After months of dithering and wrangling, the leadership is to release a new series of measures to boost the private economy within the next few months as its controversial 4 trillion yuan (HK$4.5 trillion) economic stimulus package is losing steam and concerns are mounting.
Details of the measures have been kept under wraps, but state media have begun to drop broad hints, saying the package should contain 20 clauses, some of which are being hailed as policy breakthroughs.
The most significant breakthrough is supposed to allow individuals and businesses meeting certain criteria to engage in lending, a move aimed at legalising the massive underground banking syndicates active in southern regions.
But private businessmen can be forgiven for not holding their breath until they see the fine print and the policies in action - this is not the first time they have been promised goodies that never materialised.
Indeed, back in 2005 and to much fanfare, the State Council released a package of 36 measures to help boost the private economy, but little has come of this, a fitting example of the Chinese idiom 'loud thunder but small raindrops'.
According to state media, the biggest difference between the new and the old packages is the government's promise to allow private firms wider access to financing.