Premier Li Keqiang signed a decree on July 14, 2020 to release the Regulation on Payment Protection for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, to be effective from September 1, 2020.
The regulation has 29 articles and aims to address three problems. The first is to set rules for contract conclusion and payments; the second is to ensure timely payment and prevent payment arrears; the third is to strengthen credit oversight and services. The regulation stipulated that systems for payment information disclosure, complaint handling and regulatory evaluation should be established to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of SMEs and optimize the business environment.