As investment promoters, you are undoubtedly all too familiar with the phrase “build a nest to attract the phoenix.”

However, how to effectively optimize the business environment with limited resources is a challenge that local governments and industrial parks are actively exploring.

Today, let’s use the business environment as a mirror to reflect on both others and ourselves.

Reflecting Attitude

Business-Friendly Policies Should Be Subtle and Unobtrusive

Late last year, a video went viral across major media platforms. I wonder if you all still remember the municipal party secretary holding an umbrella for an entrepreneur in the rain.

Rather than merely a tool to shield from the rain, that umbrella symbolized the government’s and businesses’ shared resolve to weather the storm together. The more subtle the gesture, the more deeply it touches the heart.

It’s not just about holding an umbrella—the municipal party secretary stepping aside to let the entrepreneur take the center spot in a group photo, or the Ningbo municipal government chartering a plane to send entrepreneurs abroad for business negotiations... these are all microcosms of the local government’s commitment to fostering a business-friendly environment.

As the guide of the market economy, the government must not only devote effort to coordinating industrial resources but also place greater emphasis on local enterprises and entrepreneurs.

This commitment to business can be manifested in two ways: attitude and efficiency.

The efficiency of government services is a key focus for every region to optimize; issues such as small and medium-sized private enterprises having to make three trips just to obtain a business license have already improved.

However, upon closer examination, there remains significant room for improvement in management efficiency within specific sectors—for instance, whether policies are being effectively implemented and whether there is a unified consensus among agencies at all levels.

The pandemic response has served as a major test.

An entrepreneur traveling for business negotiations had to go through multiple screening procedures upon landing. Aside from the cumbersome process, he even received different answers to the same question from several staff members. Before even meeting with the person in charge, he was met with a cold shower—a situation that was both frustrating and helpless.

When policies and regulations are not clearly communicated down the chain of command, the resulting uncertainty significantly reduces management efficiency and erodes entrepreneurs’ confidence in the investment environment.

Attitude and efficiency are often reflected in the details; therefore, while focusing on the big picture, we must never overlook the details.

A well-developed business environment is all about “nourishing things silently and imperceptibly.”

Revealing Depth

Good Wine Needs a Strong Pitch

The old saying “Good wine needs no bush” no longer seems quite as convincing today.

With so many fine wines available today, why should anyone choose yours?

Some believe that as long as the business environment is well-developed, projects will naturally come. But with everyone striving to improve their business environments, why should a project choose to settle right here?

This shows that simply brewing fine wine is no longer enough to attract customers; to sell well, it all comes down to uniqueness.

Every region has its own unique characteristics. Before 2021, we emphasized building a business environment centered on national standards; however, starting in 2022, a business environment with regional characteristics will become the key to enhancing core competitiveness.

From a business perspective, when selecting a location to operate, the primary concerns are whether the area has supporting upstream and downstream enterprises, the extent of business incentives, and the level of market demand... This is particularly true for industries such as biopharmaceuticals and food processing, where the requirements for industrial factors vary significantly.

When formulating plans, we often hope to achieve all targets through the implementation of various measures, but in reality, the final results are often less than ideal.

After all, different regions have varying levels of development and differing resource conditions. At this point, we must consider which industries are most in need of development at present, and then allocate resources in a targeted manner based on the characteristics of those industries.

Prioritizing major industries over minor ones is both an art and a technical challenge. Identifying which sectors are the local “major industries” and which are the “minor ones,” focusing efforts where they matter most, and providing precise preferential policies and support for distinctive industries—only then can we create greater appeal for relevant enterprises.

Secondly, there is the need for long-term maintenance of the supply chains for key industries.

On the market side of supply chains, there is often a complex and intractable issue: commercial disputes. This matter is neither major nor minor; it cannot be ignored, yet managing it is extremely time-consuming.

In response to this issue, Yiwu City recently launched the “Market Yi Code Governance” initiative. Based on the type and characteristics of a dispute, a unique transaction code is generated and identified using three colors: red, yellow, and blue.

Market participants can simply scan a QR code with their mobile phones to access functions such as online mediation requests, online mediation sessions, and agreement signing. This “one-click access” to dispute resolution reduces the average time required to resolve disputes by 15 days compared to offline methods.

Yiwu’s initiative cleverly uses digital technology to strike a balance between “complex matters” and “energy-intensive tasks,” while ensuring the smooth operation of the supply chain.

The development of the business environment is a phased process. In the first phase—covering supporting facilities and basic government services—we have achieved a certain level of progress.

However, in the second phase—specifically regarding the question of “how to build a service chain that aligns with specific industrial value chains”—we still have significant room for maneuver.

Identifying Issues

Tackling Problems Head-On

In June of this year, Hainan held a “case study meeting” focused on the province’s business environment. The session summarized and discussed three typical cases: the mishandling of foreign cargo ships carrying COVID-19-related cargo; long-standing disputes arising from the transfer of unremediated landfill sites; and lax and unsubstantive work practices during the approval process for a fisheries demonstration park project.

In their remarks, leaders from relevant cities, counties, and provincial departments proactively analyzed the root causes of these issues, such as:

• Prioritizing the avoidance of personal risk over the interests of enterprises;
• A mindset of “playing it safe” and “aiming to avoid blame rather than seek merit”;
• A tendency to “wait and procrastinate,” which ultimately stems from a lack of rigor and integrity in work style;
• Severe departmentalism, insufficiently in-depth research, and a fear of confronting difficulties and conflicts…

Their incisive remarks pierced through the veil of complacency, setting a positive tone for tackling these challenges head-on.

Face our shortcomings and shoulder our responsibilities. It’s no shame to break a sweat in the moment; speaking up about problems, laying them out in the open, and actively resolving them—that’s what makes a true hero!

In the following month of August, Hainan began taking concrete steps to address these issues.

The first plenary meeting of Hainan Province’s “Business Environment Experience Officers” was held in Haikou.

Sixty “experience officers,” selected from various industries across the province, will evaluate administrative approvals, policy implementation, government transparency, service commitments, market management, administrative law enforcement, and public service counters by personally navigating administrative procedures or conducting “undercover” visits.

Throughout the process, the “experience officers” will collect and report issues one by one, while simultaneously promoting awareness of laws and regulations related to optimizing the business environment. They will deepen the “optimization” mindset at every level, ensuring that determination is translated into concrete actions implemented step by step.

From problem analysis to concrete action, Hainan’s decisive and vigorous approach deserves praise!

As the ancients said: “Take a bronze mirror to adjust your attire; take history as a mirror to understand the rise and fall of nations.”

By taking business as a mirror, we can understand the root causes of a city’s economic development and prosperity. By embracing the essence and discarding the dross, we can cultivate fertile ground for business today, which will surely yield towering trees tomorrow.