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Policy briefing: Full transcript, June 19

Updated: Jun 19,2015 6:41 PM     english.gov.cn

The State Council holds the weekly policy briefing on June 19, focusing on using big data technology to improve the government’s supervisory responsibilities and services.[Photo/china.org.cn]

The State Council holds the weekly policy briefing on June 19, focusing on using big data technology to improve the government’s supervisory responsibilities and services.

Hu Kaihong(host):

Ladies and gentlemen, good morning and welcome to today’s policy briefing. This week’s State Council executive meeting has emphasized the importance of using big data technology to improve the government’s supervisory responsibilities and services as well as efforts to renovate shantytowns and dilapidated houses and upgrade the infrastructure around them. Today we have Lian Weiliang, vice-chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission and Wang Ning, vice-minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development to brief you about the above two issues.

Lian Weiliang:

Dear reporters and friends, good morning. I’m happy to be here with Vice-minister Wang Ning. And I thank you for your long-term support in our work.

The 95th executive meeting of the State Council on June 17 decided to approve the Opinion on Enhancing the Service and Supervision for the Market Entities with Big Data, which is a document that abides by the trends of our time.

The Opinion is an important document aiming to better boost administrative streamlining, delegate power, and provide better services, utilizing the concepts and technology that big data brings. Let me do a brief introduction on the document.

Lian Weiliang

One, the significance of enhancing the service and supervision for the market entities with big data.

The Party and State Council have attached great importance to the move. President Xi Jinping has inspected the Big Data Center in Guizhou province. Premier Li Keqiang stresses that big data and cloud computing are not only good for administrative streamlining, but for urbanization and a new type of industrialization.

The big data can optimize services and help sharing information among departments. The Premier asked us to explore the new mode of Internet Plus Supervision and to develop “smart’’ administration.

The executive meeting also emphasized more publicity of governmental information, and in a more efficient manner. All procedures related to the people’s needs and applications should be publicized online, as well as all information related to the market entity activities. An information platform should be built for better convenience of the residents, employees and business owners, providing them with one-stop checkups.

It also said we’d develop the credit service industry; introduce big data into supervising violations of law and regulations in fields like the environment, food, and medicine safety; and improve governmental services with administrative cloud computing.

Lian Weiliang

It’s part of deepening reform to enhance services and supervision for market entities.

The State Council deems the reform of commercial registration system and the reform of administrative approval system as the “first big bang” in the efforts to deepen reform.

Streamlining administrative approvals has enacted innovation and entrepreneurship, which also helps in stabilizing employment.

To better adapt to the New Normal, governments at all level should upgrade their ideals and innovate services and products. Delegating power also means enhanced mutual trust, so we’d also raise the integrity level of society by imposing tougher controls on the market entities with bad credit ratings.

Lian Weiliang

To enhance services and supervision for market entities is a sign of social progress and a necessity for cutting down costs.

We are in the middle of an information explosion and an age of big data. The old ways of processing the information is outdated. If we provided targeted services for different enterprises, we’d apply big data, cloud computing and Internet Plus to monitor economic operations and predict the possible risks.

And efficiency for both the supervisors and the supervised will be greatly lifted.

Lian Weiliang

The major content of the Opinion was co-drafted by the National Development and Reform Commission, the State Administration For Industry and Commerce, the State Commission Office of Public Sector Reform and other related ministries, under the guidance of the State Council.

The guiding idea and general consideration of the Opinion is “one core”, “three abilities”, and “three targets”.

The core is to construct a new type of market supervising mechanism centered on credit.

The abilities are improving the government ability in utilizing big data, in enhancing public service with big data, and in enhancing market supervision with big data.

Three targets are for better efficiency in providing services, better efficiency in supervising, and saving costs.

Lian Weiliang

The contents revolve around “Five Measures”, “Seven Guarantees”, and “more than 20 detailed institutional improvements”.

The five measures are devoted to 1; provide and continue to perfect big data services. 2; enhance and improve supervision with big data. 3; advance the opening and sharing of big data. 4; advance the development and utilization of big data, and 5, nurture the big data industry.

The 20 some “institutional improvements” include a one-stop service for checking residents’ credit by a Credit China (creditchina.gov.cn) website, an identity system for all online retailers, and an authentication system for e-commerce websites.

Lian Weiliang

The Seven Guarantees cover system building, standardization, and information security and talents involved.

The Opinion stresses that during the process of utilizing big data, special care will be needed to safeguard the information, trade secrets, and individual privacy.

Lian Weiliang

The highlights of our recent works in this respect are:

1, Fastening the implementation of publicizing government information, especially the aspects concerning market entities’ administrative approvals and punishments. We’re also encouraging the enterprises to volunteer in publicizing their information.

2, Carry forward information sharing. We’re working on a mechanism for different ministries to share their information.

3, Fully advance the building of a social credit system.

4, Fully implement measures related to commercial registration system reform. Not long ago the State Council had approved a document on building a system of unified credit code for corporate bodies and other organizations.

5, Enhance the service and supervision of big data by inviting all social forces in. One example I can give here is that the National Development and Reform Commission joined hands with the People’s Bank of China to launch the Credit China (creditchina.gov.cn) website on June 1, which I think is a good attempt to invite society to supervise.

Thank you all.

Hu Kaihong(host):

Thank you, Vice-chairman Lian. Now, Vice-minister Wang please.

Wang Ning:

The Party Central Committee and the State Council have always paid special attention to the rebuilding of urban shantytowns and dilapidated urban and rural houses and significant progress has been seen in recent years. From 2008 to 2014, a total of 20.80 million units in shantytowns and dilapidated rural houses have been rebuilt for 15.65 million households. To be specific, 8.2 million units of shantytowns and dilapidated houses in rural areas for 5.32 million households saw renovation completed from 2013 to 2014. Millions of people have benefited from these renovation projects.

This week’s State Council executive meeting has decided to further reinforce the work and a three-year goal of rebuilding 18 million units in shantytowns and dilapidated rural houses for 10.60 million households has been defined.

We shall see the program is still in the initial stage, where critical issues need to be addressed but we are determined to achieve the 3-year goal and achieve real benefits for the people.

I am ready to take questions now.

Hu Kaihong(host):

Now questions, please!

China News Services:

My question is for Mr Lian. As we know, Premier Li Keqiang has on many occasions mentioned the unified social credit code and the simplification of certificates and licenses. And the State Council has just approved the overall pan of a unified social credit code system for legal entities and other organizations. Could you please introduce the unified credit code? What kind of code is it and what’s the role it will play? Thank you.

Lian Weiliang:

The unified social credit code is a kind of unique and unchanging identification number issued to a legal entity and other organizations. I think all of you are quite impressed by the identification number which has been used widely. Legal entities and other organizations also need these kinds of numbers.

For a long time, different departments have set up different code systems for management, such as industrial and commercial registration numbers and identification numbers for the taxpayer credit code. However, this has caused increased burdens and trouble to enterprises, and limited the sharing of information. So the unified credit code is created to change this situation.

The 18-digit unified code includes a 9-digit organization code; one-digit identifies the type of organization, one-digit identifies the registration department, 6-digits indicate the administrative district of the registration authorities and one digit is a check code.

Lian Weiliang:

This code is able to meet various code management demands. The code has 18 digits, which is the same as the individual’s identification number. So this will facilitate the management of information among legal entities and individuals.

The unified social credit code, serving as the legal “identification number” of enterprises will be used as a basic certificate for them to carry out businesses and social activities conveniently.

For government, this is an important method to improve management and sharing of information; for society this will help reduce the cost for citizens and market entities to get more information, especially credit status. The implementation of a unified social code system will help to promote the establishment of a social credit system, realize information sharing, push forward the ongoing reform of commercial registration system, as well as promote administrative streamlining.

Lian Weiliang:

The plan, just approved by the State Council, is currently being implemented. It stipulated that industrial and commercial departments are supposed to put it into place by Oct 1 this year, while other registration departments are required to implement it by the end of the year.

How about other enterprises and social organization that have been registered? Generally, they should complete the transition from the old code to the new code by the end of 2017. During the interim period, both old and new codes are effective. After this period, all legal entities and social organizations should use the new unified social credit code. The issuing of the new code or the replacement of the old code will be free of charge.

Thank you.

China National Radio:

I have two questions for Vice-minister Wang.

Authorities just held a meeting on the supervision concerning the renovation of dilapidated houses in rural areas. At the meeting it was mentioned that there are problems of policy implementation and illegal and irregular use of capital. So how can you ensure the implementation of policies and how will you help people in difficulties truly improve their housing conditions?

It was said in the Government Work Report that some housing stock will be changed into relocation houses. At the State Council executive meeting this week it was said that monetized resettlement is promoted. What is the major consideration of the work?

Wang Ning:

Let me explain the situation regarding your first question.

The renovation work of dilapidated houses in rural areas started in 2008. By the end of 2014, a total of 15.65 million households have been renovated nationwide. The work is effective and welcomed by rural residents. However, there are some problems that occurred recently - some officials at the lower levels misappropriated renovation subsidies. Our government attaches great importance to tackling the problem. The government will enhance supervision on the capital and the whole procedure. The teleconference held recently aims to solve this problem.

Wang Ning:

We will mainly take four steps to solve the problem:

First is to strengthen policy promotion - and make those who benefit from the policy understand the related policy. Policy should be made public to show rural residents their benefits.

Second is to promote the “one card solution”. Subsidies will be directly transferred to rural residents into their accounts. The middle section will be cut out to avoid problems.

Wang Ning:

Third is to strictly deal with examination procedures and publicity to ensure equity. You may know that there is a basic procedure. Rural residents should first submit applications. Then there will be verifications. The two core principles are: helping those who live in the most dangerous houses and the residents who face the most difficulties. Those who meet the criteria will be interviewed and work on their homes will be supervised by other residents. Governments at village level will double check later and related departments at county level will do the final examination. We should strengthen the supervision on this procedure to make sure it is strictly carried out.

Fourth is to continue the information management of the archives. One household will have one file, and all of its information will be inputted into the system. This can avoid cheating and unfair intervention. Currently, we have information on over 15 million households in the system. In other words, we can check the information of any specific household on the Internet at any time wherever we are.

Wang Ning:

Regarding your second question, it is a new move decided by the State Council last year; and was mentioned at the executive meeting on Wednesday.

Wang Ning:

The reason for the arrangement is that there are many benefits. We used to build new houses for resettlement. Since last year, the proportion of monetized resettlement increased. Now we encourage that stock housing be fully utilized to promote monetized resettlement. In this way, time and money will be saved. In the past, it took 2-3 years to live in a new house. You may have been to some shantytowns. The poor conditions there are truly unpleasant but through monetized resettlement those who live there can leave as soon as possible.

Wang Ning:

Besides, it meets with the diversified needs of residents. They have more options and can choose what they want after they get the compensation. Judging from the practical experience of some places, this kind of measure is welcomed by residents.

We should adhere to one principle however - let residents make their own choice. Of course, we encourage monetized resettlement because we want to improve work efficiency.

China Daily:

The first question is for Vice-chairman Lian. When you talk about serving companies better, what do you think is the most important and urgent thing? The second question is for Vice-minister Wang, could you tell us more about financing regarding the 2015-2017 plan to renovate shantytowns and dilapidated houses?

Lian Weiliang:

We need do two things. First we need to establish a united social credit code system to give each company a legitimate credit code, which lays the foundation for information sharing and exchanges. Second, we need to make information regarding administrative procedure and credit records open to the public. To achieve these, we need at first to establish an information sharing platform.

We have connected 30 ministries under the State Council in www.e-gov.org.cn to share credit information internally. We also made this information open to the public on www.creditchina.gov.cn. This website was launched on June 1 and you can find over 1 million pieces of credit information. The next move is to collect more information and publish them on this website. In addition, we need to use big data technology to integrate verified information on this website, to equip the public and companies to get access to credit information and thus spare them from possible transaction dangers.

Wang Ning:

The State Council has made a plan to renovate 18 million units of shantytowns and this year we need to complete 5.6 million units. To achieve this, funding is very important. You have asked a very important question.

The central government has allocated 149.4 billion yuan to support redevelopment of 5.8 million units of shantytowns.The funding mainly comes from central government subsidies, fiscal support from local governments, and money from the finance market including lending from financial institutions. As I said earlier, the central government has managed to allocate an extra 10 billion yuan for infrastructure around shantytowns. Given the current economic climate, this is not easy and it undoubtedly embodies the importance central government attaches to this issue.

Second, local governments need to provide fiscal support as the central government requires.

Third, it is crucial to introduce funding from other channels. In previous years, institutions such as the China Development Bank and the China Agriculture Bank have provided loans to support renovation of shantytowns. In the future, we need do more to attract funding from financial institutions.

About the construction of infrastructure around shantytowns, we will further develop the public-private-partnership model, mainly in the form of giving franchising permits. Franchisers are allowed to attract money from the finance market while development banks can provide loans accordingly. This method has great potential to introduce money from nongovernmental channels. Put simply, we will make more efforts to diversify funding resources to support renovation of shantytowns.

China Radio International:

The Opinion came up with a new market supervision mechanism with credit at its core. Is there any difference between it and the old mechanism? How will measures such as enhancing credit information, and using big data, play a role in it?

Lian Weiliang:

The main difference is that administrative approvals were the main focus in the past, while supervision during and after the process is highlighted in the new mechanism. The old way restricted the main bodies of the market, and left room for illicit payments. It also led to unfair allocation of social resources due to conflicts between the departments in charge. The new mechanism stresses limited supervision based on the credit of the main bodies of the market and classified supervision targeting different credit status, which means authorities can implement different measures according to different credit status. It means accurate supervision aimed at any potential risks including illegal or dishonest behavior. It also means unified supervision with multiple departments joining together, and comprehensive supervision with all social resources taking part.

As to what kind of role the measures concerning credit and big data will play, I think it refers to the building of a credit system and publicizing credit information in an effort to make sure the public and legal entities find out the credit status of every main part of the market. To realize this, we must resort to big data, which will help us gather, study, assess and share all the information concerning every aspects of society.

Xinhua News Agency:

I have a question for Vice-chairman Lian. You just talked about the lack of information sharing and the use of big data to supervise market players. We also agree that this will undoubtedly contribute a lot to enhancing administrative efficiency. But here is one question: Can we achieve that? It is a huge endeavor in terms of technology and personnel, as well as information collection, checking and input. How is the process going and do we have a timetable? Moreover, we all pay a lot of attention to how big data is used. For example, who - and what organizations - are entitled to use such information? It also concerns the protection of personal information and business secrets. Could you please expand on the measures you just talked about?

Lian Weiliang:

You raised a key question. The key is how to tackle the lack of information sharing. A great amount of information doesn’t play its due role as it is isolated. But conditions are now in place to address this problem. Technically speaking, we already have electronic governance networks that cover all national organs, all provincial regions, 94 percent of cities and 83 percent of counties. We can work a little bit harder to improve the network to break the isolation.

In addition to technology, we need to create a mechanism whereby information is shared. As required by the State Council, we have already established a mechanism of credit information sharing and exchange, under which a monthly meeting is held almost routinely. Thirty-five departments of the State Council have been connected through such a platform, and 10 of these departments have been able to provide information to the exchange platform.

The “Credit China” website aims to enable the whole of society to share credit information. With such a mechanism, in the future all departments should disclose information as well as business procedures and related requirements as prescribed by laws and regulations. But we need to address the following problems to achieve this objective: First, database isolation; second, information collection and integration; and third, the lack of needed information.

Regarding information applications, which you just mentioned - this is the most difficult issue concerning the establishment of a credit information system. For example, what information should be disclosed to the public? What information can be acquired only with special authorization? Some information must not be made public in order to protect personal information and privacy, business secrets and national information security. The solution to such problems is to sort out and classify the information. We need to build a series of credit information systems - and we have already formed teams, and are thus working on that.

Hu Kaihong(host):

That’s the end of today’s policy briefing. Thanks to the two vice ministers! Thanks to everyone!