China's market regulator steps up support for private firms

China's market regulator said Tuesday it had taken steps to improve the business environment for private firms since the country's first law dedicated to promoting the private sector took effect last year.

Zhang Daoyang, an official with the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), said that in the year since the Private Sector Promotion Law took effect, the regulator had initiated dozens of policy measures, including 22 measures to support private sector development, and 34 key tasks targeting the sector's growth in 2026.

To ensure fair competition, the regulator trimmed the market access negative list to 106 items and launched anti-monopoly campaigns targeting barriers to market entry, factor markets and public tendering.

The regulator handled nearly 14,600 unfair competition cases in 2025 and investigated more than 30,000 trademark and patent violations, while cracking down on arbitrary fees charged to businesses.

Over 3,000 one-stop technical service centers have been set up to support innovation. Quality-backed financing helped more than 40,000 firms secure loans exceeding 300 billion yuan (about 43.9 billion U.S. dollars), according to the administration.

SAMR said it would press ahead with implementing the private economy law to sustain growth momentum in the sector.

The private sector accounts for more than 60 percent of China's GDP. The Private Sector Promotion Law, which went into effect on May 20, 2025, aims to optimize the sector's development environment, ensure fair market competition, and foster the growth of both the private economy and private entrepreneurs.

(Xinhua)