Editor's note: Ma Xiaobai is a director and researcher at the Multinational Corporations Research Office, Enterprise Research Institute, Development Research Center of China's State Council. Chen Gong is a PhD at the Education and Training Center for Officials and Entrepreneurs, State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of China's State Council. This article reflects the authors' opinion and not neccesarily those of CGTN. It has been translated from Chinese and edited for brevity and clarity.

Actual experiences of businesses provide an important window to gauge the quality of China's business environment: According to the "2026 China Business Climate Survey Report" released by the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, 58% of surveyed companies are optimistic about China's business outlook over the next five years, up 17% year on year.

A continuously improving business environment lowers operating costs through efficient services, expands growth opportunities through fair competition and stabilizes expectations through pragmatic policymaking, thereby strengthening business entities' capacity to innovate, boosting their investment confidence and giving them a firmer footing for growth.

In recent years, guided by China's "efficiently handling a single matter" initiative, cross-departmental business coordination and data sharing have been steadily advanced, continuously making it easier for enterprises to do business.

State Administration for Market Regulation data shows that government service reforms have reduced the number of in-person visits required to register a business relocation from at least nine to just one, while cutting the required documents from 32 to eight, a 75% reduction. These changes help enterprises trim their resource reallocation costs, thereby fostering better conditions to identify market opportunities and optimize their production layouts.

Fair competition incentivizes businesses to allocate more resources toward advanced technology, providing sustained impetus for growth. 

From January to August this year, market regulation authorities stepped up their reviews of fair competition, revising or adjusting 6,600 policy measures and urging the repeal or amendment of 3,500 documents that violated relevant rules.

The removal of institutional barriers to fair competition gives enterprises greater market access and optimizes their resource allocation efficiency. 

Fair competition reviews should be strengthened on an ongoing basis to ensure that all types of business entities have equal access to factors of production and compete on a level playing field. This will allow high-quality enterprises more opportunities to grow through their products and services.

To maintain a fair competitive order, regulation must be more targeted and effective. Authorities need to step up enforcement of antitrust and fair competition laws and crack down on practices such as intellectual property infringement, counterfeiting and false advertising to protect innovation as well as legitimate rights and interests.

At the same time, market order must be upheld through clear rules and impartial enforcement so that law-abiding, quality-focused businesses can plan with greater certainty while bolstering their capacity for innovation and building resilience through fair competition.

In order to further improve the business environment, local governments must plan their work within a broader context of high-quality development and the building of a unified national market, ensuring effective policy coordination and the smooth flow of resources. 

Fostering a stronger service-oriented mindset means engaging directly with businesses to understand their actual operating conditions, enhancing professional expertise, explaining policies clearly and delivering services effectively. 

By resolving concrete problems, the Chinese government can provide practical support for enterprises' growth.