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Published by ChinaMNC · Daofu

Sichuan's Published Planning Documents: A Practical Reading Guide for Foreign Founders

A guide for foreign founders to the categories of planning documents Sichuan publishes through its government information disclosure system, from five-year plans to spatial plans and city-level pages, and how to use them when registering or operating a company in China.

Why Sichuan's Planning Library Matters to Foreign Founders

Sichuan's government information disclosure portal maintains a public library of plans and policy documents. For a foreign founder setting up or running a company in China, this library is not background reading — it is the paper trail behind local priorities, land use, infrastructure and public services. The page is organised into categories rather than a single narrative, so the practical skill is knowing which category answers which question.

Below is a founder-oriented map of what the page actually contains, with dates as published, so you can locate the right document before committing capital or signing a lease.

Category One: Five-Year Plans for the Province

The economic and social development five-year plans sit at the top of the hierarchy. The list includes the 15th Five-Year Plan outline (dated 2026-04-13), the 14th Five-Year Plan and 2035 long-range objectives outline (2021-03-17), and earlier outlines for the 13th (2016-02-15) and 12th (2011-01-28) plan periods.

For founders, these outlines frame the province's medium-term direction. Reading the most recent outline and comparing it with its predecessor shows which themes persist across plan cycles — a useful signal when assessing whether a local incentive or sector focus is durable or transitional.

How to use them

Category Two: Territorial Spatial Planning

A separate section covers territorial and spatial planning, including the Sichuan Tianfu New Area territorial spatial plan (2021–2035, dated 2025-12-31); a notice from the provincial Department of Natural Resources on five specialised plans including the Chengdu Plain Economic Zone territorial spatial plan (2021–2035) (2024-11-04); the provincial territorial spatial plan (2021–2035) (2024-04-11); the Anning River Basin territorial spatial plan (2022–2035) (2022-11-22); and the provincial territorial spatial ecological restoration plan (2021–2035) (2022-07-08). Older entries include the provincial main functional zone plan (2013-04-16) and land use master plans for 2006–2020 (2010-02-23) and 1997–2010 (1999-11-15).

These documents matter most for anyone evaluating sites, warehouses, factories or offices. Spatial plans indicate how land is designated and where development is channelled. They are not a substitute for site-specific due diligence, but they help you ask better questions before engaging local advisers.

Category Three: Regional and Metropolitan Integration Plans

The page lists the Chengdu metropolitan area integration development 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-09-09) and the Chengdu metropolitan area development plan (2021-11-29). It also includes the Central Committee and State Council-issued Chengdu-Chongqing twin-city economic circle construction plan outline (2021-10-21).

Earlier regional plans cover the 14th Five-Year period for the Chengdu Plain Economic Zone integration plan, the Northwest Sichuan ecological demonstration zone, the Panxi economic zone transformation and upgrading plan, the South Sichuan economic zone integration plan, and the Northeast Sichuan economic zone revitalisation plan — all dated 2021-06-09. A 13th Five-Year notice covering the Chengdu Plain Economic Zone development plan (2018 revision) and four others is dated 2019-01-25, and the Northwest Sichuan ecological economic zone 13th Five-Year development plan is dated 2016-09-02.

For founders choosing between Chengdu and secondary cities, these plans help explain how the province frames each region's role. If your business depends on logistics, suppliers or talent pools, regional framing is relevant context for location decisions.

Category Four: Sector and Public Service Plans

A large block lists provincial government approvals and plans across sectors, including:

This section is where sector-specific founders should look first. A health, sports, environmental or market-regulation-related plan can indicate where public investment and administrative attention are directed. Note that several entries are approvals of plans rather than the plan texts themselves; the approval notice tells you a plan exists and when it was endorsed, not its full contents.

Category Five: Housing, Construction and Heritage Protection

The page lists the housing and urban-rural construction high-quality development 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-08-31), followed by a series of approvals for heritage and scenic area protection plans:

Heritage and scenic area approvals are relevant if your project involves renovation, hospitality, tourism or construction near protected sites. They signal where development constraints may apply.

Category Six: City and Prefecture Pages

The page links to sub-pages for Chengdu, Zigong, Panzhihua, Luzhou, Deyang, Mianyang, Guangyuan, Suining, Neijiang, Leshan, Nanchong, Yibin, Guang'an, Dazhou, Bazhong, Ya'an, Meishan, Ziyang, Aba Prefecture, Garzê Prefecture and Liangshan Prefecture. Local registration, permits and site rules typically sit at this level, so these links are the practical next step after provincial reading.

A Practical Sequence for Founders

The page also displays the site's registration identifiers, including a website identification code and ICP and public security filing numbers, which confirm the portal's official status.

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

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