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Shandong’s 2026 Policy Package: What Foreign Founders Need to Know

A practical guide for foreign founders on Shandong Province’s second batch of 2026 economic policies, covering incentives for consumption, innovation, manufacturing, and more.

Shandong’s 2026 Policy Package: What Foreign Founders Need to Know

The Shandong Provincial People’s Government has issued its second batch of 2026 policies aimed at stabilizing the economy while improving quality and efficiency. The measures, approved by the provincial party committee and government, are designed to expand domestic demand, optimize supply, and remove bottlenecks. For foreign founders registering or operating a company in China, these policies signal potential opportunities for grants, subsidies, and streamlined approvals. Below is a summary of the key provisions relevant to business.

Consumer Market and Demand-Side Support

The province is allocating funds to stimulate consumption through new scenarios and vouchers. A total of 40 million yuan will support diverse, themed, and night-time consumption areas, while 60 million yuan will help cities issue retail and catering vouchers. Additionally, 50 million yuan is set aside to reward cities that perform well in service industry development, with up to 20 million yuan per city. These measures aim to boost local demand and could benefit businesses in retail, hospitality, and services.

Innovation and Technology Incentives

Shandong is promoting investment in intellectual property and emerging technologies. The province will establish provincial concept verification centers and pilot testing bases in fields such as embodied intelligence, brain-computer interfaces, commercial aerospace, industrial mother machines, and high-end software. Policy support will be given to qualifying entities. Moreover, researchers participating in horizontal research projects with funding of 500,000 yuan or more may have such projects treated as provincial-level science and technology projects for performance evaluation and promotion purposes. This could encourage collaboration between companies and research institutions.

Manufacturing and Digital Upgrade

Manufacturing enterprises can benefit from several AI-related initiatives. The province will support “AI + Manufacturing” pioneer applications in chemicals, steel, and equipment sectors, with annual rewards of 10 million yuan to qualifying cities. It will also promote the creation of “AI Capability Centers” across 31 manufacturing categories, with one-time subsidies for approved centers. Around 40 smart factory projects each year will receive one-time awards, and 30 projects will get “scenario vouchers” for intelligent manufacturing applications. The AI terminal industry will see support for about 30 products annually, and robotics innovation will back around 20 humanoid and industrial robot products and key components each year.

Green Energy and Infrastructure

For energy projects, the province has set a benchmark capacity price for pumped-storage power stations starting construction between 2025 and 2027. Six-hour projects will receive 487.53 yuan per kilowatt-year (tax included), while five-hour projects get 459.16 yuan per kilowatt-year. Revenue sharing from energy and ancillary service markets is defined in three tiers: stations retain 100% of revenue up to 100 yuan per kilowatt-year, 55% for the portion between 100 and 300 yuan, and 10% above 300 yuan. This provides investment certainty for such projects.

Additionally, 80 million yuan in local government special bonds will support national marine economic demonstration zones and provincial marine industry clusters, focusing on infrastructure. The province will also cultivate 10 blue talent teams in high-end shipbuilding, marine biomedicine, and marine new materials, with 3–3.4 million yuan per team annually for three years.

Environmental Approval Simplification

To speed up project approvals, cities may expand the pilot linking planning environmental impact assessments (EIA) with project EIAs to all national parks and qualified provincial parks that have completed planning EIAs. For strategic emerging industries such as next-generation information technology, new energy vehicles, artificial intelligence, quantum technology, deep-sea/deep-earth/deep-space, and low-altitude economy, as well as certain manufacturing sectors, projects requiring EIA report forms may be eligible for a notification commitment approval system. This could reduce administrative hurdles for foreign-invested projects.

Financial and Service Sector Support

The province is enhancing financial support for the construction industry by allowing accounts receivable from confirmed projects (including PPP projects) to be used as collateral or transferred. Banks are encouraged to explore mortgage and pledge loans based on receivables, building materials, equipment, and trademarks. Bond financing support will be increased for green building materials, green buildings, and prefabricated construction.

For the service sector, 100 million yuan will support financial-industry integration through interest subsidies and insurance grants. An additional 90 million yuan will back platform economy enterprises based on brand building and improvement plans. The “Shandong Service” brand initiative includes 150 million yuan for brand creation by micro and startup firms, and 50 million yuan for brand upgrading in accounting, commerce, and testing services. Another 100 million yuan will support high-quality projects in emerging services like AI services, R&D, testing, and cultural tourism.

Agriculture and Talent

From 2026 to 2028, 300 million yuan will be raised annually to support new or upgraded facility agriculture projects in qualifying villages. Additionally, provincial state-owned enterprises are encouraged to increase hiring of university graduates, with at least 65% of their annual recruitment targets allocated to graduates. This may ease talent acquisition for companies partnering with such enterprises.

Conclusion

These policies offer a range of incentives for businesses in Shandong, from consumption boosts to innovation grants and regulatory simplifications. Foreign founders should assess how their projects align with these measures and consider engaging with local authorities to access support. For assistance with company registration and operations in China, foreign founders can contact ChinaMNC on WhatsApp / WeChat at +86 153 1898 8535.

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