Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress Standing Committee Again Amends Shanghai Regulations on Optimization of Business Environment

On November 26, the Standing Committee of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress adopted the Decision on Amending Shanghai Regulations on Optimization of Business Environment (the “Decision”), which will take effect on January 1, 2026.

The amendments include: benchmarking against international high-standard economic and trade rules and expanding opening-up in service trade and digital trade; prohibiting Large Enterprises from abusing advantageous positions to delay payments to Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and strengthening coordinated regulation; strengthening Intellectual Property protection and curbing malicious litigation and trademark hoarding; prohibiting fabrication and dissemination of false information that infringes enterprise rights and interests, with Online Service Providers required to improve complaint mechanisms; optimizing full-process services for enterprise-benefiting policies and promoting direct and expedited delivery of policies; deepening talent development mechanisms and attracting domestic and overseas talent; strictly controlling special inspections and improving filing and publicity procedures; standardizing policymaking and Fair Competition Review; and strengthening regulation of Professional Compensation Claims and reporting conduct.