Last year, Premier Li Keqiang chaired a series of meetings intended to produce policies that will help companies overcome major challenges.
Sun Zhonghai, founder of Zhanrui Technology Co, made local media headlines when he introduced his company's work to Li Keqiang during the premier's visit to Dalian, Liaoning province, in June.
At that moment, Sun knew he had made the right decision when he chose to become an entrepreneur.
"I was lucky with the timing. My business would not have survived and developed with-out the country's policies to support entrepreneurship and innovation," the 25-year-old said.
A year ago, Sun's family voiced strong objections to his plan to start his own business, pointing out that his peers were busy landing jobs.
"My family believed that starting a business was too complicated and risky," he said.
Now, Sun, along with his team of six, is about to launch his first product and is receiving the first round of financing.
It took just one week to complete the registration procedure: all Sun had to do was to decide on a name for his company, and agree on a certain amount of registered capital－in his case about 100,000 yuan ($15,480).
Like tens of thousands of young entrepreneurs, Sun is benefiting from a raft of new policies approved by the State Council, China's Cabinet, in the past year.
The measures are designed to remove the obstacles that have held businesspeople back and nurture new economic drivers.
Last year, the State Council held 34 executive meetings on 80 topics.
The meetings, chaired by the premier, discussed State-level policies and guidelines, and about one-third of them produced concrete guidelines to remove institutional hurdles and create a more comfortable environment for investment from both home and abroad.
The measures included reductions in taxes and fees, the development of inclusive finance, the provision of faster, cheaper broadband, the reduction of business charges and red tape, and the removal of obstacles to market access for private and foreign enterprises.
The moves were designed to facilitate China's economic transformation from an export-led growth model, which has provided dynamic results in the past 35 years, to one driven by consumption and services.
Cost reductions
State Council executive meetings in January, February, May and August produced measures to expand financing channels for micro, small and medium-sized businesses.
Business fees deemed unreasonable were cut to lower institutional costs and boost market vitality. Meanwhile, oversight charges levied on banks and other financial institutions were put on hold.
Zhao Jie, 31, has worked at Weimeinuo, an innovation industrial park in Changzhi, Shanxi province, since 2014. The park offers production, sales and financial services to companies, especially small and microbusinesses. Most of the businesses in the park sell construction materials.
