Reform of the construction project approval system will be expanded nationwide and time required for approving construction projects will be shortened significantly, according to the Report on the Work of the Government released this year.

Huang Yan, vice-minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, introduced the content and tasks of the reform at a policy briefing hosted by the State Council Information Office on March 18.

Huang said in the first half year of 2019 the time of approval needed for construction projects will be cut to 120 working days throughout the country, and an institutional framework and information sharing platform for construction projects will be established.

By the end of 2019, the approval management system for construction projects will be interconnected with other related platforms. In pilot regions, reforms will be further advanced to improve approval efficiency. In addition, a national approval and management system for construction projects will be completed by the end of 2020.

Approval procedures, information sharing platforms, approval management systems and supervision methods should be unified. In terms of unifying approval procedures, approval items should be simplified and approval names, required materials and time limits should be gradually unified in the whole country. For approval management systems, single-window comprehensive services should be provided to allow applicants to submit documents with only one visit.

According to Huang, pilot reforms of construction project approval in Zhejiang province, Beijing and other 14 cities in 2018 have seen great achievements. In pilot regions, the approval time for starting construction projects has been cut by more than half from over 200 to 120 working days, building a solid foundation for carrying out the reform nationwide in 2019. Thanks to the pilot reforms, both local government services and the business environment have been improved significantly.

To ensure successful implementation of construction project approval reform, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and other related departments should strengthen organization and deployment, enhance supervision and guidance and improve relevant systems. And local governments should carry out reform actively and push forward staff training and guidance, as well as intensify supervision.