Shanghai Outlines 2026 Agenda to Reshape Government Functions, Streamline Approvals

​A resident uses a self-service kiosk in a 24-hour Government Online-Offline Shanghai service area on Feb 6, 2025. [Photo/VCG]

Shanghai released its 2026 work priorities for transforming government functions and reforming the administrative approval system on March 9, as part of its efforts to build a world-class business environment.

Market access and opening-up

Shanghai will strictly implement the market access negative list system and the latest version of the Catalogue of Encouraged Industries for Foreign Investment, supporting foreign-invested enterprises in advanced manufacturing and modern services.

The city will further expand opening-up in telecommunications, healthcare, finance, commerce, culture and tourism, and transportation.

It will also align with high-standard international economic and trade rules and steadily expand institutional opening-up. Legislation will be strengthened in key and emerging sectors, in line with the World Bank's Business Ready (B-READY) assessment framework.

Intellectual property and fair competition

Shanghai will strengthen fast-track intellectual property protection mechanisms for key industries and pilot the registration and certification of data intellectual property.

The city will also ensure that all types of business entities can participate fairly in government procurement and bidding processes.

New industries and institutional innovation

Shanghai will continue pilot programs and institutional innovation in integrated circuits, cross-border data flows, offshore finance, and new energy vehicles.

Business registration reform

Shanghai will expand the "Shanghai Online Business Registration" platform and launch a full-process online system for the creation, modification, and cancellation of equity pledges.

The city will also improve its standardized address registration database and allow enterprises to operate at multiple locations across Shanghai under a single license.

It will further explore the use of cross-border digital identity authentication in foreign-invested enterprise registration and establish dedicated service sections for foreign investment registration.

Approval reform in key sectors

Shanghai will implement pilot policies to further open up the wholly foreign-owned hospital sector and optimize approval procedures for such hospitals. It will also strengthen early-stage support in clinical trials, registration, and market launch to accelerate the availability of innovative drugs and medical devices.

Policy implementation

The "Suishendui" platform, the city's unified online platform for accessing and claiming enterprise policy benefits, will be upgraded to ensure policy funds not requiring special procedures are disbursed within 20 working days.

Note: The English text is for reference only. In case of any discrepancies, the Chinese version shall prevail.