Shanghai's Changning district has unveiled a three-year action plan to promote the high-quality development of small and medium-sized enterprises from 2026 to 2028.

The plan focuses on four areas — expanding scale, improving quality, optimizing services, and fostering a supportive environment — and aims to build a tiered, full-lifecycle system for cultivating and supporting SMEs.

By 2028, Changning aims to have at least 500 innovative SMEs, 400 high-tech enterprises, 270 specialized and sophisticated enterprises, and 70 enterprise technology centers.

The plan calls for continued improvements to support services for SMEs, including a "service package" mechanism for key enterprises to accelerate and improve the effectiveness of responses to their needs. Changning will also cultivate a group of high-quality SME service providers and establish a long-term mechanism to prevent and resolve overdue payments to SMEs, safeguarding their legitimate rights and interests.

To achieve these targets, Changning has outlined 16 measures under five specialized action tracks: tiered cultivation, targeted services, development acceleration, value enhancement, and factor support.

The five action tracks will support SMEs throughout their development. Measures include using artificial intelligence to identify promising companies and tailor support to their needs, improving business services, helping SMEs adopt digital technologies, and strengthening coordination among key industries such as technology, fashion, and aviation-related services.

Changning will also improve support for companies preparing to go public, accelerate the development of a Hongqiao headquarters cluster for companies expanding overseas, improve financing options for SMEs, recruit and cultivate overseas talent, provide full-lifecycle services for high-level talent, and strengthen legal and intellectual property protection.

Changning has built a sizeable pipeline of high-quality SMEs, with 415 innovative SMEs, 230 specialized and sophisticated enterprises, and 13 national-level "little giant" firms — high-quality SMEs recognized for their specialization and strong innovation capabilities. The district will continue to support companies at different stages of development through targeted services and resources.

Source: WeChat account of Changning district information office "shchangning"