Original Title: Several Policy Measures to Promote the High-Quality Development of Individual Businesses in Suzhou

I. Optimizing the Development Environment

(1) Relaxing Restrictions on Business Premises Registration. Localities are encouraged to establish negative lists for business premises. Provided that such measures do not involve building safety hazards, threats to life and property, or adverse impacts on the ecological environment, support will be provided to further relax restrictions on the registration of business premises for individual businesses. Strong support will be given to communities (villages) in implementing centralized registration models for individual businesses. Communities (villages) are encouraged to provide dedicated spaces as centralized registration points for business premises, and assistance will be offered to help individual businesses establish operations within communities (villages) to provide resident lifestyle services.(Responsible Units: Municipal Administrative Approval Bureau, Municipal Market Regulation Bureau, Municipal Public Security Bureau, Municipal Bureau of Natural Resources and Planning; all subsequent policy measures must be implemented by the people’s governments (or administrative committees) of each county-level city and district, and will not be listed separately)

(2) Facilitate market entry for individual businesses. When an individual business directly changes its operator, it shall be permitted to retain its original establishment date and trade name. For matters involving relevant administrative permits, simplified procedures and optimized approval services shall be provided. (Responsible units: Municipal Administrative Approval Bureau, Municipal Market Regulation Bureau, and other relevant departments)

(3) Ensure the implementation of policies regarding the establishment of individual businesses by residents of Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan. Actively seek national support to further expand the range of industries open to residents of Hong Kong and Macao for establishing individual businesses. The scope of business operations for individual businesses established by residents of Taiwan shall follow the list of open industries in pilot regions for the innovative development of trade in services. (Responsible unit: Municipal Administrative Approval Bureau)

(4) Deepen the “Individual Business to Enterprise” reform. Allow enterprises resulting from the “Individual Business to Enterprise” transition to retain their original business names and industry characteristics in accordance with the law. For administrative permits that remain valid, provided they comply with laws and regulations and the substantive approval content remains unchanged, directly issue new permits or sign an opinion on the continued use of the old permits. Support individual businesses in transferring their rights and interests, such as patent rights and trademark rights, to the name of the enterprise resulting from the transition.Encourage localities to introduce incentive and subsidy policies to support the transformation and upgrading of individual businesses into enterprises. (Responsible units: Municipal Administrative Approval Bureau, Municipal Market Regulation Bureau, and other relevant departments)

(5) Ensuring Fair Participation in Competition. Any policies or measures that discriminate against individual businesses in areas such as market access, qualification licensing, project applications, government procurement, bidding and tendering, and the allocation of government funds shall be corrected in accordance with the law.Implement the fair competition review system to eliminate local protectionism and regional barriers, and break down administrative monopolies. Streamline the 12345 “One-Stop Enterprise Service” hotline and establish Suzhou’s mechanism for optimizing the handling of enterprise requests to support “enterprises daring to take initiative,” providing policy consultation and services to individual business operators. (Responsible units: Municipal Market Regulation Bureau, Municipal Administrative Approval Bureau, and other relevant departments)

(6) Support participation in government procurement. Individual business operators that meet the criteria for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) shall be treated as SMEs in government procurement activities and shall enjoy the policies supporting SME development in government procurement. (Responsible units: Municipal Finance Bureau, Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology)

(7) Implement supporting measures to facilitate the suspension of business operations. Implement the provisions on the suspension of business operations under the "Regulations on the Registration and Administration of Market Entities." Process suspension filings for individual business operators temporarily unable to conduct business activities, optimize relevant tax and social security procedures, and help individual business operators reduce maintenance costs. (Responsible units: Municipal Administrative Approval Bureau, Municipal Market Regulation Bureau, Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, Municipal Medical Insurance Bureau, Municipal Taxation Bureau, and other relevant departments)

(8) Optimize the deregistration process for individual businesses. In accordance with the arrangements of the Provincial Market Regulation Bureau, launch an “online integrated processing” service for the deregistration of individual businesses and tax cancellation, and conduct a pilot program for “1+N” package-style deregistration services for individual businesses, achieving “one-stop processing” for the cancellation of business licenses and permits. (Responsible units: Municipal Administrative Approval Bureau, Municipal Market Regulation Bureau, Municipal Tax Bureau, and other relevant departments)

(9) Promote tolerant and prudent regulatory enforcement. Implement tolerant and prudent regulation for new technologies, new industries, new business formats, and new business models. Formulate and issue the Version 4.0 List of Exemptions and Reduced Penalties; for violations that are significantly minor or have no obvious harmful consequences, penalties shall not be imposed, or penalties shall be reduced or mitigated in accordance with the law. Those who have been fined but face genuine financial difficulties may apply for a deferral or installment payment in accordance with the law.(Responsible Units: Municipal Market Regulation Bureau and other relevant departments)

II. Reducing Operating Costs

(10) Halve Certain Inspection and Testing Fees. Halve the fees for periodic and supervisory inspections of elevators, boilers, and pressure vessels in the accommodation and catering industries. Inspection and testing institutions directly under the municipal market regulation departments shall halve the fees for product quality inspections and metrological testing commissioned by individual business operators within the province. This measure shall remain in effect until December 31, 2023. (Responsible Units: Municipal Market Regulation Bureau, Municipal Finance Bureau)

(11) Provide social insurance subsidies. For individual business operators enrolled in the social insurance system as employers who hire employment-disadvantaged individuals and pay their social insurance premiums, subsidies will be provided based on the actual premiums paid for the five categories of insurance. For female employees on maternity leave for their second or third child, if the individual business operator pays their social insurance premiums, the operator will receive a six-month subsidy equivalent to 50% or 80% of the actual social insurance premiums paid, respectively.For self-employed individuals enrolled in the social insurance system under the flexible employment category who meet the criteria for employment-disadvantaged persons, subsidies shall be provided at a rate of no less than 1/2 and no more than 2/3 of the actual social insurance premiums paid. (Responsible Units: Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, Municipal Finance Bureau)

(12) Encourage self-employed individuals to participate in the housing provident fund system. Eligible self-employed individuals may apply, in accordance with regulations, to reduce their housing provident fund contribution ratio or defer contributions. (Responsible Unit: Municipal Housing Provident Fund Center)

(13) Support online business operations. Launch a special campaign to review service agreements and transaction rules on e-commerce platforms, guiding and urging e-commerce platforms to promptly correct and eliminate unfair standard terms that hinder the development of individual business operators on their platforms. Urge e-commerce platform enterprises to continuously disclose platform fees, rules, and standards to operators on their platforms, determine service fees such as platform commissions in accordance with the principles of value for money and fairness, and implement traffic support measures for agriculture, the disadvantaged, and new businesses.(Responsible Units: Municipal Market Regulation Bureau, Municipal Development and Reform Commission, Municipal Commerce Bureau)

(14) Implement income tax preferential policies. Strictly implement the relevant provisions of the “Announcement on Income Tax Preferential Policies for Small and Micro Enterprises and Individual Business Operators” (No. 6 of 2023) issued by the Ministry of Finance and the State Taxation Administration. The implementation period extends until December 31, 2024. (Responsible Units: Municipal Finance Bureau, Municipal Taxation Bureau)

(15) Carry out a campaign to rectify pricing and fee practices affecting individual business operators. Strictly regulate the procedures for formulating and adjusting membership fee standards for industry associations and chambers of commerce; strengthen supervision and inspection of their fee collection activities; and investigate and punish illegal and non-compliant fee collection practices involving enterprises in accordance with the law. Strictly standardize intermediary services for administrative approvals and investigate and punish illegal and non-compliant fee collection practices by intermediary service agencies in accordance with the law. Intensify supervision of fees affecting individual business operators and severely punish illegal and non-compliant acts such as failure to implement fee preferential and reduction policies.(Responsible Units: Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau, Municipal Market Regulation Bureau, Municipal Development and Reform Commission, Municipal Administrative Approval Bureau, and other relevant departments)

III. Strengthen Financial Support

(16) Provide credit support. Eligible individual entrepreneurs establishing sole proprietorships may apply for a “Wealth-Building Entrepreneurship Guaranteed Loan” of up to 500,000 yuan and receive fiscal interest subsidies in accordance with regulations. Provide “Su Gang Loan” low-interest unsecured loans to sole proprietorships that have effectively stabilized and expanded employment. Support financial institutions in providing “Wu You Shu Loan” special low-interest digital RMB loans to sole proprietorships engaged in offline retail that offer no-reason returns and operate with integrity.(Responsible Units: Suzhou Central Branch of the People’s Bank of China, Suzhou Branch of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, Municipal Finance Bureau, Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, Municipal Financial Regulatory Bureau)

(17) Optimize financial services. Guide government-backed financing guarantee institutions to fully leverage their roles and expand their business scale, with an average guarantee fee rate not exceeding 1%. Support financial institutions in providing inclusive financial services to individual business operators. Make every effort to promote “instant approval and instant loan” and “borrow as needed, repay as needed” financial products to serve both major public welfare needs and small businesses. Promote the “Jiangsu Banking Industry Individual Business Operator Credit Product Convenience Portal.”Strengthen the application of big data, conduct thorough data analysis on individual business operators, and, under the principles of the rule of law and market-oriented approaches, help individual business operators access targeted financial services. (Responsible Units: Municipal Financial Regulatory Bureau, Municipal Big Data Bureau, Suzhou Central Branch of the People’s Bank of China, Suzhou Branch of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission)

(18) Strengthen the role of insurance in providing protection. Actively promote specialized insurance products among individual business owners, such as food safety liability insurance, business interruption insurance, and employee liability insurance. (Responsible Units: Suzhou Branch of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, Municipal Market Regulation Bureau)

(19) Support entrepreneurship among key groups and veterans. Encourage government-invested or publicly-private partnership startup incubators and business parks to establish dedicated zones for veterans or build separate parks, providing policy, legal, and financial consultation and guidance to veterans engaged in individual business operations.Within the timeframe stipulated by national regulations, when members of priority groups and self-employed veterans engage in individual business operations, starting from the month of individual business registration, they may deduct up to 14,400 yuan per household per year from their actual annual tax liabilities for value-added tax, urban maintenance and construction tax, education surcharge, local education surcharge, and individual income tax, for a period of 3 years (36 months).Specifically, the tax policy for key groups engaging in entrepreneurship shall remain in effect until December 31, 2025; the tax policy for self-employed demobilized soldiers engaging in entrepreneurship shall remain in effect until December 31, 2023. Military officers who have chosen self-employment and are engaged in individual business operations shall be exempt from value-added tax and individual income tax on taxable services for three years starting from the date of obtaining their business license.(Responsible Units: Municipal Finance Bureau, Municipal Taxation Bureau, Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, Municipal Veterans Affairs Bureau)

(20) Increase the intensity of payments benefiting the public. Encourage banks to offer a discount of no less than 50% on account opening fees for the first (or a designated) corporate settlement account opened by individual business operators at the same bank, and to waive corporate settlement account management fees and annual fees; offer discounts on fees for interbank and intra-bank transfers and remittances below a certain amount;Eliminate charges for check issuance and loss reporting, as well as fees, issuance costs, and loss reporting charges for promissory notes and bank drafts. Among the above measures, the implementation period for bill-related services is indefinite, while the remaining measures will remain in effect until September 30, 2024. (Responsible Units: Suzhou Central Branch of the People’s Bank of China, Suzhou Branch of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, Municipal Development and Reform Commission)

(21) Optimize credit management services. Utilize local financial infrastructure, such as local credit reporting platforms and comprehensive financial service platforms, to establish and improve mechanisms for the collection and evaluation of credit information for individual business operators. Further expand the coverage of information collection for individual business operators in accordance with the law, and promote an increase in the proportion of first-time borrowers and unsecured loans.Explore the use of credit big data to provide support in areas such as risk compensation and interest/fee subsidies for individual business operators. For loans that could not be repaid on time due to the impact of the pandemic, upon verification, relevant overdue loans may not be reported as overdue records; those already reported shall be adjusted. (Responsible Units: Suzhou Central Branch of the People’s Bank of China, Municipal Development and Reform Commission, Municipal Financial Regulatory Bureau, Suzhou Branch of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, Suzhou Enterprise Credit Service Co., Ltd.)

IV. Enhancing Comprehensive Services

(22) Strengthen the provision of quality standards. Provide free access to various standards for individual business operators. Relying on “one-stop” service stations for the quality infrastructure, organically integrate resources such as metrology, standards, certification and accreditation, and inspection and testing to provide comprehensive quality infrastructure services. (Responsible unit: Municipal Market Regulation Bureau)

(23) Deepen Intellectual Property Services. Simplify the procedures for filing administrative adjudication and administrative mediation cases involving patent infringement disputes for individual business operators; conduct written or online hearings for cases with straightforward facts. Advance the national pilot program for the protection of trade secrets, strengthen the protection of individual business operators’ rights regarding business names, trademarks, patents, and trade secrets, and encourage and support individual business operators in enhancing their capabilities in the creation, protection, and utilization of intellectual property. (Responsible Unit: Municipal Market Regulation Bureau)

(24) Provide public interest legal services. Deepen the “Ten Thousand Law Firms Connecting with Ten Thousand Associations” working mechanism; encourage and guide legal service institutions to reduce or waive legal service fees; organize professional legal service teams to provide public interest legal services such as legal consultations, “rule of law health checks,” and dispute resolution; and assist in establishing and improving compliance management systems. (Responsible unit: Municipal Bureau of Justice)

(25) Leverage the role of private and individual business associations. Guide private and individual business associations at all levels across the city to serve as liaisons, information officers, and service providers for individual business operators, further strengthening their role as bridges and links to effectively resolve difficulties and issues encountered by individual business operators in production and operations.Fully leverage the role of the Municipal Party-Mass Service Center for Private Enterprises to provide individual business owners with services—including publicity and education, training and learning, economic and trade exchanges, rights protection, and the establishment of financing platforms—across multiple fields, on a large scale, and with broad coverage. Effectively utilize the Municipal Working Committee for Caring for the Next Generation in the Private Economy to carry out a series of public welfare activities focused on care and support. (Responsible Unit: Municipal Market Regulation Bureau)

(26) Provide recruitment and employment services. Fully leverage the roles of human resources markets and gig labor markets at all levels to guide individual business operators in accessing, registering, and logging into the “Just in Jiangsu” Smart Employment Service Platform and the “Just in Suzhou” Integrated Service Platform. Encourage participation in both on-site and online recruitment activities, and provide thoughtful services through gig labor markets that offer precise matching and instant hiring. (Responsible Unit: Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau)

(27) Strengthen monitoring of the development of individual businesses. Establish liaison points for individual business development, track changes in their operational conditions, and conduct surveys on business activity levels, operational status, and the utilization of relevant preferential policies. Dynamically monitor the development needs and operational challenges of individual businesses to provide decision-making support for the research and improvement of support policies. (Responsible Units: Municipal Market Regulation Bureau, Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, Municipal Taxation Bureau)

(28) Strengthen publicity of business relief policies. Utilize platforms such as official websites, WeChat official accounts, the Market Service Cloud Platform, and Suzhou Business Portal to promptly compile and release preferential policies supporting the development of individual businesses. Continuously enhance policy interpretation, publicity, guidance, and consultation services to increase policy awareness, ensure that individual businesses accurately understand the eligibility criteria, and guarantee that preferential policies reach them directly.(Responsible Units: Municipal Development and Reform Commission, Municipal Industry and Information Technology Bureau, Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau, Municipal Justice Bureau, Municipal Finance Bureau, Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, Municipal Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau, Municipal Transportation Bureau, Municipal Commerce Bureau, Municipal Administrative Approval Bureau, Municipal Market Regulation Bureau, Municipal Medical Insurance Bureau, Municipal Financial Regulatory Bureau, Municipal Big Data Bureau, Municipal Taxation Bureau, Suzhou Central Branch of the People’s Bank of China, Suzhou Branch of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, and other relevant departments)

These policy measures shall take effect upon issuance. Unless otherwise specified or a specific time limit is explicitly stated, they shall remain valid until December 31, 2025. In the event of any inconsistencies with previous policy measures, these policy measures shall prevail.