Xiamen issues new policy to create world-class business environment

Xiamen, a coastal city in East China's Fujian province, recently introduced a new policy titled the Action Plan on Creating New Advantages for Xiamen's Business Environment to Facilitate the High-Quality Development of Enterprises.

The aim of the policy is to inject impetus into the high-quality development of the country.

The business environment of a city, which is closely related to its core competitiveness, plays a crucial role in the survival and development of enterprises. The plan is benchmarked against the highest international standards and uses market entities' sense of gain as the main evaluation standard.

With the goal of stimulating market vitality and bolstering high-level opening-up and innovation, the new policy contains 126 specific tasks for 28 major aspects, including constructing a competitive and orderly market, creating a fair and just legal environment, and strengthening internal and external circulation.

Under the plan, Xiamen will innovate every aspect of the business environment, build a system for policy promotion and precise service, and establish a mechanism to monitor the satisfaction of market entities.

For instance, some innovative measures highlighted in the plan include promoting the "one matter, one time" handling of the life-cycle matters for individuals and enterprises, launching a trial reform of multi-mode transportation bills of lading, and further integrating Xiamen Port's information system and data resources to facilitate customs clearance for enterprises.

Xu Zhiduan, professor at the School of Management of Xiamen University, said that the initial stages of the reform of the business environment was mainly about resolving common problems related to land, labor, capital, technology and data. The next phase will be focused on customization and personalized innovation.

In 2022, Xiamen attracted 172,000 new business entities. The city has been ranked among the top in China in terms of business environment by the National Development and Reform Commission for three consecutive years. Xiamen is currently home to a total of 847,000 registered business entities.

Stimulating market vitality

According to the plan, Xiamen is ramping up efforts to build a competitive and orderly market through key measures such as facilitating access to and exit from the market, taking steps to prevent unfair competition, launching a long-term financing mechanism for small and micro enterprises, improving the joint inspections of matters across departments within the city, and establishing a credit rating classification system.

Xiamen is also striving to build a fair and just legal environment and resolve commercial disputes through innovative mechanisms such as calculating taxes and fees before judicial auctions.

In terms of new fields such as electronic information and artificial intelligence, the city will continue to build a knowledge sharing platform to promote the protection and use of intellectual property rights. Xiamen strictly regulates fair and civilized law enforcement, supports the establishment of a shared debt financing fund for bankruptcy cases, solves the financing problem of shared debts in corporate bankruptcy cases and explores bankruptcy proceedings for small and micro enterprises.

To create an efficient and convenient administrative environment, Xiamen will promote the application and approval of land use and site selection services and carry out a reliability management plan for power, water, gas and internet services.

High-level opening-up

As one of China's first special economic zones, Xiamen will upgrade external circulation and accelerate the city's high-level opening-up, according to the action plan.

Xiamen will take the lead in exploring trade and economic rules centered on digital products, improve data security capabilities and form the "Xiamen Practice" to set an example for an open system. The city will launch a trial reform for multi-mode transportation bills of lading, build world-class port facilities, cultivate a pilot zone for offshore trade development and strengthen the innovation of international trade models.

In terms of enhancing internal circulation, Xiamen has applied the latest technologies such as the internet of things and blockchain to boost the innovation and application of the supply chains. The city also plays an active role in constructing the Maritime Silk Road Central Legal District and enhancing the information sharing mechanism for market entities.

Furthermore, Xiamen will further deepen China's dual-circulation development pattern, optimize the institutional mechanisms of domestic and foreign trade, enhance the internationalization level of the financial market and conduct a two-way macro-prudential management of cross-border capital flows.

Innovation in all domains

Under the plan, Xiamen will boost innovation in all aspects based on its regional advantages.

A highland for open innovation, the Xiamen Area of China (Fujian) Pilot Free Trade Zone will focus on building a digital FTZ, a "single window" for international trade, a pioneering legal zone for free trade and an agglomeration area for IP services.

The Xiamen Torch Development Zone for High Technology Industries views scientific and technological innovation as the key to its future development, and will pool high-quality innovation resources and optimize the policy system in the region.

Xiamen's six districts will also give full play to their advantages to optimize the business environment: Siming is aiming to become a model for business-friendly environments in Fujian; Huli will build a "friendly and clear" business brand; Haicang will create a benchmark for strategic emerging industries in a first-class business environment; Jimei will spearhead the integration of cross-Strait business environments; Tong'an will establish a full-service investment service brand; and Xiang'an is to construct a demonstration area for the reform of relatively concentrated administrative licensing rights.