Two Zones
These are the National Integrated Demonstration Zone for Greater Openness in the Services Sector, and the China (Beijing) Pilot Free Trade Zone. Tasked with spearheading national institutional reforms and driving Beijing’s development, the Two Zones have aligned themselves with advanced international economic and trade rules, and steadily expanded institutional opening-up. The goal is to accelerate reform and development through greater openness.
Upgrade and Trade-In Initiative
This refers to programs for large-scale equipment upgrades and trade-in of consumer products. Under an action plan issued by the State Council in 2024, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Finance leveraged ultra-long special treasury bonds to provide robust financial backing for this initiative, effectively stimulating investment growth and unleashing consumer demand.
Two Priorities
These are implementing major national strategies and enhancing security capacity in key areas. Since 2024, the state has repeatedly issued ultra-long special treasury bonds to provide dedicated support for projects under these priorities. As an important part of the counter-cyclical policy, they offer strong backing for increasing effective investment.
Beijing Services
This refers to Beijing’s commitment to providing high quality services, as stated in its November 2023 guidelines to comprehensively enhance the ease of doing business in the city. The primary goal is to create a more positive experience for businesses and the public.
Building on the “Beijing Standards”, “Beijing Efficiency”, and “Trustworthy Beijing”, Beijing Services aims to set a new global benchmark for service quality, to drive the capital’s high-quality development by delivering seamless, efficient, and easily accessible services to both enterprises and residents.
Service Packages
This refers to a working mechanism introduced by Beijing to improve the business environment and support enterprise development. The packages include a combination of preferential policies centered on the positioning, visions and future development plans of businesses. The goal is to bridge information gaps and provide, within the framework of laws and regulations, tailored solutions to help businesses facilitate coordination and resolve difficulties in their development.
Three Science Cities and One Demonstration Area
This refers to Zhongguancun Science City, Huairou Science City, Beijing Future Science City, and the Demonstration Area for Innovation-based Industrial Clusters. They serve as pivotal platforms for building Beijing into an international sci-tech innovation center.
Regional University-Industry Technology Transfer Center (Beijing)
This refers to a regional platform jointly established by the Ministry of Education and Beijing Municipality to commercialize scientific and technological achievements originating in universities. Approved in June 2025, the Center focuses on two strategic industries: artificial intelligence and green energy. It is based mainly in Haidian and Fangshan districts and offers one-stop services that include proof of concept, pilot testing and scale-up, intellectual property management, technology financing, and business matchmaking, all aimed at translating academic research into market-ready products and solutions.
300 Key Municipal-Level Projects
These are projects implemented in Beijing yearly since 2019 to drive progress in key areas and address weak links in the city’s social and economic development. They include 100 infrastructure projects, 100 projects for improving people’s lives, and 100 projects in sci-tech innovation and high-end, precision, and cutting-edge industries.
Unicorn Companies
These are unlisted start-ups with a history of less than 10 years that are valued at over one billion US dollars. According to the Global Unicorn Index 2025 released by the Hurun Research Institute, Beijing is home to 75 unicorn companies, ranking third among cities worldwide.
Little Giant Companies
These are the best, highly innovative SMEs that specialize in niche markets, hold significant market shares, and possess strengths in core technologies in key fields, thus setting the benchmark for quality and performance in their respective sectors.
Beijing is currently home to 1,214 certified national-level “little giant companies”, making it one of the first cities nationwide to host more than 1,000 such enterprises.
Nature Index-Science Cities
This refers to the annual ranking of Science Cities published by the Springer Nature Group starting in 2017. It systematically tracks and evaluates the research performance of major cities or metropolitan areas worldwide in five broad scientific fields: chemistry, physical sciences, earth and environmental sciences, biological sciences, and health sciences. It has become an internationally recognized indicator of research strength that measures high-quality scientific output and collaboration by countries and regions.
