Zhejiang's business environment has continued to draw wide attention after the province ranked first nationwide in a major survey by the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, a result that was written into the government work report at the fourth session of the 14th Zhejiang Provincial People's Congress, which opened in Hangzhou on Jan 14.

In December 2025, Zhejiang topped the federation's annual survey of 10,000 private enterprises assessing the business environment. The province ranked first nationwide across four key indicators: market environment, rule of law environment, innovation environment, and government services environment.

Zhejiang has long placed the creation of a first-class business environment at the center of its economic and social development strategy, gradually building a relatively complete policy framework.

In May last year, the province released a new policy document on further optimizing the business environment and promoting the healthy development of the private economy. The document introduced 18 concrete measures across five areas, including improving government services, safeguarding fair competition, strengthening innovation support, and regulating law enforcement and supervision.

Legislative efforts have also been stepped up. Since 2020, Zhejiang has reviewed and adopted more than 10 local regulations related to the business environment, including regulations on promoting the development of private enterprises and supporting small and micro businesses, shifting progress from policy-driven initiatives to rule-of-law-based guarantees.

Zhejiang's digital governance practices have also attracted international attention. Experts from the World Bank visited Hangzhou for field research and later released a 14,000-word English report titled Digitalization of Government Services for a Better Business Environment in China: A Case Study on the Reform Experience of Zhejiang Province on the World Bank's official website, introducing Zhejiang's experience in digital government services to a global audience.