As China drafts its 15th five-year plan – the next entry in a line of expansive blueprints that have set the tone for the country’s development over more than seven decades – we examine how these documents inform and reflect high-level policy priorities, what to expect in the coming iteration and whether the private sector will receive the level of support entrepreneurs are hoping for.
For officials in Beijing, this year is a time of fresh starts. Work has begun on drafting the next five-year plan, a foundational document summarising China’s development goals through the coming half-decade.
But many of the country’s entrepreneurs may be entering the new cycle with a sense of fatigue – their confidence has been drained by years of sluggish demand, vicious price wars and unexpected administrative penalties.
Though the government has launched a barrage of measures intended to make life easier for private businesses, more than 60 per cent of them still describe the climate as “difficult”, and many industries could soon face a “wave of bankruptcies” if conditions do not improve, according to a recent report by independent research firm Beijing Dacheng.
With the 15th five-year plan set to shape China’s trajectory for the rest of the decade, one question looms large: can the country’s leaders restore the confidence of the private sector and help its entrepreneurs stay competitive in a rapidly changing and unpredictable environment?
Zhan Xiao, co-founder of a consulting firm, is one of many hoping for a lifeline. When she tried to secure financing for a local arts project, she found banks were far less willing to lend to private firms like hers than to her state-owned competitors.
