Payments for technicians will be raised to enhance status

Payments for technicians, especially those with specialized skills, will be raised through greater incentives, said a guideline released on March 22 by the general offices of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council.

More public services are targeting highly-skilled technicians with higher incomes as the group in general is encouraged to contribute more to China’s innovation and entrepreneurship.

Incentives will be released to ensure steady salary increases for highly-skilled technicians while State-owned enterprises should focus more on leading technicians when it comes to salary allocations. The increase in salaries for highly-skilled technicians should not be lower than that for the management of SOEs, the guideline said.

Bid-based construction project provisions approved

Bid invitations must be issued for construction projects, according to a notice released by the State Council, introducing a range of new provisions.

The National Development and Reform Commission will be in charge of publishing the provisions and deciding when they are to be enforced, said the notice.

Once the provisions are put into force, previous provisions on the scope and threshold of construction projects for bid invitations, approved by the State Council and promulgated by the former State Development Planning Commission in 2000, will be abolished, the document added.

Guideline to boost tourism numbers in designated areas

A State Council guideline to promote region-based tourism will see entire areas identified as tourism destinations with unified planning to develop the sector.

The document aims advance the “tourism plus” program, which promotes industrial integration and explores new functions in region-based tourism. The region-based tourism model should feature diversity and environmental protection, it said.

The document will help develop an integrated, quality oriented and highly regulated tourism ecosystem that can generate maximum benefits.

The guideline emphasized endeavors to broaden tourism to other fields and industries, including integration with urban planning to build tourist towns. Tourism should also work with agriculture, forestry and technologies to develop sightseeing agricultural areas, forest parks and high-end healthcare tourism.

The document aims to explore cultural elements in tourism, improve the quality of traditionally-crafted art products and bring in new technologies for tourism products. Business startups and innovation programs are also encouraged with diverse investment entities welcomed.

According to the guideline, tourism areas are encouraged to enhance service quality, build high-quality branding and introduce smart services such as free Wi-Fi and online booking and payment.

In addition, public facilities should be enhanced. The guideline aims to accelerate the “toilet revolution” and improve the transportation network, consultation service centers in key areas such as traffic hubs and guideposts.

Protection of resources and the environment are also encouraged and poverty alleviation work should be advanced to tap the potential in tourism resources.

The government should provide more policy support in finance, land use and talent, the document added.

Safety the priority as urban rail transit systems grow

The State Council released a guideline on March 23 to guarantee the safe operation of urban rail transit systems.

Over the past few years, the rapidly growing railways and expansion of networks has imposed pressure on operational safety, the guideline said.

Targeting safe operation, relevant departments are required to improve the systems, mechanisms, laws and regulations governing the urban rail transit network. Management should be improved to enhance technological support and service quality. Through these steps, the country should provide the public with safe, reliable, convenient, comfortable and affordable subway services. An integrated management system should also be established. Legislation for urban rail transit systems should be accelerated while laws and regulations should be amended punctually in accordance with new developments. An overall development plan should be drafted. The development of urban rail transit systems should be coordinated in line with local economic and social development.

A dual-prevention mechanism with safety risk control and concealed danger investigations to uncover potential problems should be established. A third-party assessment system should also be established to help improve operational safety.

Rail transit operators should enhance daily security inspections, and new technologies and products should be adopted to conduct security checks in a smart and efficient way. A new security check model focusing on passenger flows should be progressively introduced. Local governments should embrace local urban rail transit systems in the emergency management system. They should also provide more financial support and subsidies to improve operational safety and service quality of their subways.

Four provinces to launch pilot standardization reform

The State Council has approved the launch of national pilot standardization reforms in the provinces of Shanxi, Jiangsu, Shandong and Guangdong, said a document released on March 15.

The document asked the four provincial governments to put a standardization strategy into practice and suggest improvements and identify problems for the comprehensive standardization reform.

The provinces were called to efficiently proceed with the reform to ensure appropriate implementation of policies and measures and the fulfillment of targets.