China's State Council announced that they will continue their initiative to end administrative red tape as they pursue a better business environment in the country this year. The council's said in its release that the government put "high importance" on streamlining government administration, delegating powers, enhancing oversight, and providing better services" at a meeting headed by Premier Li Keqiang on February 20.
The Chinese government will immediately cut 25 administrative approval items and review the current system for construction projects. The administrative approvals to be cut will include the pre-approval of corporate names prior to businesses registration and the preliminary review of domestically-produced medicines. The government also assured that they will better communicate and seek input from the business community, industry groups, and chambers of commerce in planning their imposing their policies.
The council also said that the government will delegate administrative powers and reduce the number of items needed for reviews instead of using micromanagement as a basis for reforms. The government also plans to delegate a number of administrative approval items to the lower-level departments to assure the efficiency and that their system is less prone to bureaucratic bottlenecks.
The government also plans to impose a nationwide pilot program that will review the construction projects in the country. In the program, the construction projects will be reviewed by the different review bodies headed by a department which will act as the lead agency.
The new policy is said to gain similar result to last year's policy, the One Window, One Form, which made business registration simpler by offering applicants a single point of contact for the whole process. The recent policy is the continuation of the pilot construction review released in May which was introduced to 16 regions and was planned to be implemented nationwide during the first half of 2019. It is a preparatory policy for a unified national approval and management system in 2020.
During the meeting of the State Council, Premier Li assured that they will consult businesses, industry associations, chambers of commerce, and other representatives of the business community in making the draft and in the implementation of laws and regulations. The Chinese government will solicit feedback from the business community when formulating policy and they are expected to offer transitional periods to allow businesses to prepare for new regulations.
The premier has led an effort to reform the nation's business environment over the past several years by cutting bureaucratic red tape, reducing administrative overlap, and simplifying application and registration procedures.
