Shanghai's legislature on Nov 26 adopted a resolution on making revisions to the Regulations of Shanghai Municipality on Optimizing the Business Environment, marking the fourth amendment since the policy took effect on April 10, 2020.

The revised regulations will take effect on Jan 1, 2026.

A key focus of the amendments is leveraging the city's e-government service platform "Government Online-Offline Shanghai" to deliver tailored policy benefits to enterprises.

Notably, the city has reduced unnecessary administrative inspections through a digital QR Code system.

From January to October this year, the issuance of 576,000 QR codes cut inspections by over 40 percent compared to previous years, while increasing the problem detection rate to more than 20 percent and boosting corporate satisfaction to over 99.7 percent.

The amendments explicitly prohibit large enterprises from exploiting their dominant position to impose unfair payment terms or delay settling invoices for goods, projects, or services provided by small and medium-sized enterprises.

To ensure compliance, economic, State-asset, and market regulatory departments will collaborate with industry associations to establish a coordinated oversight mechanism.

Entities failing to pay SMEs on time must publicly disclose related data by March 31 each year, as required by a municipal notice released in June 2025.

The revised regulations also forbid individuals or organizations from spreading false or misleading information that harms businesses' legitimate rights.

Internet service providers are required to strengthen content management, set up efficient complaint channels, and promptly remove malicious posts.

Authorities will jointly penalize violations, including fraudulent claims and defamation.

Source: Shanghai Observer