Hebei Province has clearly defined the key priorities for private-sector development this year.

Recently, the Office of the Leading Group for the Private Economy of Hebei Province issued the “Key Work Priorities for the Private Economy in Hebei Province, 2019.” This year, efforts will be fully focused on promoting innovation-driven, green, and high-quality development of the private sector. The province aims to add more than 500,000 new market entities in the private sector, raise the share of private-sector value added to over 68.5% of the provincial GDP, increase the proportion of private‑sector services to around 46%, and grow the number of technology‑based small and medium-sized enterprises to at least 75,000.

● Strive to promote the innovation and transformation of private enterprises.

Accelerate the transition from old to new growth drivers, compelling industries undergoing capacity reduction to shift toward high-end, high-quality, and emerging sectors. Fully implement the Three-Year Action Plan for Strategic Emerging Industries, vigorously developing high‑end, cutting‑edge industries such as electronic information and biopharmaceuticals. Continuously optimize the industrial structure of the private sector, foster new business forms and models—including the sharing economy, the digital economy, and the bioeconomy—and position private enterprises as pioneers in technological innovation. Launch the “100–1,000–10,000” Enhancement Initiative to help 100 private enterprise groups grow stronger, elevate the quality and efficiency of 1,000 leading private firms, and accelerate the transformation and upgrading of 10,000 small and medium‑sized enterprises, thereby cultivating a cohort of industry “little giants,” century‑old brands, and flagship private enterprises. Strengthen innovation‑driven entities by implementing a dual‑expansion plan for high‑tech enterprises and technology‑based SMEs, and by refining the enterprise incubation pool; in 2019, add more than 1,000 high‑tech enterprises and over 10,000 technology‑based SMEs. Launch the “Specialized, Refined, Distinctive, and Innovative” SME Cultivation Campaign, leveraging the exemplary and leading role of “little giant” enterprises in these categories to guide the broader SME community along a path of specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative development.

Establish innovation platforms and implement initiatives to upgrade science-and‑technology business incubators and maker spaces, recognizing 80 provincial‑level or higher maker spaces (Xingchuang Tiandi) and more than 20 science-and‑technology business incubators in 2019. Strengthen industrial design to leverage its role as a driver of innovation, enhance the development of specialized industrial‑design parks, attract high‑caliber domestic and international industrial‑design expertise, and organize the second Hebei International Industrial Design Week. Launch the “331” industrial‑design action plan, cultivate a portfolio of exemplary product‑design cases, and promote leading design‑application enterprises and star products. Implement a brand strategy by advancing the “Double Hundred, Double Thousand” quality‑management improvement program, encouraging private enterprises in Hebei Province to strive for the China Quality Award and the China Industry Award, and hosting events such as “China Brand Day” and the “Hebei Brand Festival” to elevate the reputation and influence of “Hebei Brands.”

● Strive to enhance the vitality of market entities.

Deepen reforms of the business registration system, fully implement the “separation of licenses and permits” reform for the first batch of 106 enterprise‑related administrative approval items, and coordinate efforts to advance the “one‑license‑for‑all” reform, enabling more market entities to commence operations simply by holding a business license. Further shorten the time required to start a business, ensuring that the provincial average is reduced to no more than eight days, and in Shijiazhuang to no more than five days. Streamline government services, vigorously promote decentralization and delegation of powers, and enhance approval efficiency. Implement the “one‑stop online service,” “single‑window access,” and “at most one visit” initiatives; intensify efforts to build a province‑wide integrated online government service platform and comprehensive provincial‑level government service halls; compile and publicly release a catalog of approval services under the “immediate processing, online processing, nearby processing, and one‑visit processing” framework; and ensure that by the end of 2019, the rate of “one‑stop online service” reaches at least 90 percent.

Support market expansion and deepen integration into the Belt and Road Initiative, helping China’s competitive production capacities in steel, building materials, photovoltaics, equipment manufacturing, and other sectors to go global, and establishing model projects for international capacity cooperation. Strengthen public services by comprehensively upgrading the functionality of the provincial public service platform network for small and medium-sized enterprises, enhancing training for SME managers, and supporting private enterprises in improving their management capabilities and performance.

Strengthen talent development, vigorously cultivate a spirit of craftsmanship, and foster a social climate that respects skilled workers and artisans. Improve incentive mechanisms by publishing lists of the Top 100 Private Enterprises, the Top 100 Private Manufacturing Enterprises, and the Top 100 Private Service Enterprises, thereby guiding entrepreneurs to prioritize quality and strive for excellence. In the selection processes for model workers, the May Day Labor Medal, the May Fourth Youth Medal, and the March 8th Red Banner award, give preferential consideration to outstanding private-sector entrepreneurs.

● Strive to reduce the tax and fee burden on enterprises.

Increase the intensity of tax reductions. Fully and faithfully implement national tax relief policies, actively advance substantive tax cuts on value-added tax, income tax, and other taxes, and ensure the effective application of universal tax exemptions for small and micro enterprises and technology‑based start-ups. Reduce institutional costs in areas such as income tax incentives, additional deductions for R&D expenses, and export tax rebates. For enterprises that face genuine special difficulties and are unable to pay taxes on time, deferred payment may be granted upon approval.

Strengthen fee‑related oversight. Implement the list‑based management system for enterprise‑related fees, and consolidate the provincial-level achievement of zero administrative and public‑service fees for businesses. Launch a special campaign to address improper fee‑charging practices by industry associations and chambers of commerce, and carry out a year‑long initiative to enhance the regulation of administrative and public‑service fees. Establish and improve mechanisms for receiving, investigating, and addressing complaints and reports of illegal fee‑charging, ensuring that the number of fee items is reduced rather than increased and that fee standards are lowered rather than raised. Eliminate violations such as the unauthorized establishment of government‑funded programs and fee‑charging schemes, and resolutely crack down on unlawful fee‑charging, arbitrary fines, and coercive levies.

Reduce factor costs. Implement policies to lower costs related to land use, labor, and logistics for enterprises, thereby effectively easing their burdens. Strictly enforce the policy of an average 10% reduction in electricity prices for general industrial and commercial users, rigorously approve natural gas transmission and distribution tariffs, and curb price markups at each stage. Uphold the decisive role of the market in resource allocation, better leverage the role of the government, and further develop and improve a unified, open, and orderly competitive market system.

● Focus on addressing the difficulties and high costs of financing faced by private enterprises.

Increase credit support. Further unblock the transmission mechanism of monetary policy, guide financial institutions to appropriately determine loan terms and repayment schedules for private enterprises, raise the share of medium- and long-term loans, and refrain from “discriminatory tightening” of lending to private enterprises under the pretext of risk management. Improve regulatory oversight and performance assessments of financial institutions, and increase the weighting of financial services for private and small‑and‑micro enterprises in banks’ evaluation frameworks. Strengthen positive incentive mechanisms for financial institutions.

Expand financing channels. Implement incentive policies to support enterprises in raising capital through IPOs and listings, and guide private enterprises to increase their financing scale. Encourage eligible private firms to issue corporate bonds and other debt instruments, thereby reducing their financing costs. Support private enterprises in obtaining collateralized or pledged loans using intangible assets such as trademark rights and patent rights, thus unlocking the value of their existing assets.

Standardize credit‑granting practices. Launch a special campaign to rectify and address irregularities, with a particular focus on eliminating non‑compliant behaviors and all types of illicit financing conduit activities. For private enterprises that are temporarily facing operational difficulties but whose products have market demand, projects hold promising prospects, and technologies possess competitive advantages, refrain from arbitrarily halting, curtailing, recalling, or cutting off credit.

A relief fund was established, and by the end of 2019, the province’s total relief‑fund size had reached RMB 5 billion. Efforts were stepped up to promote industry–finance cooperation, with proactive outreach to banking and financial institutions to showcase key private enterprises and priority projects that align with industrial policies, demonstrate strong growth prospects, possess market competitiveness, and have financing needs, thereby addressing information asymmetry.

● Strive to foster a fair competitive environment

Maintain market order. Implement the fair‑competition review system, and eliminate from existing policies and measures any provisions that constitute local protectionism, designated transactions, or market barriers; dismantle administrative monopolies, prevent market‑based monopolies, and refrain from imposing differential or discriminatory treatment on private enterprises through unreasonable procurement conditions. Crack down on infringements of intellectual property rights and the production and sale of counterfeit and substandard goods; rigorously investigate and prosecute a number of high‑profile cases, and publicly expose enterprises that have violated laws or regulations.

Standardize law enforcement practices. Fully implement the “double-random, one-public” regulatory approach and cross-departmental joint inspections to strengthen regulatory synergy, elevate the standardization of oversight, and promptly disclose inspection results. Enhance ongoing and post‑event supervision to foster a fair, transparent, and predictable business environment.

Uphold equal treatment. Fully liberalize market access, ensuring that all types of market entities are treated equally. Except for industries and sectors explicitly prohibited by laws and regulations, no restrictions—under any name or in any form—shall be imposed on the entry of private capital. Private enterprises shall enjoy the same treatment as enterprises of other ownership forms in areas such as investment and financing, and public resource transactions, and arbitrarily raising entry barriers is strictly prohibited. Encourage private enterprises to participate in state‑owned enterprise reform and promote the development of mixed‑ownership enterprises with private capital investment.

Improve the credit system. Enhance and refine the credit records of private enterprises, strengthen the collection, sharing, and utilization of credit information, and promote the use of such information in administrative licensing, public resource transactions, investment promotion, and other management and service processes, thereby guiding private enterprises to operate in compliance with the law. Further improve the systems of “red lists” for trustworthy enterprises and “black lists” for untrustworthy entities, and establish mechanisms for joint incentives for trustworthiness and joint penalties for dishonesty.

● Strive to improve the methods of policy implementation

Enhance administrative effectiveness. In line with national macro‑regulation requirements and industrial policy guidelines, maintain policy continuity, uphold systematic deliberation, ensure precision in management, provide category‑specific guidance and targeted measures, and rigorously enforce environmental protection, quality, safety, and energy‑consumption standards. Strictly prohibit simplistic or one‑size‑fits‑all enforcement practices at the frontline in areas such as environmental protection and work safety supervision. Standardize the exercise of discretionary powers in law enforcement to prevent arbitrary application of the law and inconsistent enforcement standards.

Strengthen policy communication. Fully leverage both traditional and new media to launch diverse promotional campaigns that explain policies and measures aimed at encouraging, supporting, and guiding the development of private enterprises and optimizing the business environment. Highlight exemplary cases where policy implementation has been robust and effective, thereby bolstering confidence in the growth of the private sector. Enhance the provincial interdepartmental policy information platform to promptly aggregate, disseminate, and publicize a wide range of guidelines, policies, and service-related information—covering areas such as the private economy, small and medium-sized enterprises, entrepreneurship and innovation, financial markets, and rights protection—along with authoritative interpretations.

Conduct policy evaluations. Improve the policy implementation assessment mechanism, organize private enterprises to assess the status of policy execution, and commission third-party institutions to evaluate the implementation of existing policies. Identify bottlenecks and pain points in policy implementation and put forward recommendations for policy refinement. In accordance with the Regulations of Hebei Province on Optimizing the Business Environment and drawing on national practices for business environment assessments, conduct evaluations of the business environment in various localities for the previous year—through the engagement of third parties and other means—and produce an annual business environment evaluation report.

● Strive to build a new type of government-business relationship characterized by closeness and cleanness.

Providing targeted support to enterprises. Deepening the “Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Service and Support” initiative, leveraging the role of the government–enterprise service direct‑access information platform to deliver proactive, front‑line assistance. Strictly implementing the three‑tier leadership‑liaison system at the provincial, municipal, and county levels, carrying out precision‑targeted support to help private enterprises overcome challenges and enhance quality and efficiency.

Standardize interactions between government and business. Establish a system of government–enterprise communication and consultation meetings, accelerate the launch and operation of the “Ji Shang e Jia” information service platform for private enterprises, and refine and improve mechanisms for handling complaints and reports on the business environment, as well as for investigating and responding to such matters. Implement the “Eight Do’s and Eight Don’ts” guiding principles for government–business engagement with private entrepreneurs, encourage leading cadres to build friendly relationships with private entrepreneurs, uphold gentlemanly conduct, refrain from seeking personal gain through their positions, and avoid quid pro quo arrangements involving power and money.

Clear outstanding payments. Launch a special campaign to comprehensively address arrears owed by government departments at all levels, their affiliated institutions, and large local state-owned enterprises—including government‑owned platform companies—to private and small‑and‑medium‑sized enterprises, with a legally mandated deadline for full settlement. Entities with severe payment delays will be placed on a list of discredited entities and subject to stringent disciplinary measures and accountability.

● Strive to safeguard the personal and property security of entrepreneurs.

Safeguarding personal rights, deepening special campaigns to improve conduct and discipline, and vigorously advancing the targeted campaign against organized crime and evil forces as well as the “one case, three investigations” mechanism; severely cracking down on criminal activities such as village tyrants, trade‑area tyrants, and urban tyrants; establishing a green channel for handling cases involving entrepreneurs to shorten review periods. Protecting property security by appropriately addressing past irregularities in the operations of private enterprises, applying the principles of legality and presumption of innocence, and identifying and rectifying a number of high‑profile property‑rights dispute appeals; exercising restraint in the lawful use of measures such as seizure, impoundment, and freezing to minimize harm to the legitimate rights and interests of property owners and their normal business activities; strengthening oversight of civil and administrative litigation involving the property rights of private enterprises to foster a fair and impartial judicial environment. Enhancing government integrity.

Source: Hebei News Network Editor-in-charge: p_rsmmi