Published by ChinaMNC · Dancheng

What Xi's Article on 'Inclusive, Basic and Safety-Net Livelihood Construction' Signals for Foreign Founders in China

A policy essay by Xi Jinping, published in Qiushi, sets out the government's approach to public services and livelihood security. Here is what foreign founders operating in China should take from the document.

What the Article Is

The 19th issue of Qiushi magazine, published on October 1, carries an article by Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, President of the PRC and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, titled Strengthening Inclusive, Basic and Safety-Net Livelihood Construction. Xinhua reported the publication on September 30. The text is an excerpt of relevant remarks Xi made between November 2012 and January 2026. It is a compilation of earlier statements rather than a new policy document, but it restates the framing the government applies to public services and social protection.

Core Message: Livelihood Comes First in Chinese Modernization

The article states that in Chinese-style modernization, livelihood matters are paramount, and that the people's aspiration for a better life is the goal of the work. It describes the objective as both ambitious and plain: enabling ordinary people to live better lives. It calls for safeguarding and improving livelihoods through development, and for encouraging joint effort in creating a better life.

For founders, the practical signal is continuity of the government's stated priority on public services and social protection as part of the development agenda, rather than a new set of rules for companies.

The Policy Priorities Named in the Article

The text lists several directions the government says it will pursue:

• People-centered approach: strengthen inclusive, basic and safety-net livelihood construction, protect the fundamental interests of the broadest population, and address pressing difficulties people face.
• Public services: improve the basic public service system, raise service standards, and enhance balance and accessibility.
• Common prosperity: advance this goal steadily.
• Policy discipline: hold the bottom line, focus on key areas, improve institutions, and guide expectations.
• Coordinated work across education, income distribution, employment, social security, medical care and housing.
• Seven life-stage goals: progress in child care, schooling, employment income, medical care, elderly care, housing, and support for the vulnerable.
• Fairness and justice: promote social fairness and justice and make people's sense of gain, happiness and security more substantial, secure and sustainable.
• Vulnerable groups: pay particular attention to people in difficulty, keep their wellbeing in mind, and help resolve their problems.

None of these items is directed at foreign-invested enterprises specifically. They describe the social policy environment a registered company operates within, including the direction of public services and social security.

Delivery: Realistic and Sustainable Commitments

The article says livelihood work faces the public directly and must not involve falsehoods; promises made should be kept, and work should proceed item by item and year by year. It calls for doing what is possible within capacity, aligning needs with what is feasible, and basing livelihood protection and improvement on sustainable economic development and fiscal capacity. It also encourages the public to improve their lives through hard work, framing livelihood improvement as both a direction of Party and government work and a personal goal.

The emphasis on feasibility and fiscal sustainability is a reminder that social commitments are framed as conditional on economic capacity, not as open-ended guarantees.

Economy and Livelihood as One Agenda

The article stresses that the fundamental purpose of economic development is to better protect and improve livelihoods, and that handling livelihood matters is itself part of development. It calls for unifying economic development and livelihood improvement: economic policies should embed livelihood requirements, and livelihood policies should consider their effect on economic growth, so the two reinforce each other.

For company operators, this framing suggests that policies aimed at growth and policies aimed at social welfare are presented as coordinated rather than traded off. It remains a statement of principle; the text does not set out new obligations, incentives, timelines or targets for businesses.

How Foreign Founders Should Read It

This is a high-level ideological text, not a regulation. It contains no changes to company registration, foreign investment rules, tax treatment or licensing. Founders should treat it as background on how the government describes its social policy priorities, including public services, social security, employment, medical care and housing, the areas that shape the operating environment for any company in China.

Because the article is an excerpt of remarks spanning more than a decade, it does not indicate a new implementation schedule. Any actual compliance obligations for a foreign-invested company continue to come from specific laws, regulations and local rules. Foreign founders should rely on those instruments and on professional advice for registration and operations, and read this article only as context.

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