What China's city OPC policies offer one-person companies in 2026: start-up zones, service stations and guaranteed loans

Tianjin is the only one of the three cities with a dedicated, numbered OPC policy document: 津人社办发〔2026〕28号, a nine-point package issued on 1 September 2026 by the Tianjin Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau and 15 other departments, in force for three years from the date of issue. Qingdao's 2026 measures run through a competition, a service station and an incubator rather than a single policy text, and Xi'an's come as a training programme plus written bureau replies on subsidies and loans. The three cities are covered here because they are the ones with published official documents; other cities were not added.

What Tianjin published

The Tianjin notice, Notice on Several Measures for Accelerating the Building of a "One-Person Company" Innovation and Entrepreneurship Ecosystem (津人社办发〔2026〕28号, 1 September 2026), lists nine areas: one-stop registration, a city-level OPC service platform, entrepreneurship vouchers, OPC zones, orders from platform companies, training, guaranteed loans, operator rewards and competitions. The notice states it takes effect on the date of issue and remains valid for three years.

Two items in it are specific enough to quote directly. Founders aged 38 or under who come to Tianjin can get "Maker Station" (创客驿站) accommodation for up to three years. Separately, the bureau's 2026 policy list for graduate employment and entrepreneurship (1 July 2026) sets a one-off start-up subsidy of CNY 3,000, payable once the enterprise has paid social insurance contributions continuously for 12 months, with the legal representative and employees in normal contribution status when the application is made.

Tianjin also has a standing rent subsidy, but it comes from an earlier document rather than the 2026 OPC package: the Tianjin start-up rent subsidy management measures (津人社办发〔2023〕19号, issued 18 April 2023, valid to 30 April 2028) give CNY 1,000 per month, plus CNY 500 per month for each person hired on a contract of one year or more with social insurance paid, capped at CNY 2,500 per month for up to 24 months.

What Qingdao published

No dedicated city OPC policy document comparable to Tianjin's 28号 was found for Qingdao; the competition notice refers to "Qingdao AI·OPC special policies" without giving a document number. What exists is a set of separate measures.

The 2026 "Chuang zai Qingdao" entrepreneurship competition OPC Challenge ran in June–July 2026, organised by the Qingdao Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau and 10 other bodies under the theme "AI empowering the new era of OPC entrepreneurship". To enter, the project lead had to be 45 or under, run the project mainly with AI tools, and either not yet have registered in Qingdao or have been registered for no more than a year — with the applicant as the registered legal representative and sole shareholder.

Prizes were CNY 100,000 for first place (one winner), CNY 30,000 for second (three winners) and CNY 10,000 for third (six winners). Winners must register an OPC within Qingdao's jurisdiction within one month of the contest to collect the money. First- to third-prize winners who meet the entry conditions can move straight into the Qingdao High-level Talent Entrepreneurship Center, the Zhanshan Maker Factory or the city's OPC Entrepreneurship Service Station without a defence interview, with up to three years of rent reduction.

The OPC Entrepreneurship Service Station sits inside the city's Entrepreneurship Empowerment Center. Its first batch of eight proposed resident companies or projects was published on 1 July 2026; a second batch was published for public comment on 20 September 2026, with the comment period running 20–24 September, after qualification review and expert evaluation by the city's public employment and talent service center.

The Zhanshan Maker Factory, the city HR bureau's incubator focused on digital and AI creative businesses, offers up to three years of rent reduction on up to 450 m², plus up to two years of free shared desks with a maximum of five per company. Its autumn 2026 intake ran from 23 September to 15 October 2026.

On cash, Qingdao's one-off start-up subsidy (青人社发〔2025〕5号, 25 April 2025, valid to 25 April 2028) is CNY 12,000 for founding a small or micro enterprise and CNY 2,000 for registering an individual business, payable once per business and per founder. Its youth talent measures (青人社发〔2025〕7号, 25 June 2025) provide up to 12 months of rent-free accommodation to full-time college graduates within three years of graduation who come to Qingdao to look for work, work or start a business.

What Xi'an published

Xi'an's OPC activity in 2026 centres on training and on written answers to founders' questions. The city HR bureau launched the 2026 "Yuanlai Hao Chuangye" OPC entrepreneurship training camp and start-up market on 16 September 2026 at Xi'an International University, a three-day programme for 41 trainees. The same report says the Xi'an employment service center will focus on OPCs and other new forms of entrepreneurship, linking training, services, incubation and events, and that the city has certified 128 entrepreneurship incubation demonstration bases with over 4 million m² of space and over 10,000 resident enterprises as of September 2026.

Xi'an does have a Guiding Opinions on Supporting OPC-format Entrepreneurship, but in a reply to an OPC founder on 1 September 2026 the HR bureau referred questions about its green channel and full-process services to the Xi'an Science and Technology Bureau. The text of that document was not reviewed, so its contents are not described here.

Two Xi'an figures are stated in bureau replies rather than in a policy text. The one-off start-up subsidy is CNY 10,000 per person, paid to the registered legal representative and not to shareholders, for eligible first-time founders who have been operating for one year or more (reply dated 14 May 2026). The same September reply states that eligible founders can apply for a guaranteed loan of up to CNY 300,000 for up to three years, with the finance department subsidising 50% of the actual loan interest rate.

Side by side

City	Main instrument	Issued by, date	What it offers
Tianjin	津人社办发〔2026〕28号, nine-point OPC package	Tianjin HR bureau + 15 departments, 1 Sept 2026; valid three years	One-stop registration, OPC service platform, vouchers, OPC zones, platform-company orders, training, guaranteed loans, operator rewards, competitions; Maker Station accommodation up to 3 years (age 38 or under)
Qingdao	OPC Challenge + OPC Entrepreneurship Service Station + Zhanshan Maker Factory	Qingdao HR bureau + 10 bodies, 4 June 2026; station batches 1 July and 20 Sept 2026	Prize money CNY 100,000 / CNY 30,000 / CNY 10,000; no-interview entry to three incubators with up to 3 years' rent reduction; up to 450 m² rent reduction and free shared desks at Zhanshan
Xi'an	Training camp and start-up market; bureau replies on subsidies and loans	Xi'an HR bureau, camp launched 16 Sept 2026; replies 14 May and 1 Sept 2026	3-day camp for 41 trainees; CNY 10,000 one-off subsidy to the legal representative; up to CNY 300,000 guaranteed loan over up to 3 years with 50% interest subsidy

How an eligible founder applies, as the documents say

The documents do not describe a single application route, and in several places they do not describe one at all. What they state:

Qingdao OPC Challenge: be 45 or under, run the project mainly with AI tools, be unregistered in Qingdao or registered for no more than a year, and be the legal representative and sole shareholder. Prize money requires registering an OPC in Qingdao within one month of the contest.
Qingdao Zhanshan Maker Factory: the autumn 2026 intake window was 23 September to 15 October 2026.
Tianjin one-off subsidy (CNY 3,000): 12 months of continuous social insurance contributions, with the legal representative and employees in normal contribution status at the time of application.
Xi'an one-off subsidy (CNY 10,000): the applicant must be the registered legal representative, not a shareholder, a first-time founder, and operating for one year or more.
Xi'an guaranteed loan: the bureau reply states founders may apply for up to CNY 300,000 for up to three years with a 50% interest subsidy; it does not set out the application route, and the bureau directs OPC policy questions about the green channel and full-process services to the Xi'an Science and Technology Bureau.

None of these are approvals. Each bureau remains the body that decides eligibility, and the amounts above are what the cited documents record, not an indication that any particular founder will receive them.

What the official materials do not say

Qingdao's OPC Service Station notices cite management rules for station entry and for the Entrepreneurship Empowerment Center, but those texts were not found online, so the station's entry conditions and rent terms are not stated here. Qingdao also has no dedicated city OPC policy document comparable to Tianjin's 28号 in the material reviewed. Xi'an's Guiding Opinions on Supporting OPC-format Entrepreneurship was not found or reviewed. And only Tianjin, Qingdao and Xi'an appear, because no verified official sources for other cities were available.