Published by ChinaMNC · Puge

Reading Sichuan's Official Planning Catalogue: A Practical Guide for Foreign Founders Setting Up in China

A founder-oriented walkthrough of Sichuan Province's published planning documents, from five-year plans to land-use and city-cluster plans, and how foreign investors can use this official catalogue when registering and operating a company in the province.

Why Sichuan's Planning Catalogue Matters to Foreign Founders

Sichuan's government information disclosure page is not a marketing page. It is a catalogue of published policy, regulatory and planning documents. For a foreign founder deciding where to register a company in China, or already operating one in Sichuan, this list is a map of the official documents that shape land use, infrastructure, public services and regional development. The page groups documents by category and date, and each entry links to a formal text. Reading the catalogue correctly helps you know what exists, what has been approved, and which documents to request or review before committing capital.

This article reorganises the catalogue into a founder-friendly structure. It does not add data, forecasts or promises. It only describes the documents the source page lists.

Five-Year Plans: The Top-Level Framework

The catalogue's first section covers policy and regulatory documents, including provincial five-year plans. The listed items include the Sichuan Provincial Outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development, dated 2026-04-13. Earlier editions are also published: the 14th Five-Year Plan and the 2035 long-range objectives (2021-03-17), the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-02-15) and the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-01-28).

How founders can use them

• Treat the current outline as the province's stated development direction, and read earlier editions only for context.
• Check whether your sector appears in the plan before choosing a location or applying for incentives.
• Use the document dates to confirm which plan is in force at the time of your registration.

Because these are outline documents, they do not by themselves grant approvals. They indicate priorities that local authorities translate into later plans and implementation rules.

Spatial and Land-Use Plans

A second group covers territorial and land-use planning. Listed documents include the Sichuan Tianfu New Area Territorial Spatial Plan (2021-2035), dated 2025-12-31; a notice from the provincial Department of Natural Resources issuing five special plans, including the Chengdu Plain Economic Zone Territorial Spatial Plan (2021-2035), dated 2024-11-04; the Sichuan Provincial Territorial Spatial Plan (2021-2035), dated 2024-04-11; the Anning River Basin Territorial Spatial Plan (2022-2035), dated 2022-11-22; and the Sichuan Provincial Territorial Spatial Ecological Restoration Plan (2021-2035), dated 2022-07-08.

Older land-use documents are also listed: the provincial main functional zone plan (2013-04-16), the provincial general land-use plan for 2006-2020 (2010-02-23) and for 1997-2010 (1999-11-15).

Practical implications

• Site selection for manufacturing, warehousing or large offices depends on zoning set by these spatial plans.
• Tianfu New Area has its own spatial plan, which is relevant if you are considering that area.
• Ecological restoration plans can restrict or condition development in certain areas.
• Older land-use plans are historical; confirm current zoning with local authorities rather than relying on superseded documents.

Regional and City-Cluster Plans

The catalogue lists plans for metropolitan and regional integration. These include the Chengdu Metropolitan Area Integrated Development 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-09-09), the Chengdu Metropolitan Area Development Plan (2021-11-29), and the Outline of the Chengdu-Chongqing Twin-City Economic Circle Construction Plan issued by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council (2021-10-21).

Also listed are 14th Five-Year Plan documents for the Chengdu Plain Economic Zone, the Northwest Sichuan Ecological Demonstration Zone, the Panxi Economic Zone, the South Sichuan Economic Zone and the Northeast Sichuan Economic Zone, all dated 2021-06-09, plus a 13th Five-Year Plan notice covering five plans including the Chengdu Plain Economic Zone (2019-01-25) and the Northwest Sichuan Ecological Economic Zone plan (2016-09-02).

What this means for expansion

• If your China entity plans multiple sites, these plans show which regions are treated as integrated economic zones.
• The Chengdu-Chongqing framework is a national-level document, so it carries weight beyond provincial boundaries.
• Regional plans can affect logistics corridors, talent flows and access to public services.

Sector and Public-Service Plans

A large block lists provincial government approvals and plans across sectors, mostly dated 2026. Items include approvals for the Water Security 15th Five-Year Plan and the Public Services 15th Five-Year Plan (both 2026-10-09), the Beautiful Sichuan Construction 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-10-09), and approvals for the Traditional Chinese Medicine Development 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-10-08). Others cover disability protection and development (2026-09-21), an approval for the Sports Development 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-09-21), natural resources protection and utilisation (2026-09-17), health development (2026-09-11), geological disaster prevention (2026-09-11), and an approval for the Market Regulation Modernisation 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-09-11).

The catalogue also lists the Housing and Urban-Rural Development High-Quality Development 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-08-31).

Founder takeaways

• Market regulation modernisation is directly relevant to company registration, licensing and compliance processes.
• Public services and health plans matter when assessing liveability for expatriate staff.
• Water security and geological disaster plans can affect industrial siting and insurance considerations.
• These are approvals and plans, not statements of available subsidies.

Heritage and Scenic-Area Approvals

The catalogue lists provincial government approvals for heritage and scenic-area protection plans, including Luzhou (2025-2035), Mianzhu (2023-2035), Enyang District in Bazhong and other historic towns and villages (2024-2035), Mengding Mountain Scenic Area (2025-2035), the Banyueshan cliff carvings, Laojun Mountain Scenic Area (2025-2035), historic towns in Zigong (2025-2035), Jiange (2025-2035) and Tongjiang (2024-2035).

For founders, these approvals signal that construction and renovation in or near protected areas face additional review. Tourism, hospitality and cultural projects should check these documents early.

City and Prefecture Coverage

The page lists all 21 city and prefecture-level jurisdictions: Chengdu, Zigong, Panzhihua, Luzhou, Deyang, Mianyang, Guangyuan, Suining, Neijiang, Leshan, Nanchong, Yibin, Guang'an, Dazhou, Bazhong, Ya'an, Meishan, Ziyang, Aba Prefecture, Ganzi Prefecture and Liangshan Prefecture. Local registration and operating rules sit with these jurisdictions, so use the provincial catalogue as an index and then consult the relevant local authority.

How to Use This Catalogue in Practice

• Before registration: identify the current five-year outline and the spatial plan covering your proposed site.
• During site selection: check zoning, ecological restrictions and heritage approvals.
• During operations: monitor new sector plans, especially market regulation and public services.
• For expansion: review regional and metropolitan integration plans.
• Always confirm: document dates and status with the issuing authority, since plans are periodically revised.

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