China Business Environment Index Report 2018 launched

The China Business Environment Index Report 2018 was launched in Beijing on Monday.

This report, jointly released by China Fortune Media and the Beijing-based nonprofit economic think tank Wanb Institute, ranks Shanghai, Beijing and eastern China’s Jiangsu Province as the three most business-friendly places among all the 31 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions in the Chinese mainland.

Nine out of the top ten on the list are provinces and municipalities in eastern China while most of the bottom ten are from the western part of the country.

“Currently different places across China have been working to improve their business environment. Building a mechanism for assessing their business environment will meet the need of China’s economic restructuring. It can also unveil and address challenges in our reform and help push it further,” said Zhang Xianguo, president of China Fortune Media.

Zhang Xianguo, president of China Fortune Media, speaks at the launch ceremony of China Business Environment Index Report 2018. (Xinhua/Li Lin)

The purpose of this report is to serve the high-quality development of China, decision-making by companies, market-oriented reform and economic growth in local places, said Teng Tai, president of Wanb Institute.

In its evaluation of business environment across the Chinese mainland, the report compares 35 indicators. Among them, 24 indicators are dedicated to intangible factors covering technological innovation, financial sector, talent pool, cultural environment and living standards in the 31 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions. All the data used are from public sources.

This newly-launched report bears a remarkable difference with its renowned international counterpart, the World Banks’s annual Doing Business report, which on Nov. 1 listed China at the 46th spot among the 190 world economies, up by 32 places from last year.

Compared with the Doing Business report, the China Business Environment Index Report 2018 focuses more on the need of the new economy, including the knowledge sector, information sector, culture and entertainment sector, financial sector, and other services sectors.