Published by ChinaMNC · Yangshan

China's Government Information Disclosure Platform: A Practical Guide for Foreign Founders

A walkthrough of China's official government information disclosure platform, covering the disclosure regulations, planning documents, and annual reports that foreign founders can use to research rules and local conditions before registering or operating a company in China.

What This Platform Is

The Government Information Disclosure Platform, hosted on the central government website (gov.cn), is the official channel through which Chinese government bodies publish the information they are required to make public. For a foreign founder setting up or running a company in China, it is a reference point for locating regulations, plans, and annual transparency reports rather than a one-stop service portal. The page itself is an index: it links to policy documents, planning outlines, and disclosure reports organized by year and by agency.

The Core Rule: The 2019 Regulation

The foundation of the system is the Regulation of the People's Republic of China on Open Government Information, dated 15 April 2019. This is the document that defines the disclosure obligations of government bodies. If you want to understand what a Chinese agency must publish, and what it may withhold, this regulation is the starting text. It sits alongside a series of implementing notices from the General Office of the State Council and its government information and open government affairs office.

Implementing Notices Worth Knowing

• A 3 December 2019 notice on standardizing matters related to government information disclosure platforms.
• A 29 September 2021 notice issuing the format for annual reports on government information disclosure work.
• A 29 October 2021 notice on publishing rules and regulations in a consolidated and dynamically updated manner.
• A 1 December 2020 notice on measures for managing fees for processing government information disclosure requests.
• A 21 December 2020 notice on rules for how public enterprises and institutions develop their own disclosure provisions.
• A 4 January 2022 notice transmitting the Ministry of Justice's guidance on hearing administrative reconsideration cases involving disclosure requests.

Several interpretive documents from the disclosure office address practical questions: how requests are handled after institutional reforms (11 February 2019), which channels may receive requests (24 October 2017), who is the proper respondent to a request (24 October 2017), how annual report items should be completed (24 October 2017), how decisions are served (24 October 2017), and where the line falls between a disclosure request and a general business inquiry (24 October 2017). For a founder, these interpretations matter because they clarify how a request should be filed and what response to expect.

Planning Documents as Market Research

The platform also indexes national economic and social development plans, which can be useful background for sector and location decisions. The collection includes the outlines for the 15th Five-Year Plan, the 14th Five-Year Plan with its 2035 long-range objectives, and the 13th, 12th, 11th, and 10th five-year outlines, plus the 10th five-year plan outline.

Specialized plans listed on the page include State Council approvals and notices on:

• A special education development action plan for the 15th Five-Year Plan period.
• Intellectual property protection and utilization in the 15th Five-Year Plan period.
• A national fitness plan for 2026–2030.
• Expanding consumption in the 15th Five-Year Plan period.
• National health in the 15th Five-Year Plan period.
• Revitalization and development of traditional Chinese medicine in the 15th Five-Year Plan period.

Local development plans are organized by province-level region: Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Fujian, Jiangxi, Shandong, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Tibet, Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia, and Xinjiang. A founder evaluating where to register or expand can use these regional plan pages to see how local governments frame their priorities.

Annual Disclosure Reports

The platform publishes annual reports on government information disclosure work going back several years, including the 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, and 2020 reporting years. Each year's section is divided into three groups:

• Provincial-level reports from each province, autonomous region, and municipality.
• Vertically managed systems, such as the People's Bank of China system, customs, taxation, financial supervision, securities regulation, meteorology, grain and strategic reserves, tobacco, railway, civil aviation, postal services, mine safety supervision, and the foreign exchange administration system.
• State Council departments, a long list running from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Development and Reform Commission through to the National Bureau of Statistics, the National Intellectual Property Administration, the National Data Administration, and many others.

The composition of the lists shifts over time, reflecting institutional changes. For example, the 2022 reporting year lists the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission system, while the 2025 and 2024 lists name a financial supervision administration system instead; the 2022 list also includes a national rural revitalization administration that does not appear in later years. These reports show what each body disclosed and how it handled requests.

How a Foreign Founder Can Use It

Treat the platform as a research starting point. First, identify the regulator for your sector from the department lists. Second, read the 2019 regulation and the interpretive notices to understand how to file an information request and what fees may apply. Third, use national and local plans for context on policy direction in your industry and chosen region. Fourth, check the annual reports of relevant agencies to see their disclosure practices.

The page also provides a search function with a policy index showing sequence number, title, document number, date of formation, and publication date. If a search returns nothing, the site suggests checking the input, simplifying the terms, or trying similar or common words. Note that the page is an index and does not itself guarantee any particular service outcome.

This summary is based on information published by the relevant Chinese government website and is general information, not legal or tax advice.