SME Policy 2026–2030
China's 15th Five-Year SME Plan: 2030 Targets and Business Priorities
Ten authorities have issued China's SME development plan for 2026-2030. It targets 22,000 Little Giant enterprises by 2030 and average annual growth of at least 8% in intramural R&D spending by industrial SMEs above the designated size, alongside measures on digital transformation, supply chains, finance, talent and payment protection.
Document published: 2026-09-03 · Article updated: 2026-10-14
Document and scope
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) and nine other authorities jointly issued the plan for promoting SME development during the 15th Five-Year period. The document was signed on September 1, 2026 and published by MIIT on September 3, under MIIT Joint Planning Letter [2026] No. 290.
The plan covers SME development in 2026-2030, including specialized enterprise cultivation, innovation, digital and AI applications, green transition, supply-chain cooperation and business services. This page is an editorial English summary based on the Chinese plan and MIIT's explanation. The business priorities below are the portal's interpretation.
Main targets for 2030
These are development targets for the planning period. Each figure retains the population and time basis stated in the original document. Aggregate growth targets do not become application thresholds for an individual company.
| Indicator | 2030 target | Population or basis |
|---|---|---|
| Little Giant enterprises | 22,000 | National enterprise cultivation target |
| Intramural R&D expenditure | Average annual growth of at least 8% | Industrial SMEs above the designated size |
| Revenue per employee | Cumulative growth of about 15% | SMEs above the designated size |
| National specialized SME industrial clusters | 600 | National cluster cultivation target |
| Digital and intelligent maturity at level 2 | Share of at least 95% | Specialized and innovative SMEs |
| Digital and intelligent maturity at level 3 | Share of at least 80% | Specialized and innovative SMEs |
| China-foreign SME cooperation zones | 50 | National cooperation-zone target |
| Revenue, assets and operating environment | Stable growth and continued improvement | No single percentage is specified for these objectives |
Seven policy priorities
The plan sets out 21 measures across seven priorities. The first four address company growth and transformation; the remaining three address resources, services and the operating environment.
- Entrepreneurship and employment: use investment funds and incubation resources, explore applications in emerging and future industries, and support job retention, recruitment and workforce skills.
- Enterprise development: improve tiered cultivation and dynamic designation management; strengthen R&D, university-industry collaboration and commercialization; develop quality, brands, standards, management and international cooperation.
- Digital and green transition: expand city-level digital transformation pilots, equipment upgrades and AI applications; improve access to computing and suitable tools; support low-carbon upgrades, carbon-footprint management and green supply chains.
- Supply-chain cooperation: encourage large companies to open research facilities, application scenarios and resources; use supplier matching, shared cluster facilities and product applications to strengthen SME capabilities.
- Resources: coordinate credit, equity, bonds, insurance and guarantees; support management, technical and vocational talent; improve the secure use and circulation of data resources.
- Business services: strengthen public services at national, provincial, municipal and county levels, connect the nationwide SME service network, and improve professional and public-interest services.
- Legal and policy support: coordinate targeted policies, improve market access and business-related enforcement, address overdue payments, and improve complaint handling, IP protection and dispute resolution.
Seven supporting programmes
Seven programmes provide implementation channels for the policy priorities. Companies can use this list to locate relevant local measures and service resources. The programme names below are editorial translations.
- Tiered development of high-quality SMEs
- SME quality, brand and standards capability development
- SME digital and intelligent transformation
- Specialized SME industrial-cluster capability development
- SME financing promotion
- SME talent services
- SME public-service capability development
Practical priorities for specialized SMEs
The following priorities are the portal's interpretation of the plan. Application windows, eligibility, funding and assessment rules require the relevant implementing notice.
- R&D and products: organize project records, evidence of IP use, pilot validation and commercialization; follow research programmes, innovation partnerships and technology-transfer services.
- Digital and AI projects: start with measurable uses such as inspection, equipment maintenance, process simulation or production control; record before-and-after costs, cycle times and yield before approaching pilot schemes or providers.
- Supply chains and green operations: document delivery capacity, customer validation and quality systems; follow supplier matching, green procurement, carbon-footprint requirements and shared cluster services.
- Finance and talent: keep financial, order and R&D records consistent and check each financing tool's eligibility; follow training, shared-engineer services, university partnerships and vocational programmes.
- Payment protection and compliance: retain contract, acceptance and payment records; follow complaint-handling rules and review employment, IP, cybersecurity and data management.
Keep plan targets, designation rules and the 2026 lists distinct
The target of 22,000 enterprises is a national cultivation objective for 2030. The R&D growth target applies to an aggregate statistical population. Neither grants an individual company Little Giant status. New eighth-batch applicants in 2026 must be assessed under the 2026 tiered SME management rules and annual notice; the notice separately specifies the standards for companies undergoing review.
As of October 14, 2026, this public-source check has not identified a verifiable MIIT final eighth-batch designation list or a 2026 review-passed list. The portal therefore retains the local proposed-recommendation status for its 2026 records and will update them against a verifiable formal document and its attachments.