China is confident of creating a more unified, fair and innovative market during the upcoming 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) period, thanks to an improved business environment, upgraded quality standards and enhanced regulation on online platforms over the past five years, the country's top market regulator said on Friday.

China's business environment has continued to improve since the launch of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25), thereby fully stimulating entrepreneurial vitality across society, Luo Wen, head of the State Administration for Market Regulation, or SAMR, said at a news conference highlighting the country's achievements during the period.

The country recorded a net increase of approximately 34 million self-employed households and registered a net increase of almost 20 million enterprises during the same five-year period, Luo said, adding that the time needed to open a restaurant has shortened to 15 days from 37, and 204 innovative drugs have been approved during the half-decade.

To effectively safeguard fair competition and market order, the administration has intensified its regulation on market monopolies, he said, adding that 3,400 merger cases have been concluded in sectors such as the platform economy and natural monopolies.

During the five-year period, the administration has continuously optimized its regulatory mechanisms, Luo said, adding that efforts are underway to streamline approval procedures and reduce corporate costs.

According to Luo, quality indicators have risen sharply over the past five years. Indices gauging manufacturing quality competitiveness, satisfaction with quality of life services and satisfaction with public services rose to 85.86, 81.33 and 81.62, respectively.

To support this growth, China completed the first revision in 15 years of its anti-monopoly law and a third update of its anti-unfair competition law, strengthening competition policy as a legal pillar.

Deng Zhiyong, deputy head of the SAMR, said that while digital technologies have spurred growth and new business models, risks such as online traffic manipulation, algorithm abuse and disorderly competition are emerging.

The administration, thereby, has unveiled a draft guideline to tighten oversight over how e-commerce and online platforms charge merchants. The guideline seeks to standardize the way platforms collect commissions, membership fees, technical service charges, information fees and marketing expenses from merchants.

Wang Xianlin, a member of the expert advisory group on the anti-monopoly commission of the State Council — the nation's Cabinet — said, "Such efforts are expected to bring greater transparency and structure to the way online trading platforms charge merchants, and will rebalance interests and rebuild a healthy platform ecosystem."

Yang Sheng, deputy head of the National Medical Products Administration, said on Friday that the country's pharmaceutical sector is now the world's second-largest in terms of market size. "China will continue to support global clinical trials, faster launches of more foreign-invested new medicines in the five years to come," Yang said.

Since the beginning of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period, China has approved 265 innovative medical devices, he said, adding that from January to July, the administration had cleared 50 innovative drugs and 49 innovative medical devices.

The country has also accelerated approvals for pediatric medicines and treatments for rare diseases, with 387 pediatric drugs and 147 rare-disease medicines cleared during the period, effectively meeting the needs of key patient groups, he added.

Looking ahead, Luo from the SAMR, said the administration will continue to advance fair and unified market regulation, and consistently enhance standardized, impartial and civil law enforcement — thereby contributing more to creating a market-oriented, law-based and internationalized business environment.