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.
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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.
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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.
