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Sichuan's Planning Library: What Foreign Founders Should Read Before Registering a Company

A practical guide for foreign founders to the planning documents Sichuan publishes, from five-year plans and territorial spatial planning to regional and sector plans, and why these public records matter when setting up and operating a company in China.

Why a Planning Archive Matters to a Foreign Founder

Sichuan's government information disclosure page reads at first like a filing cabinet: policy, regulations, administrative normative documents, government normative documents and departmental normative documents, topped by a counter for the Provincial Development and Reform Commission. For a foreign founder planning to register or run a company in China, however, that cabinet is a map of what the province intends to do, where it intends to do it, and which sectors it intends to support. The page is a public portal, not a policy pitch, but the documents it lists are worth reading before committing capital, signing a lease or choosing a location.

The archive is organized by plan type and date. The documents are published in Chinese, and the page itself is a directory rather than an analysis. Treat it as a starting point for due diligence and for conversations with local advisers.

The Five-Year Plans: The Province's Medium-Term Direction

The most prominent entries are the provincial economic and social development five-year outlines. The page lists the outline for the Fifteenth Five-Year Plan period, dated 13 April 2026, alongside the Fourteenth Five-Year Plan outline and the 2035 long-range goals, dated 17 March 2021. Earlier outlines for the Thirteenth and Twelfth Five-Year Plan periods appear with their original publication dates, in 2016 and 2011 respectively. A more link leads to the full set.

For a founder, the value is in understanding sequencing. Five-year outlines set the broad direction that later sector and spatial plans operationalize. Reading the current outline before the sector plans helps explain why particular industries, regions or infrastructure projects appear where they do.

Territorial Spatial Planning: Where Activity Is Expected

A second cluster covers territorial spatial planning, which governs land use and development boundaries. Listed documents include:

These are the documents that shape where industrial land, logistics sites and infrastructure corridors are expected. A foreign founder evaluating a factory site, warehouse or office location should ask local advisers which spatial plan applies and what it permits.

Regional Plans: Chengdu and the Wider Province

The page also lists regional integration plans. These include the Chengdu metropolitan area integration development plan for the Fifteenth Five-Year Plan period, dated 9 September 2026, and the Chengdu metropolitan area development plan, dated 29 November 2021. It also lists the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle construction plan outline, issued by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council, dated 21 October 2021.

Several Fourteenth Five-Year Plan regional documents appear with the same date of 9 June 2021: the Chengdu Plain Economic Zone integration plan, the Northwest Sichuan ecological demonstration zone plan, the Panxi economic zone transformation and upgrading plan, the South Sichuan economic zone integration plan and the Northeast Sichuan economic zone revitalization plan. Earlier Thirteenth Five-Year Plan regional documents are also archived.

For founders, regional plans indicate how the province frames different parts of its territory. The framing matters for incentives, infrastructure priorities and the type of activity local authorities expect to attract.

Sector Plans: Health, Public Services, Market Regulation and More

A large group of entries consists of provincial government approvals of sector plans for the Fifteenth Five-Year Plan period, mostly dated in 2026. They include approvals concerning:

The page also lists the Beautiful Sichuan construction plan for the Fifteenth Five-Year Plan period, dated 9 October 2026, and a plan for high-quality development of housing and urban-rural construction, dated 31 August 2026.

Two of these deserve particular attention from foreign founders. The market regulation plan bears on how business oversight is expected to develop. The public services plan bears on the environment in which employees live and work. The health, water and geological disaster plans bear on operational risk in specific locations.

Heritage and Scenic Area Approvals

The archive also lists provincial government approvals of plans protecting historic cities, towns and villages, and scenic areas. Examples include approvals for Luzhou historic city protection (2025–2035), dated 5 August 2026; Mianzhu historic city protection (2023–2035), dated 29 July 2026; six historic towns and villages including Enyang in Bazhong (2024–2035), dated 12 July 2026; the Mengding Mountain scenic area master plan (2025–2035), dated 22 June 2026; the Banyue Mountain cliff carvings protection plan, dated 24 May 2026; the Laojun Mountain scenic area master plan (2025–2035), dated 20 May 2026; five historic towns including Aiye in Zigong (2025–2035), dated 6 May 2026; and the Jiange and Tongjiang historic city protection plans, both dated 24 April 2026.

These approvals matter to founders in tourism, hospitality, retail or construction. Protection plans can constrain renovation, signage, building height and land use in and around protected areas.

City-Level Access and Practical Steps

The page closes with links to 21 city and prefecture portals: 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. Each is a route to local planning disclosures that sit beneath the provincial documents.

A practical sequence for a foreign founder:

Note that the documents are published in Chinese and are often high-level. They describe intentions and frameworks, not individual entitlements. Company registration, permits and tax treatment are governed by separate rules and decisions.

Next Step

Foreign founders who want to register or operate a company in China can contact ChinaMNC on WhatsApp or WeChat at +86 153 1898 8535 for practical help with registration and ongoing operations.

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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