Gain a profound understanding of the significant importance of advancing the deepening reform of industry associations and chambers of commerce.

　　Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, China has achieved historic accomplishments in the reform and development of industry associations and chambers of commerce. The Party’s comprehensive leadership over these organizations has continued to strengthen; a modern system of social organizations—characterized by the separation of government and society, clear delineation of powers and responsibilities, and self-governance in accordance with the law—has been preliminarily established; institutional mechanisms for Party building and for the reform and development of industry associations and chambers of commerce have been steadily improved; and these entities have delivered tangible results in serving economic and social development. At present, China is at a critical juncture—consolidating the foundations for basically achieving socialist modernization while pressing ahead on all fronts. In response to the demands of the new situation, the “Opinions” adhere to the Party’s innovative theories as their fundamental guiding principle and, addressing major issues such as “what reforms are needed” and “how to carry them out,” lay out a series of measures and arrangements that bear distinct hallmarks of our times and hold significant practical relevance.

　　It is an imperative requirement for upholding and strengthening the Party’s overall leadership. General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized the need to prioritize Party building within new economic organizations, new social organizations, and new forms of employment, continuously enhancing the Party’s appeal, cohesion, and influence in emerging sectors. We must strengthen Party building in social organizations and comprehensively reinforce the Party’s leadership over social organizations at all levels and of all types. We must not allow decoupling to create a vacuum in the Party’s leadership and management of industry associations and chambers of commerce; instead, we must firmly hold Party leadership and Party building in our hands. As an important component of emerging sectors, industry associations and chambers of commerce generally face pressing challenges, including rapid staff turnover, a small number of Party members, weak foundations for Party building, and insufficient exertion of the role of Party organizations. These issues urgently call for more resolute and effective efforts to uphold Party leadership and strengthen Party building as we deepen reform. The “Opinions” set forth a series of requirements—ranging from streamlining the management system for Party building to bolstering the political and organizational functions of Party organizations and consistently intensifying oversight and disciplinary enforcement—thus facilitating the comprehensive implementation of the Party’s innovative theories, guidelines, principles, and policies across industry associations and chambers of commerce at all levels and of all types. This will ensure that the reform and development of these organizations remain on the right track; it will help refine the institutional mechanisms for the Party’s comprehensive leadership over industry associations and chambers of commerce, expand effective approaches to Party building in emerging fields, and translate the Party’s theoretical, political, organizational, institutional, and mass‑contact advantages into concrete developmental strengths and governance effectiveness. Moreover, it will educate and guide practitioners in these organizations to unswervingly heed the Party and follow its lead, thereby further consolidating the Party’s class base, mass base, and social base for governance.

　　An imperative for building a high-standard socialist market economy. General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized that a high-standard socialist market economy is a crucial safeguard for Chinese‑style modernization, requiring a balanced coordination between an efficient market and a capable government to forge an economic order that is both “dynamically liberalized” and “effectively regulated.” It is essential to clearly delineate the functional boundaries between administrative agencies and industry associations and chambers of commerce, clarify the relationships among government, society, and the market, and enable these organizations to play their roles more effectively. Furthermore, social organizations such as industry associations and chambers of commerce should be supported in fulfilling their functions of industry self‑regulation and professional services. Closely linked to economic development, industry associations and chambers of commerce serve as vital bridges between the government’s macroeconomic management and the micro‑operations of enterprises. However, existing structural arrangements are not sufficiently scientific or rational; their performance varies considerably, and their management systems and mechanisms lag behind. These shortcomings are inconsistent with the requirements of a high-standard socialist market economy. The “Opinions” set forth a series of measures to improve management systems and operational mechanisms, adjust and optimize structural layouts, and actively enhance functional effectiveness. These steps will help guide industry associations and chambers of commerce to fully leverage their advantages in resource allocation, thereby boosting the development of new‑type productive forces, fostering a new development paradigm, building a modern industrial system, accelerating high‑level scientific and technological self‑reliance, optimizing regional economic patterns, and promoting open cooperation. They will also facilitate the ongoing reform to de‑administrativize industry associations and chambers of commerce, further clarify the functional boundaries between administrative bodies and these organizations, and better define the relationships among government, market, and society—thereby strengthening the momentum for high‑quality development and constructing a unified, open, competitive, and well‑ordered market system. Moreover, these measures will help maintain orderly industry development, curb “involutionary” competition, bolster economic and social resilience, and ensure that production relations and productive forces, the superstructure and the economic base, and national governance and social development are more closely aligned.

　　An inevitable requirement for advancing the modernization of social governance. General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized that social governance is a science: if it is too rigid, it becomes stagnant; if it is too lax, it turns turbulent. He has called for prioritizing the cultivation and development of industry associations and chambers of commerce—social organizations—and strengthening comprehensive oversight to ensure their lawful and orderly operation. Industry associations and chambers of commerce possess both economic and social dimensions, enjoy broad social mobilization, high public attention, and significant influence. However, due to their relatively loose organizational structures and diverse membership bases, they are prone to issues such as uncontrolled expansion, illicit profit‑seeking, and internal governance dysfunction. The “Opinions” set forth a series of measures that balance proactive fostering and robust regulatory oversight, improve the integrated governance system, and optimize the development environment. These measures help to effectively apply the dialectic of regulation and deregulation, promote the standardized operation and transformative development of industry associations and chambers of commerce, and efficiently prevent and defuse various risks in this sector. They also contribute to sustaining a favorable landscape in which vitality and order coexist and development and security are harmoniously balanced. Moreover, they enable these organizations to leverage their strengths in mobilization and resource‑linkage, guide their members and industry professionals to fulfill their social responsibilities, rally support for the public, and actively engage in social governance, volunteer service, and other endeavors, thereby enhancing social well‑being and bolstering social stability.

　　Accurately grasp the key tasks for deepening reform of industry associations and chambers of commerce.

　　The “Opinions” adopt a combined approach that balances goal‑oriented and problem‑oriented principles, setting forth 18 reform measures across five key areas. These include both the further refinement and expansion of previously deployed reforms and new arrangements and requirements tailored to the evolving circumstances and tasks at hand. We must ensure accurate understanding and grasp, resolute and vigorous implementation, and steady, orderly progress, with particular emphasis on the following priority areas.

　　Uphold political leadership and strengthen the Party’s overall leadership over industry associations and chambers of commerce. This is the fundamental guarantee for deepening reform in these organizations, and we must consistently integrate Party leadership and Party building into every aspect of their reform and development. We need to streamline the management system for Party building, accelerate the establishment of a framework that combines sectoral and regional approaches, ensures vertical coordination, and fosters effective collaboration, and optimize and improve the operating mechanisms of the “Two New” Party committees. We must fully implement the requirement that Party organizations within provincial, municipal, and county-level industry associations and chambers of commerce be directly managed by the corresponding “Two New” Party committees at the same level, and establish and refine a working mechanism whereby “industry oversight also entails Party‑building oversight.” We should coordinate and promote all relevant industry regulators to integrate Party‑building efforts with business guidance and sectoral supervision, thereby ensuring that all departments assume their shared responsibility for comprehensive governance. We must enhance the political and organizational functions of Party organizations, deepen and expand the coverage of Party organization in both new economic sectors and new social organizations, improve mechanisms for Party organizations in industry associations and chambers of commerce to fulfill their roles, reinforce their political responsibility to lead development, strengthen political vetting of major issues, and continuously raise the quality of Party building within these organizations. We should strengthen norms governing leadership transitions and build a robust cadre pool, establishing sound mechanisms for scheduled council elections and timely reminders when leaders reach retirement age, so as to ensure that councils are replaced upon expiration of terms and leaders step down upon reaching the prescribed age, while intensifying scrutiny and oversight of candidate selection and performance. We must continually intensify disciplinary oversight and enforcement, advance comprehensively strict Party self‑discipline across the industry association and chamber of commerce sector, launch vigorous special campaigns to rectify irregularities among social organizations at all levels, and establish an integrated, coordinated oversight system. We will rigorously investigate and address violations of the spirit of the CPC Central Committee’s Eight‑Point Decision on Improving Party and Government Conduct, as well as other breaches of discipline and law; deepen efforts to combat unhealthy tendencies and corruption; and promote, in a holistic manner, the goals of ensuring that no one dares to be corrupt, no one can be corrupt, and no one wishes to be corrupt, thus fostering a clean and upright political environment.

　　Emphasize comprehensive governance and improve the management systems and operational mechanisms of industry associations and chambers of commerce. This is a key task in deepening reform of these organizations, and we must consistently prioritize removing institutional and systemic barriers and perfecting the comprehensive governance framework as the top priority of their reform and development. We need to deepen reforms of the management system, establishing and strengthening a governance structure under the unified leadership of Party committees, with Party‑led social work departments coordinating overall, and registration authorities, industry regulators, competent supervisory bodies, and relevant functional departments each fulfilling their respective duties, working in concert, and exercising integrated oversight. We must consolidate and expand the achievements of decoupling reforms and reinforce the guiding role of management‑system reform. Deepen government regulatory reform by promptly clarifying the industry‑regulating authorities for directly registered and decoupled industry associations and chambers of commerce, strengthening the performance of their responsibilities, addressing shortcomings and weaknesses in the management and services provided to these organizations, establishing an information‑sharing mechanism for registration data, exploring the implementation of differentiated regulation, and continuously enhancing the effectiveness of comprehensive oversight. Deepen social‑supervision reform by instituting an information‑disclosure system, encouraging and supporting the media, the general public, and members to monitor industry associations and chambers of commerce, as well as any false information or unlawful conduct, thereby promoting greater transparency and public trust in their management and operations. Deepen reforms toward law‑based self‑governance by urging industry associations and chambers of commerce to refine their corporate governance structures, improve internal management systems guided by their articles of association, strengthen integrity and self‑discipline, standardize the establishment and management of institutions and the conduct of business activities, comprehensively enhance asset and financial management, and strictly regulate the establishment of enterprises in accordance with the “six prohibitions,” firmly safeguarding the non‑profit bottom line.

　　Strengthening functional roles and adjusting and optimizing the structural layout of industry associations and chambers of commerce is the key focus of deepening reform in this sector. We must consistently take the effective fulfillment of these functions as both the starting point and the ultimate goal of their reform and development. Systematically refining the structural framework, we should adhere to the principle of “reducing where necessary while adding where appropriate, controlling quantity while enhancing quality,” and follow the approach of piloting first and advancing steadily. Through measures such as streamlining and consolidating operations, accelerating exit from the market, fostering growth, and establishing entities in accordance with the law, we will promote, at different levels, the optimization of the layout, the adjustment of the structure, the control of scale, and the improvement of quality among industry associations and chambers of commerce. To better regulate industry development, we will guide and support these organizations in establishing and perfecting systems of self‑regulation and mechanisms for self‑disciplinary oversight, encouraging enterprises to consciously resist “involutionary” competition, conducting industry‑wide credit assessments in compliance with the law, elevating the level of integrity-building within the sector, and strengthening their capacity to mediate disputes, thereby safeguarding orderly industry development. We will also reinforce and expand service functions, supporting industry associations and chambers of commerce in aligning their efforts to advance sectoral growth with national development strategies, enhancing their professional service capabilities, promptly voicing the legitimate concerns of members and the industry, promoting the establishment of advanced industry standards and the optimal allocation of resources, and delivering improved services to the industry, society, and the public. Furthermore, we will actively engage in international exchanges and cooperation, encouraging national-level industry associations and chambers of commerce to participate in relevant international dialogues and collaborative initiatives, as well as in the formulation of international standards and rules. This will facilitate international economic and trade dialogue and supply‑demand matching, guide and mobilize industry enterprises to contribute to the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative and to global industrial division of labor and cooperation, and help advance high‑level opening-up.

　　We will intensify efforts to nurture and support industry associations and chambers of commerce, fostering a favorable environment for their development. This is a crucial safeguard for deepening reform in these organizations, and we must remain steadfast in our focus on unleashing their intrinsic vitality and bolstering their growth momentum, while continuously improving the external conditions that underpin their reform and development. We will enhance policy support by encouraging all relevant stakeholders to formulate and implement targeted measures—grounded in practical realities—covering tax incentives, financial assistance, support from social forces, the transfer or delegation of specific functions, public consultation on proposals, and the sharing of information and data, thereby steadily boosting the confidence of those working in industry associations and chambers of commerce to pursue innovation and entrepreneurship. We will strengthen human‑resource capacity by stepping up talent cultivation and training, streamlining career‑development pathways, and ensuring that industry associations and chambers of commerce can attract top talent, develop it effectively, retain it, and put it to productive use. Furthermore, we will reinforce demonstration and leadership effects by bolstering the development of federated and comprehensive industry associations and chambers of commerce, leveraging the exemplary role of national-level bodies to promote resource sharing and mutual advancement among sectoral organizations, and cultivating a positive social climate in which reform is embraced, actively participated in, and firmly supported.

　　Ensure that the “key move” of deepening reform becomes a “truly effective and practical measure” for driving the high-quality development of industry associations and chambers of commerce.

　　The issuance of the “Opinions” represents a major decision and deployment by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on the reform and development of industry associations and chambers of commerce. Ensuring the thorough implementation of these “Opinions” is a paramount political task for the work of industry associations and chambers of commerce, both now and in the period ahead. We must elevate our political awareness, firmly uphold a correct view of performance, strengthen our capacity for reform, pool collective wisdom and strength, and spare no effort to translate the action plan and blueprint for deepening reform into concrete reality, step by step. In doing so, we will ensure that this “key move” of deepening reform becomes a truly effective and practical measure for driving high-quality development of industry associations and chambers of commerce.

　　Uphold the principle of seeking progress while maintaining stability. General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out that pursuing progress within stability and acting proactively means ensuring overall stability in major directions, policies, and strategic plans; on the basis of consolidating our foundations and holding firm, we must press ahead with vigor—moving forward without pause and accelerating whenever possible—to achieve the best possible outcomes. Deepening reform in industry associations and chambers of commerce is broad in scope, complex in its interconnections, and demanding in its tasks; therefore, it is essential to adhere to the principle of seeking progress within stability, using progress to reinforce stability, and establishing new frameworks before dismantling old ones, so as to ensure that reforms advance steadily, effectively, and in an orderly manner. We must consolidate the foundation of “stability” by earnestly strengthening grassroots work, laying solid groundwork, and pursuing long-term benefits. This requires aligning thinking, clearly mapping out timelines and paces, reinforcing and solidifying institutional rules, improving governance systems, and fortifying grassroots Party organizations. In particular, for longstanding problems arising from decoupling reforms, we must prioritize issues according to their urgency and significance, conducting thorough research and rigorous assessments. For major reform tasks, we should adopt a pilot‑first approach while firmly safeguarding risk thresholds; and for key policies and measures, we must build consensus and plan and implement them with meticulous care. To unleash the momentum of “progress,” we must strike a balanced and proactive approach across areas such as strengthening Party building, fostering sound conduct, promoting transformation, and adjusting the economic structure. We should identify “small entry points” to tackle difficult challenges and unblock bottlenecks, promptly formulate and refine urgently needed institutional rules, and encourage localities and departments with the necessary conditions to launch pilot projects and explore innovative pathways. Industry associations and chambers of commerce that demonstrate effective governance and clear roles should be supported as models and leaders. Meanwhile, persistent irregularities that draw strong public concern must be resolutely rectified and brought under control, driving further deepening of reform with the spirit of tackling the toughest problems.

　　Strengthen systemic thinking. General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out that a systems‑based approach is a fundamental way of thinking and working. Advancing the deepening reform of industry associations and chambers of commerce is a complex, system‑wide undertaking that requires greater emphasis on systematicity, holism, and synergy. We must integrate top‑level design with grassroots experimentation, supporting local authorities, relevant departments, and industry associations and chambers of commerce in grasping the overall picture of their work, appreciating the particularities of existing contradictions, and exercising strategic flexibility. On this basis, they should tailor reforms to local conditions and sectoral needs, pioneering innovative and differentiated approaches. We need to coordinate comprehensive progress with targeted breakthroughs, focusing on key areas, critical tasks, and pilot programs, while closely attending to pivotal actors, crucial links, and decisive junctures. By identifying the principal contradictions and their principal aspects in the reform and development of industry associations and chambers of commerce, we can use these focal points to drive a qualitative leap across the board. Furthermore, we must align long‑term vision with short‑term results: in deepening reforms of management systems and mechanisms, strengthening institutional frameworks, improving integrated governance, optimizing structural adjustments, and enhancing capacity for transformation and upgrading, we must maintain strategic resolve and pursue sustained, steady efforts, while also achieving phased objectives one after another, turning incremental gains into major victories. Finally, we must ensure seamless integration between institutional development and effective implementation. We should actively promote the maturation and standardization of management systems for industry associations and chambers of commerce, while simultaneously establishing closed loops for policy formulation, execution, and feedback, thereby continuously elevating the institutionalization and standardization of their management and operations.

　　Firmly ensure the implementation of responsibilities. General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized that prioritizing implementation is essential, calling for the formulation of concrete plans, clear assignment of responsibilities, and measures to prevent tasks from falling by the wayside. To guarantee the effective execution of all measures and initiatives aimed at deepening reform within industry associations and chambers of commerce, it is imperative to further establish a reform‑driving mechanism characterized by clearly defined responsibilities, integrated vertical–horizontal coordination, and seamless linkages across all stages. In accordance with the requirements set forth in the “Opinions,” under the centralized and unified leadership of the CPC Central Committee, we must strengthen the organizational leadership responsibilities of Party committees and governments at all levels, tailor implementation measures to local conditions, and refine and concretize key elements such as specific goals and tasks, division of responsibilities, time limits, and oversight and accountability mechanisms. We should promptly address major issues and reinforce ongoing monitoring and performance evaluation. The inter‑ministerial joint conference mechanism on the reform and development of industry associations and chambers of commerce should be fully leveraged to enhance overall coordination, holistic advancement, consultation and communication, and enforcement of commitments, thereby encouraging relevant departments to conscientiously carry out their assigned duties in line with their respective functions and to strengthen policy synergy and operational alignment. Party committees at all levels must assume their responsibility as the lead bodies for implementing these reforms, intensifying guidance, supervision, and public outreach to ensure that the policies and measures outlined in the “Opinions” are effectively put into practice, continuously improving the enabling environment for the development of industry associations and chambers of commerce, and steadily advancing the deepening and substantive implementation of reform in this sector.

Source: Learning Times (April 22, 2026, Page 01)