Private businesses have graded their satisfaction with China’s business environment 74.46 out of 100 points this year, a significant increase from 68.71 last year, suggested a survey conducted by All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce (ACFIC), Xinhuanet.com reported on Nov.1, 2020.

Pudong, Shanghai. (Photo/pixabay.com)

The legal environment was graded 81.44 points, the highest score among all five aspects evaluated, while the market environment won the second highest score of 77.56 points, according to the survey, which collected 40,216 valid questionnaires and more than 12 million pieces of effective data from private enterprises in the eastern, middle and western regions of China.

Respondents have shown a relatively high degree of satisfaction with the acquisition and guarantee of resources of essential productive factors, but hope that the government can provide more support for them in the costs of electricity, financing, and labor, the results of the survey revealed.

Nearly 70 percent of the respondents said they paid less fees and taxes during the first half of this year than they did in the same period last year, thanks to the intensive favorable policies rolled out since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

China has continued to expand its market access in three major fields closely related to people’s livelihood, namely education, medical care, and care for the elderly, according to the companies surveyed.

The survey indicated that private companies look forward to receiving more support in aspects such as introduction of high-end talents and policy on fiscal subsidies.

“Enterprises can feel directly how a business environment is,” said Li Zhaoqian, vice chairman of the ACFIC, at a recent forum on sound development of non-public sector of the economy and healthy growth of people in the sector.

The sudden outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has made private businesses in China gain a more in-depth understanding of the business environment in various cities, Li said, adding that the support provided for enterprises in their anti-epidemic efforts and policies on resumption of work and production across the country have won wide recognition from private enterprises.

As epidemic prevention and control measures have been normalized in the country, companies hope that employment subsidies and policies on reducing government charges can also be normalized, Li disclosed.

Carried out between June and October this year, the survey involved large, medium-sized, small, and micro businesses in various industries.