No. 17 of 2023).
The Notice states that, with respect to the eligibility criteria for start-up technology enterprises, the maximum number of employees shall remain capped at 300, and the total assets and annual sales revenue shall each not exceed RMB 50 million. All other conditions stipulated in Cai Shui [2018] No. 55 shall remain unchanged. Investments that have been held for at least two years during this period, as well as newly made investments, shall be eligible for the relevant tax policies in accordance with Cai Shui [2018] No. 55 and the provisions of this Notice.

Five departments have jointly issued a document proposing the development of branded intermodal passenger transport services.
On August 2, the website of the Ministry of Transport published the “Notice on Fostering Passenger Intermodal Transport Service Brands.”
The Notice clarifies that five departments have decided to launch an initiative to cultivate passenger intermodal transport service brands. Through the sustained implementation of this effort, the goal is to establish, nationwide, a cohort of intermodal transport service brands distinguished by robust infrastructure, comprehensive network coverage, efficient resource integration, standardized operational services, and well‑functioning institutional mechanisms. Additionally, the initiative aims to foster a group of leading enterprises with strong growth momentum, competitive edge, high service quality, and significant spillover effects. The Notice further specifies seven key areas of development: (1) a unified ticketing system for passenger transport; (2) integrated, hub‑to‑hub intermodal services; (3) interconnected and shared intermodal information systems; (4) dedicated intermodal passenger services; (5) intermodal services addressing irregular delays; (6) optimized security‑check procedures across different modes of transport; and (7) streamlined baggage handling and transportation services.

The Cyberspace Administration of China plans to issue the Measures for the Administration of Compliance Audits on Personal Information Protection.
On August 3, the official WeChat account of the Cyberspace Administration of China released a notice soliciting public comments on the “Administrative Measures for Compliance Audits of Personal Information Protection (Draft for Public Comment),” with the deadline for submitting feedback set for September 2.
The Measures comprise sixteen articles and are accompanied by an annex containing thirty-one “Reference Points for Personal Information Protection Compliance Audits.” The Measures stipulate that personal information processors handling the personal information of more than one million individuals shall conduct at least one personal information protection compliance audit annually; other personal information processors shall conduct such audits at least once every two years. Professional institutions conducting these audits must maintain independence and objectivity, and may not perform consecutive personal information protection compliance audits for the same auditee more than three times. The Reference Points set forth the key review considerations applicable to various types of personal information processors in different circumstances.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has publicly announced the list of newly added cross-industry and cross-domain industrial internet platforms for 2023.
On August 1, the website of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology published the “Public Notice of the List of Newly Added Cross-Industry and Cross-Domain Industrial Internet Platforms for 2023,” with the public notice period running until August 7.
The list shows that in 2023, a total of 22 new cross-industry, cross-domain industrial internet platforms were added, including China Unicom’s GeWu Unilink industrial internet platform operated by China Unicom Xiong’an Industrial Internet Co., Ltd., the Huoshi industrial internet platform of State Grid Shandong Electric Power Company, the YuJia industrial internet platform of Ansteel Group Automation Co., Ltd., the Changzheng Cloud industrial internet platform of Aerospace New Long March Avenue Technology Co., Ltd., and others.

The Ministry of Housing and Urban–Rural Development plans to issue six national standards in the construction engineering field.
On August 1, the website of the Ministry of Housing and Urban–Rural Development published the following notices soliciting public comments: “Notice on Soliciting Public Comments on the National Standard ‘General Technical Requirements for Indoor Temperature Controllers (Draft for Comments)’”; “Notice on Soliciting Public Comments on the National Standard ‘Energy‑Saving Design Standard for Rural Residential Buildings (Partial Revision Draft for Comments)’”; “Notice on Soliciting Public Comments on the National Standard ‘Evaluation Standard for Building Applications of Renewable Energy (Partial Revision Draft for Comments)’”; “Notice on Soliciting Public Comments on the National Standard ‘Modular Air‑Conditioning Units (Revised Draft for Comments)’”; “Notice on Soliciting Public Comments on the National Standard ‘Technical Requirements for Safety Prevention Systems in Urban Rail Transit (Revised Draft for Comments)’”; and “Notice on Soliciting Public Comments on the National Standard ‘General Technical Requirements for Building Windows (Revised Draft for Comments).” The deadline for submitting feedback is August 30.

The National Development and Reform Commission has outlined six key tasks, including intensifying macroeconomic policy adjustments.
On the 30th, the National Development and Reform Commission convened a briefing on the development and reform situation for the first half of 2023. The meeting outlined six key tasks: strengthening macroeconomic policy adjustments, boosting consumption and expanding investment, supporting the development of the real economy, deepening reform and opening-up, consolidating the foundations of economic security, and ensuring and improving people’s livelihoods.
The meeting’s analysis pointed out that we must fully recognize that the national economy continues to recover, showing an overall upward trend; high-quality development is steadily advancing; and social stability remains intact. These achievements have been attained despite weakening external demand, mounting adverse impacts from a changing international environment, the overlapping and compounding of domestic cyclical and structural challenges, and the gradual emergence of risks and hidden dangers in certain sectors—outcomes that were in line with expectations and hard-won. At the same time, we must squarely face new difficulties and challenges, including insufficient domestic demand, operational difficulties faced by some enterprises, lingering risks in certain areas, and a complex and severe external environment. Above all, we must deeply appreciate that China’s economy is resilient, possesses substantial potential, and brims with vitality; its fundamental outlook for long-term improvement remains unchanged. The new development paradigm is being accelerated, high-quality development is being comprehensively advanced, and economic growth enjoys solid support and favorable conditions. We are confident, well-equipped, and capable of steering the economy toward sustained structural optimization, stronger growth drivers, and an ever‑improving development trajectory.
The meeting emphasized the need to prioritize stability while seeking progress within that stability, and to earnestly advance development and reform efforts to achieve new results.
First, we will strengthen macroeconomic policy adjustments, implement them in a targeted and effective manner, enhance the coordinated planning and proactive preparation of macro policies, and ensure robust expectation management.
Second, we will boost consumption and expand investment by fostering a steady recovery and expansion of bulk‑goods consumption, sustaining robust growth in service‑sector spending, invigorating private investment, leveraging the guiding role of government investment, and unlocking demand potential in the process of promoting balanced regional and urban–rural development.
Third, we will support the development of the real economy, accelerate the building of a modern industrial system, advance high‑level scientific and technological self‑reliance and strength, promote the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, speed up the cultivation and expansion of strategic emerging industries, and implement comprehensive measures to help enterprises reduce burdens and enhance efficiency.
Fourth, we will deepen reform and opening-up, earnestly implement the “two unwavering commitments,” continue to advance reforms in key areas, and accelerate the establishment of a new system of a higher‑level open economy.
Fifth, we will consolidate the foundations of economic security by ensuring stable production and secure supply of grain and key agricultural products, strengthening capacity-building for energy and resource security, and advancing efforts to strengthen, extend, upgrade, and establish industrial and supply chains, thereby effectively safeguarding data security.
Sixth, we will safeguard and improve people’s wellbeing through development, intensify efforts to promote employment among key groups such as college graduates, continue to boost residents’ incomes, and raise the standards of public services and social security.

The “Twenty Measures” to Boost Consumption Have Been Released, with a Comprehensive Package of Policies Aimed at Expanding Domestic Demand.
On July 31, the “Measures for Restoring and Expanding Consumption” (hereinafter referred to as the “Measures”) were recently released. Centered on six key areas—stabilizing bulk‑goods consumption, expanding service‑sector consumption, boosting rural consumption, fostering new forms of consumption, upgrading consumer infrastructure, and improving the consumption environment—the Measures set out 20 policy initiatives. Together with other recently issued priority policies across various sectors and product categories, these Measures constitute a comprehensive policy framework aimed at stimulating consumption and expanding domestic demand. At the State Council’s regular policy briefing held that day, multiple ministries, including the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, further clarified the next steps for implementation.
Boosting the supply side to enhance consumer willingness to spend.
Li Chunlin, Deputy Director of the National Development and Reform Commission, stated that in the first half of the year, China’s domestic consumer market has been on an overall recovery trajectory. Offline sectors such as catering, cultural tourism, and movie theaters have rebounded rapidly, shopping malls and commercial streets have regained their vibrancy, and sporting events and concerts have resumed one after another, often seeing tickets hard to come by. “However, the growth momentum in some consumer categories remains fragile; many residents still lack confidence and harbor considerable concerns, while consumer experiences in certain areas remain subpar, leaving much room for improvement. Further policy support is needed to bolster these efforts.”
Li Chunlin stated that consumption‑stimulating policies are not about “emptying people’s wallets” or “overextending demand”; on the contrary, their aim is to help households cut costs, enabling them to purchase high‑quality, affordable goods and access new products and services that are more technologically advanced and better aligned with their needs, while safeguarding them against illegal schemes and counterfeit or substandard offerings. When government measures are more effective and truly benefit the public, both consumer spending and overall welfare can rise in tandem.
This calls for further strengthening supply-side efforts to enrich the range of high-quality products and services and better meet consumer demand. To this end, the Measures propose seamlessly integrating the strategy of expanding domestic demand with deepening supply-side structural reform, enhancing the adaptability and flexibility of the supply structure to changing demand, opening up new avenues for consumption, creating innovative consumption settings, and enriching the overall consumer experience—thereby leveraging high-quality supply to lead and generate new market demand.
“If the supply side remains unreformed and the products it delivers fail to meet market demand, consumers will not pay for them,” said Li Chunlin. He added that we must rely on supply-side structural reform to adapt to shifting demand and create new sources of demand.
Among these measures, Li Chunlin stated that, with regard to the automotive consumption segment, they will explore ways to refine and expand more mass‑market, inclusive support policies, thereby better meeting the public’s multi‑tiered and diversified consumption needs and fostering high‑quality development in related industries.
Regarding the home appliance sector, He Yaqiong, Director-General of the Consumer Goods Industry Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, stated that the next steps will focus on advancing product development—delivering more, better, and more concrete offerings—and scaling up production. At the same time, the ministry will continue to implement the “Three‑Product” initiative—expanding product variety, enhancing quality, and building strong brands—in the consumer electronics field; accelerate the global launch of innovative products; support enterprises in pursuing high‑end development; and cultivate well‑known, reputable brands. Furthermore, the ministry will promote health‑oriented, energy‑efficient, and environmentally friendly solutions, ensuring that consumers have access to a wider range of high‑quality, affordable products.
Strengthen regulation and optimize the consumer environment.
While bolstering the supply side, the Measures address issues of poor consumer experiences and dissatisfaction in certain sectors by introducing targeted initiatives aimed at improving the consumption environment and encouraging residents to “dare to spend.” The Measures propose such measures as “launching a comprehensive ‘Peace-of-Mind Consumption’ campaign and refining service standards in key consumer‑service sectors,” “cracking down on counterfeit and substandard goods in accordance with the law,” and “expediting the establishment of a closed-loop system for peace-of-mind consumption that covers returns and exchanges, quality traceability, transparent pricing, regulatory oversight, and consumer feedback.”
Kuang Xu, Director of the Enforcement and Inspection Bureau of the State Administration for Market Regulation, stated that, in order to strengthen the institutional foundation of the consumer environment, relevant authorities have formulated or revised a series of regulations and rules, including the Measures for the Supervision and Administration of Online Transactions and the Provisions on Clearly Marked Prices and the Prohibition of Price Fraud. Focusing on emerging business models such as blind-box sales, online duty-free shopping, and new-energy vehicles, the authorities have issued regulatory guidelines, provided administrative guidance, and implemented recalls of defective products, while also guiding sectors like home appliances, automobiles, duty-free goods, blind boxes, and e‑commerce to enhance after-sales service.
Meanwhile, regulatory oversight and law enforcement have been continuously strengthened. Market regulators have launched decisive crackdowns on issues that have drawn strong public concern, including the illegal addition of substances to food, counterfeit and substandard products, misleading “miracle doctor” and “miracle drug” advertisements, and irregularities in the medical aesthetics sector. Since the beginning of this year, more than 350,000 cases in areas vital to people’s livelihoods have been investigated and prosecuted. A nationwide “Peace-of-Mind Consumption” campaign has been fully rolled out, with ongoing promotion of policies such as no‑reason returns in physical stores, cross‑location returns for local purchases, and advance‑payment rapid refunds. To date, 654,000 brick‑and‑mortar retailers across the country have processed returns totaling approximately RMB 5.38 billion. Furthermore, the online dispute‑resolution mechanism of the national 12315 platform has been refined, encouraging 132,000 businesses to join the platform and enabling 16.5% of consumer disputes to be resolved directly at the source.
Going forward, to further refine the long-term mechanism for boosting consumption, the State Administration for Market Regulation and other relevant departments will issue guidelines to improve the consumer environment, launch a nationwide initiative to establish model “consumer‑friendly” cities, and leverage the catalytic effect of city‑wide efforts to drive continuous improvements and upgrades in consumer conditions across the country.
Expand employment and boost incomes to strengthen consumers’ purchasing power.
The Measures also propose “optimizing the mechanisms that foster a virtuous cycle across the entire chain of employment, income distribution, and consumption, thereby enhancing consumers’ purchasing power.”
Li Chunlin stated that the next steps will focus on key priorities, implement targeted policies, and invigorate economic vitality; they will ensure the effective implementation of employment‑first policies, strengthen bottom-line support for vulnerable groups, uphold the principle of rewarding hard work, encourage people to become prosperous through diligence, and help more low‑income individuals move into the middle-income bracket. Additionally, policies and systems for factor‑based income distribution will be refined, with multiple channels used to increase factor incomes for low- and middle‑income households and to boost property‑related income for both urban and rural residents. Efforts will be made to ensure that household income growth remains broadly in step with economic growth, while enhancing consumers’ purchasing power to stimulate their willingness to spend.
In the view of Dong Ximiao, chief researcher at China Merchants Bank, consumer spending remains sluggish, particularly as both consumers’ willingness and ability to spend have weakened. From a short-term perspective, this stems largely from the initial pandemic shock, which left some businesses unable to operate normally, while households faced job and income instability and growing uncertainty, dampening their propensity to consume. From a longer-term standpoint, it is linked to the need for further improvements in the social safety net. In recent years, China has undertaken substantial reforms in areas such as education, healthcare, and elderly care; however, with the social security system still falling short of comprehensive coverage, households’ expectations of future income and expenditures have grown more uncertain, leading to a marked increase in precautionary saving and a corresponding restraint on further consumption expansion.
“The key is to stabilize residents’ expectations and confidence, thereby further boosting their willingness and ability to consume,” said Dong Ximiao. He added that the Measures introduce a range of targeted policies that will effectively unlock consumption potential, drive structural upgrading, and help sustain the improvement in economic performance.

Five departments have launched a financing promotion initiative for small, medium, and micro enterprises under the “One Chain, One Policy, One Batch” framework.
On August 1, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced that five departments—the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the People’s Bank of China, the National Administration of Financial Regulation, the China Securities Regulatory Commission, and the Ministry of Finance—have jointly issued the “Notice on Launching the ‘One Chain, One Policy, One Batch’ Initiative to Promote Financing for Small and Micro Enterprises.” The notice calls for establishing a coordinated mechanism among government, enterprises, and financial institutions centered on key manufacturing industry chains, and encourages financial institutions to tailor their offerings to the specific characteristics of each chain, leveraging their respective strengths to provide targeted, diversified financial support measures under a “one chain, one policy” approach.
The notice clarifies that priority industrial chains will be selected to build a financing‑facilitation ecosystem. Leveraging leading enterprises in these chains, as well as specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative “Little Giant” offices and other key players, a further screening will identify high‑quality small and micro enterprises that play a pivotal role in strengthening, supplementing, and stabilizing the industrial chain, and a list of their financing needs will be compiled.
Local departments of industry and information technology, in collaboration with financial institutions, digital service platforms, public service agencies for SMEs, and demonstration platforms for public services, have established dedicated service teams. Focusing on key industrial chains, these teams conduct in-depth outreach to industrial parks, clusters, and individual enterprises, providing targeted guidance and addressing the financing challenges faced by micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises.
The notice outlines a series of measures, including optimizing credit‑granting strategies and refining financing‑related credit‑enhancement approaches. With regard to improving the strategy for fostering companies’ IPO readiness, it calls on local departments of industry and information technology, in conjunction with efforts to cultivate high‑quality SMEs at different tiers, to assess the listing intentions and operational conditions of small and micro enterprises within supply chains, and to establish a pool of prospective IPO candidates.

Taxation
Several tax preferential policies have been extended and refined through the end of 2027.
The Ministry of Finance and the State Taxation Administration have issued several announcements, clarifying the extension and optimization of a number of tax preferential policies.
According to the announcement, to further support the development of small and micro enterprises and individual business households, the VAT exemption policy for small-scale taxpayers will be extended until December 31, 2027. From January 1, 2023, to December 31, 2027, personal income tax on the portion of an individual business household’s annual taxable income not exceeding RMB 2 million will be levied at a reduced rate of 50%. In addition, resource tax (excluding water resource tax), urban maintenance and construction tax, property tax, urban land use tax, stamp duty (excluding securities transaction stamp duty), cultivated land occupation tax, as well as the education surcharge and local education surcharge, will be levied at a reduced rate of 50% for small-scale VAT taxpayers, small and low-profit enterprises, and individual business households. Furthermore, the policy of calculating taxable income for small and low-profit enterprises at 25% of the actual amount and paying corporate income tax at a rate of 20% will remain in effect until December 31, 2027.
To further strengthen support for small and micro enterprises and help alleviate the challenges of difficult and expensive financing, the announcement states that interest income earned by financial institutions from issuing small‑amount loans to small enterprises, micro enterprises, and individual business households will be exempt from value‑added tax; furthermore, stamp duty will be waived on loan contracts entered into between financial institutions and small and micro enterprises.
In addition, the two departments have issued announcements on extending the application of policy measures related to venture capital offices and angel investors’ investments in early-stage technology enterprises, as well as on extending the value-added tax policy for financing guarantees provided to rural households, small and micro enterprises, and individual business households. All such policies will remain in effect until December 31, 2027.
Professor Li Xuhong of the National Accounting Institute in Beijing stated that most of the tax‑preferential policies outlined in the announcement are set to expire over the next two years, with a particular focus on the development of small, medium, and micro enterprises and the financial support measures associated with them. The extension and refinement of several such tax incentives will help stabilize business expectations, bolster market confidence, and continue to underpin the growth of small, medium, and micro enterprises, thereby contributing to the recovery and improvement of the economy.

Extension of tax preferential policies, halving of personal income tax—
A package of tax and fee measures boosts the development of small and micro enterprises.
On August 2, the Ministry of Finance and the State Taxation Administration jointly issued several announcements, clarifying a series of tax and fee policies to support the development of small and micro enterprises and individual business households, thereby further reducing their burdens and boosting their growth momentum.
The meeting of the CPC Central Politburo called for the continued implementation of an active fiscal policy and a prudent monetary policy, as well as the extension, refinement, improvement, and effective execution of tax and fee reduction measures. “Most of the policies released this time extend preferential measures that were set to expire at the end of this year; some build on earlier policies by further refining and enhancing them, while others strengthen support even more,” said Xu Wen, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Fiscal Sciences.
According to the announcement, from January 1, 2023, to December 31, 2027, individual business households will be subject to a 50% reduction in personal income tax on the portion of their annual taxable income that does not exceed RMB 2 million. In addition to any existing personal income tax preferential policies, individual business households may also benefit from the aforementioned policy.
Xu Wen analyzed that, in accordance with the aforementioned regulations, the threshold for the annual taxable income eligible for a 50% reduction in individual income tax on self-employed individuals has been raised from no more than RMB 1 million to no more than RMB 2 million. “To further support the development of self-employed individuals, the state has strengthened the scope and intensity of policy incentives.”
The announcement also stipulates that, from January 1, 2023, to December 31, 2027, resource tax (excluding water resource tax), urban maintenance and construction tax, property tax, urban land use tax, stamp duty (excluding securities transaction stamp duty), cultivated land occupation tax, as well as the education surcharge and local education surcharge, will be levied at half the standard rate for small-scale VAT taxpayers, small and low-profit enterprises, and individual business households. In addition, the policy of calculating taxable income at 25% of the actual amount for small and low-profit enterprises and paying corporate income tax at a rate of 20% will remain in effect until December 31, 2027.
Notably, the policy providing VAT exemptions and reductions for small-scale taxpayers has been extended through the end of 2027. Under the relevant regulations, VAT is exempted for small-scale taxpayers whose monthly sales do not exceed RMB 100,000 (inclusive). For taxable sales revenue subject to a 3% VAT rate, the tax rate is reduced to 1%; likewise, for VAT prepayments subject to a 3% withholding rate, the withholding rate is lowered to 1%.
“Taking a small-scale taxpayer with annual taxable income of RMB 5 million and a standard tax rate of 3% as an example, the reduced VAT rate of 1% would result in annual VAT savings of RMB 100,000, demonstrating a very significant relief,” analyzed Li Xuhong, Director of the Academic Committee at the National Accounting Institute in Beijing.
Tax and fee preferential policies continue to bolster financing for small and micro enterprises, helping to alleviate the challenges of difficult and expensive access to finance. The announcement clarifies that financial institutions are exempt from value-added tax on interest income derived from issuing small‑amount loans to small and micro enterprises and individual business households. Furthermore, taxpayers are also exempt from value-added tax on guarantee fees earned from providing financing guarantees for loans or bond issuances to farmers, small enterprises, micro enterprises, and individual business households, as well as on reinsurance fees collected for providing reinsurance services in support of such financing guarantees.
Li Xuhong believes that this policy can directly reduce the tax burden on financial institutions, bolster their willingness to extend credit to small and micro enterprises, and inject more “fresh capital” into these businesses. For business entities, it also alleviates their burdens indirectly by lowering the tax liabilities of financial institutions.
The two departments also clarified the continued implementation of policies pertaining to venture capital offices and angel investors investing in early-stage technology enterprises.
Xu Wen believes that “the various tax and fee preferential policies in this round are all set to expire at the end of 2027, with extended durations compared to previous measures, thereby helping to stabilize businesses’ policy expectations and sending a clear signal to the market of steady growth and stable expectations.”
“Overall, a series of tax and fee preferential policies are working in concert to support the sound development of small and micro enterprises and individual business households. The enhanced vitality of these entities can further improve their operating conditions and create ample employment opportunities,” said Li Xuhong. She added that small, medium, and micro enterprises are predominantly part of the private sector, and such preferential policies will play a crucial role in bolstering business confidence in the private sector.
Data show that in the first half of this year, nationwide tax and fee reductions, refunds, and deferrals totaled RMB 927.9 billion. By enterprise size, small, medium, and micro enterprises benefited most significantly, with new tax and fee reductions, refunds, and deferrals amounting to RMB 576.6 billion, accounting for 62% of the total.

Two departments have announced a batch of tax and fee preferential policies.
On the 2nd, China’s Ministry of Finance and the State Taxation Administration announced a package of tax and fee preferential policies covering areas such as income tax and value-added tax. These measures include:
From January 1, 2023, to December 31, 2027, individual business households will enjoy a 50% reduction in personal income tax on the portion of their annual taxable income that does not exceed RMB 2 million. In addition, value-added tax small-scale taxpayers, small and low-profit enterprises, and individual business households will receive a 50% reduction in resource tax (excluding water resource tax), urban maintenance and construction tax, property tax, urban land use tax, stamp duty (excluding securities transaction stamp duty), cultivated land occupation tax, as well as the education surcharge and local education surcharge.
The policy of calculating taxable income at 25% for small and low-profit enterprises and levying corporate income tax at a rate of 20% will remain in effect until December 31, 2027.
In addition to the aforementioned tax and fee preferential policies, including income tax incentives, the Ministry of Finance and the State Taxation Administration have also announced a series of preferential measures related to value-added tax and other taxes.
Value-added tax is exempted for small-scale VAT taxpayers whose monthly sales do not exceed RMB 100,000 (inclusive). For taxable sales revenue subject to a 3% VAT rate, the VAT shall be levied at a reduced rate of 1%; for VAT prepayment items subject to a 3% prepayment rate, the VAT shall be prepaid at a reduced rate of 1%.
Interest income earned by financial institutions from issuing small‑amount loans to small enterprises, micro‑enterprises, and individual business households is exempt from value‑added tax. Stamp duty is also exempted on loan contracts entered into between financial institutions and small and micro enterprises.
Income derived from guarantee fees earned by taxpayers for providing financing guarantees on loans and bond issuances to farmers, small enterprises, micro‑enterprises, and individual business households, as well as income from reinsurance fees earned for providing reinsurance on such financing guarantees, is exempt from value-added tax.
According to the announcement issued by the two departments, the aforementioned preferential policies, including those related to value-added tax, will remain in effect until December 31, 2027.

Three departments interpret the “Notice on Implementing Several Recent Measures to Promote the Development of the Private Sector.”
Ensure that private enterprises experience a genuine and tangible sense of gain.
On July 19, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council issued the “Opinions on Promoting the Development and Growth of the Private Sector” (hereinafter referred to as the “Opinions”). To effectively advance the high-quality development of the private sector, the National Development and Reform Commission, in collaboration with the State Administration for Market Regulation, the State Taxation Administration, and other relevant departments, recently jointly released the “Notice on Implementing Several Immediate Measures to Promote the Development of the Private Sector” (hereinafter referred to as the “Several Measures”), which serves as a set of supporting policies to implement the “Opinions,” and made it public on August 1. In connection with the “Several Measures,” the National Development and Reform Commission held a press conference, during which responsible officials from the relevant departments provided interpretations.
28 specific measures across five areas to deepen, refine, and implement relevant policies and initiatives.
“The ‘Several Measures’ are formulated with the needs of the private sector in mind, addressing the most pressing challenges faced by private enterprises. They propose 28 specific measures across five key areas—promoting fair market access, strengthening support for production factors, enhancing legal safeguards, optimizing business‑related services, and fostering a favorable environment—aiming to be pragmatic, effective, and deliver tangible results in the near term,” said Wang Shancheng, Director-General of the Comprehensive Department for Institutional Reform at the National Development and Reform Commission. He added that, in line with the implementation of the “Opinions,” these measures further deepen, refine, and concretize the relevant policies and initiatives.
Further strengthen the principal responsibility system, assign specific roles and responsibilities for implementing each task, and clearly define “who is responsible,” ensuring that private enterprises know “who to turn to” when encountering problems. For example, in response to the pressing issue of delayed payments—widely reported by private enterprises—the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has been designated to lead efforts to resolve it. In particular, it has been stipulated that audit authorities will accept leads on outstanding payments submitted by private enterprises and intensify audit oversight.
Further clarifying implementation details and ensuring that guiding measures are effectively put into practice. For example, the “Opinions” call on private enterprises to “pursue breakthroughs in critical core technologies and, in accordance with regulations, actively undertake major national science and technology projects.” The “Several Measures” then specify the particular sectors in which the private sector will be supported to lead and carry out key technological R&D tasks—namely, industrial software, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, the industrial internet, gene and cell therapies, and next‑generation energy storage—thereby sharpening the scope of the policy.
Further, more robust measures will be introduced. For example, the “Opinions” propose “streamlining the channels for professional title evaluations in private enterprises,” while the “Several Measures” elaborate further by “granting private enterprises the authority to conduct their own professional title evaluations and allowing large-scale private enterprises with strong technical capabilities to establish, either independently or jointly, title evaluation committees to carry out autonomous assessments.” Another example: the “Opinions” stipulate that “government service matters shall not be converted into intermediary service items,” and the “Several Measures” build on this by “establishing a list‑based management system for intermediary services related to administrative permits involving enterprises; any item not included on the list shall no longer serve as a prerequisite for accepting applications for administrative approval.”
Further implementing incentive and constraint mechanisms. The “Several Measures” stipulate that “the implementation of policies supporting the development of the private sector in each region will be incorporated into the State Council’s annual comprehensive inspection; identified issues will be urged to be rectified, and successful practices will be publicized and promoted.” In addition, it proposes “establishing a special fund within the central budget to incentivize and support private investment, providing annual awards and support to a group of cities and counties that demonstrate rapid growth, a high share of private investment, strong dynamism, and effective measures.” These measures, by rewarding leading examples and setting benchmarks, will motivate all stakeholders to actively support the robust development of the private sector.
Promote fair market access, strengthen support for key production factors, and address prominent issues in the tendering and bidding process.
Market access is a core component of the private sector’s participation in market activities. The “Several Measures” put forward a number of initiatives centered on “promoting fair market access.” “In recent years, progress has been made in easing entry barriers for private enterprises; however, some localities and government departments still impose unreasonable restrictions on private offices. The recently issued ‘Opinions’ call for ‘continuously dismantling market access barriers,’ precisely to address the various challenges private enterprises face in gaining market access,” said Wang Shancheng. He added that work will be expedited to revise the fifth edition of the Negative List for Market Access, further reducing the number of items on the list; comprehensive performance assessments will be conducted to accelerate the development of systematic access arrangements in key sectors; and efforts to identify, compile, publicize, hold talks with, and rectify problematic cases will be stepped up, thereby fostering a fairer market‑access environment conducive to the healthy development of the private sector.
Since the beginning of this year, tax authorities have fully and meticulously implemented various tax and fee‑support policies designed to benefit the private sector. “In the first half of the year, taxpayers in the private sector—including small and micro enterprises and individual business households—received an additional 704.9 billion yuan in tax and fee reductions, refunds, and deferrals, accounting for 76% of the total benefits and making them the primary beneficiaries of these measures,” said Dai Shiyou, Director-General of the Policy and Regulations Department of the State Taxation Administration. He added that the “Several Measures” specify a number of tax policy initiatives, such as extending the July provisional filing period as a point at which eligible entities can access these benefits and allowing companies to claim enhanced deductions for R&D expenses incurred in the first half of the year. “The tax authorities will continue to provide stronger support, more favorable policies, and higher‑quality services to ensure that the private sector grows robustly and sustainably,” he stated.
The “Several Measures” propose launching a special campaign to address prominent problems in engineering construction tendering and bidding. Recently, the National Development and Reform Commission, together with relevant departments, has initiated this effort. “In accordance with the requirements, local authorities and relevant departments are conducting random inspections—covering at least 10 percent of projects that, by law, must undergo tendering since the beginning of this year—to verify whether any illegal or non-compliant practices occurred throughout the entire tendering and bidding process,” said Meng Wei, Director-General of the Department of Regulations and Spokesperson of the NDRC. She added that the special campaign focuses on identifying issues, correcting deviations, addressing shortcomings, and ensuring effective implementation, with the aim of achieving tangible results. For instance, regarding serious disruptions to market order—such as bid-rigging, collusive bidding, and the use of shell companies to fraudulently obtain qualifications—administrative supervisory authorities at all levels will adopt a zero-tolerance approach and take resolute enforcement actions. Cases involving egregious misconduct will be punished severely and in accordance with the law, and the outcomes will be publicly disclosed.
“Throughout 2022, enterprises that exited the market via the simplified deregistration procedure accounted for 70 percent of the total,” said Zhang Shu, a second‑level inspector with the Registration Bureau of the State Administration for Market Regulation. In recent years, the Administration has collaborated with multiple departments to introduce a series of measures aimed at streamlining and facilitating business deregistration, advancing the “one‑stop” reform for enterprise exit through tailored, category‑specific policies. “Going forward, we will further refine the standard deregistration system by optimizing process design, shortening public notice periods, clarifying corporate accountability, improving post‑deregistration redress mechanisms, and strengthening credit‑based punitive measures, thereby enhancing the efficiency of market exit while safeguarding the security of market transactions.”
Accelerate the development of a unified national market and advance the market-based allocation of production factors.
Promoting the robust development of the private sector is a systemic undertaking, characterized by broad scope, an extended policy chain, and numerous operational steps. “Over the years, the National Development and Reform Commission has not only focused on addressing the challenges faced by private enterprises but has also, through the construction of a unified national market and reforms to promote market-based allocation of production factors, continuously fostered a favorable institutional environment for the private sector’s growth,” Wang Shancheng said, outlining relevant progress and outlining plans for the next phase of work.
Accelerate the development of a unified national market. In 2022, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council issued and implemented the “Opinions on Accelerating the Development of a Unified National Market.” The National Development and Reform Commission organized localities to conduct self‑inspections and rectification, introducing a series of supporting policies aimed at strengthening the uniformity of basic market systems and rules, promoting the integration of factor and resource markets, advancing high‑level unification of goods and services markets, and ensuring fair and unified market regulation, while addressing a number of prominent issues. Going forward, a system will be established for holding talks and issuing public notices on cases involving improper interference with the construction of the unified national market, and efforts will be stepped up to further refine the supporting policy framework.
Promote market-based allocation of production factors. Pilot programs to bring rural collectively-owned construction land into the market have been fully launched; urban household registration policies have been steadily and orderly relaxed; a comprehensive reform of the stock issuance registration system has been implemented; responsibilities for reviewing and regulating corporate and enterprise bond issuances have been unified; efforts are underway to establish an interconnected technology‑trading network; and work is accelerating to build a unified data‑governance framework… In recent years, reform measures across all factor markets have been successively put into practice. Going forward, we will improve the unified urban–rural land and labor markets, accelerate the development of a unified capital market, and expedite the cultivation of integrated technology and data markets. We will dismantle fragmentation and dual-track operations in factor markets, ensuring that institutional frameworks across different sectors are mutually aligned in policy orientation, mutually reinforcing in implementation, and synergistic in delivering tangible reform outcomes.
“The National Development and Reform Commission has established a mechanism for communication and dialogue with private enterprises, and will continue to broadly gather the challenges they face, provide practical assistance in addressing their difficulties, and ensure that private enterprises experience tangible benefits,” said Wang Shancheng.

LITIGATION & ARBITRATION
The Supreme People’s Court, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, the Ministry of Public Security, and the Ministry of Justice have issued the “Opinions on Handling Criminal Cases Involving Sexual Assault Against Minors.”
The Supreme People’s Court, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, the Ministry of Public Security, and the Ministry of Justice have issued the “Opinions on Handling Criminal Cases Involving Sexual Assault Against Minors” (hereinafter referred to as the “Opinions”), which shall take effect as of June 1, 2023.
The Party and the state have consistently attached great importance to the protection of minors. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping has issued a series of important instructions, emphasizing that “cultivating children and adolescents is a strategic task of far‑reaching significance.” In June 2021, the CPC Central Committee promulgated the “Opinions of the CPC Central Committee on Strengthening Legal Supervision by the Procuratorial Organs in the New Era,” explicitly calling for “strengthening judicial protection for minors and improving a protection system that integrates professional expertise with social participation.”
The Supreme People’s Procuratorate attaches great importance to the punishment and prevention of crimes involving sexual abuse of minors. In line with the requirement to handle every case with high quality and efficiency, it maintains a zero‑tolerance stance and severely cracks down on such offenses; it has issued guiding cases, including those on remote indecent assault, to advance updated judicial concepts and refine case‑handling procedures; focusing on sexual abuse in schools, it has issued “Procuratorial Recommendation No. 1,” promoting the establishment of mandatory reporting mechanisms and pre‑employment background checks for cases involving harm to minors, thereby strengthening source‑level governance and crime prevention; and, in accordance with the law, it proactively fulfills its duties, making full use of legal supervision tools such as procuratorial recommendations and public interest litigation to help ensure that families, schools, society, the internet, and government authorities all assume their respective responsibilities, striving to build a robust safety net for all minors.
As the criminal landscape evolves, law enforcement and the judiciary are confronted with increasingly complex challenges. Victims of sexual offenses are becoming younger, while new forms of crime—such as remote indecency and online sexual enticement—are proliferating. The 2013 “Opinions on Lawfully Punishing Crimes of Sexual Abuse Against Minors,” jointly issued by the Supreme People’s Court, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, the Ministry of Public Security, and the Ministry of Justice, no longer aligns with current legal provisions, making it imperative to promptly formulate and promulgate guiding norms that address both the evolving situation and practical needs. In this context, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, in collaboration with the Supreme People’s Court, the Ministry of Public Security, and the Ministry of Justice, has drafted these “Opinions” to further strengthen and standardize efforts to punish and prevent crimes of sexual abuse against minors.

The Supreme People’s Procuratorate has released the 46th batch of guiding cases.
Recently, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate released its 46th batch of guiding cases, themed “Safeguarding State Property and Territorial Resources, and Promoting the Implementation of Policies Benefiting the People,” to guide procuratorial organs across the country in exercising their public-interest litigation functions during case handling, thereby protecting state-owned property and land-use rights and ensuring the effective implementation of national policies designed to benefit the people.
This release includes four guiding cases, namely: the administrative public interest litigation case brought by the People’s Procuratorate of Shengzhou City, Zhejiang Province, to urge the standardization of tax‑supervision order in the refined petroleum sector; the administrative public interest litigation case brought by the People’s Procuratorate of the Yangzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone, Jiangsu Province, to promote the remediation of idle state‑owned land; the administrative public interest litigation case brought by the procuratorial organs of Changsha City, Hunan Province, to recover illegally disbursed proceeds from the transfer of state‑owned land use rights; and the administrative public interest litigation case brought by the People’s Procuratorate of Gongshu District, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province, to ensure the implementation of preferential electricity‑price policies.
According to available information, from January 2018 to June 2023, procuratorial organs nationwide filed and handled a total of 55,270 cases in the field of state‑owned property protection and 9,504 cases related to the transfer of state‑owned land use rights. These efforts resulted in the recovery of over RMB 29 billion in state‑owned assets, more than RMB 35.1 billion in revenues from the transfer of state‑owned land use rights, and over 67,500 mu of state‑owned land that had been illegally occupied. The Supreme People’s Procuratorate directly initiated investigations into cases involving enterprises that improperly benefited from VAT preferential policies for comprehensive resource utilization, and, by providing guidance on a number of complex and high‑profile cases, it has promoted the rectification of tax‑administration practices concerning refined oil products, safeguarded pension, medical, and work‑injury insurance funds, recovered losses incurred in coal and other mineral resources as well as revenues from the transfer of state‑owned land use rights, and ensured lawful disposal of idle or inefficiently used land, thereby encouraging procuratorial organs at all levels to continuously strengthen their case‑handling efforts in the areas of state finances and land resources.
The guiding cases released this time address such issues as leveraging big data to enhance tax supervision, implementing differentiated measures for idle and inefficient land, and ensuring the timely remittance of revenues from the transfer of state‑owned land use rights into the national treasury—the “last mile” challenge. These cases highlight the crucial role played by the procuratorial organs in effectively safeguarding state property and the proceeds from the transfer of state‑owned land. Moreover, they broaden the scope of traditional public‑property‑related cases, clarifying that, in the course of implementing public policies, procuratorial organs may, in accordance with the law, initiate public interest litigation to address situations where organizations or individuals misappropriate, fraudulently obtain, withhold, or divert various policy‑driven benefits intended to support businesses and improve people’s livelihoods. This ensures that policy dividends are fully realized and effectively delivered, thereby expanding the space for procuratorial work in serving the overall interests of the Party and the state. At the same time, drawing on best practices—such as using big data to identify leads in similar cases, urging relevant administrative agencies to achieve collaborative governance, and transforming prosecutorial recommendations into binding measures—and distilling from these experiences robust case‑handling mechanisms, these cases provide valuable guidance for local authorities seeking to handle analogous matters.
Hu Weilie, Director of the Eighth Procuratorial Office of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, stated that the next step will be to continue focusing on major national strategic plans and priorities, as well as pressing issues of public concern; to intensify case-handling efforts; to promote the application of digital supervision models; and to place the enhancement of case quality and efficiency in an even more prominent position. Furthermore, research will be deepened into theoretical and practical challenges in the areas of state property and land resources, with clearer definitions of case scope and categories, to guide local authorities in properly handling complex and novel cases. Coordination with relevant departments will also be strengthened to advance collaborative governance.

The Supreme People’s Court has released 15 typical cases to uphold the core socialist values.
On August 2, the Supreme People’s Court website published a selection of typical cases in which people’s courts have earnestly upheld fairness and efficiency while practicing the core socialist values.
This batch of typical cases comprises 15 matters, covering such dispute types as public-interest litigation for the protection of heroes and martyrs, disputes over the right to health, tort liability disputes, labor‑dispute cases, determinations of workers’ compensation eligibility, support‑related disputes, disputes arising from legacy‑and‑support agreements, disputes over restoration to the original state, property‑management‑service contract disputes, commercial defamation disputes, service‑contract disputes, administrative penalties and administrative reconsideration in food‑advertising cases, and other issues involving the right to health. In Case No. 1, a network‑technology company in Hangzhou used Comrade Lei Feng’s name in commercial activities and collected more than RMB 300,000 from customers under such headings as “Lei Feng Community Membership Fees,” “Lei Feng Community Promotion Fees,” and “Lei Feng Community Annual Conference Participation Fees.” The court found that this conduct infringed upon Comrade Lei Feng’s personal rights, distorted the true spirit of Lei Feng, harmed the public interest, and ran counter to the core socialist values. Accordingly, the court ordered the company to cease using Comrade Lei Feng’s name and to publish a public apology in provincial‑level newspapers within Zhejiang Province.

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