The 2019 China City Business Environment Report was released in a ceremony in Beijing on June 18. Compiled by the China Central Radio and Television Station (CCTV), the report focuses on the third-party assessment of business environment. Two PHBS faculty served on the report's expert committee, Hai Wen, vice chairman of Peking University Council and PHBS dean; and Ren Ting, PHBS associate dean. Ren is the report’s lead author. 

 

In remarks shared on video, Dean Hai said that he hoped the report would provide guidance for future development of an international first-class business environment, further optimize the business environment in various regions, and facilitate China’s sustainable economic development. 
 

 Dean Hai shares his insights in the release ceremony
 

The World Bank's business environment evaluation standards were used as benchmarks. These reference international peers’ evaluation indicators while taking into account the characteristics of the Chinese business milieu. The ultimate purpose is to build an evaluation system for Chinese cities’ business settings based on indicators closely related to market players.

 

The report includes 4 municipalities under direct leadership of the central government, 27 capital cities and autonomous region capitals, and 5 cities specifically designated in the state plan. In addition to the original evaluation scope, the report includes the China’s top 100 cities in terms of economic aggregate.

 

Authors designed a five-dimension evaluation process including infrastructure, human resources, financial services, governmental affairs environment, and inclusive innovation. They also released a five-dimensional sub-ranking to comprehensively assess the state of a city's business environment, which covers the key factors affecting companies’ business development, including systems, markets, resources, technology, talent, and funds. 
 

 

The report shows that major cities play a leading role in comprehensively optimizing the nationwide business environment extending from the central cities to the surrounding cities, and an improved soft environment facilitates advances in the business environment.

By Annie Jin 
Edited by Priscilla Young