List eyes upgrading of administrative services
To further optimize the business environment, a circular issued by the State Council on Nov 10 listed duties and assigned individual tasks to various departments and localities for the implementation of administrative reform measures adopted following a teleconference in September.
The circular said some recently adopted practices for effectively funneling funds directly to the grassroots level will be examined, adopted and institutionalized by departments including the Ministry of Finance.
New tax and fee cut policies－such as using big data to simplify procedures for identifying potential beneficiaries of some exemptions－shall be implemented to support employment, people's livelihoods and market entities.
The regular epidemic prevention and control mechanism for COVID-19 should be constantly improved to increase efficiency and accuracy, the circular said.
Efforts should also be made to boost the recovery of the passenger transport, catering, tourism and hotel industries.
In the document, the State Council asked departments to propose a list of existing administrative approval items that could be canceled, delegated to lower-level authorities or managed differently, before the end of June.
Interprovincial administrative services shall be improved by advancing the adoption of unified operation standards and promoting localities' reciprocal recognition of electronic certificates.
Education, social security and healthcare can become vanguards in interprovincial administrative services facilitation, the circular added.
To encourage adherence to the Foreign Investment Law and related regulations, the circular asked departments to further mitigate outdated regulations and documents in conflict with the law to ensure foreign and domestic enterprises are treated equally.
Premier Li stresses importance of policy realization
Premier Li Keqiang highlighted the key role of realizing policy initiatives in promoting economic stability and recovery while presiding over State Council's executive meeting on Nov 11 .
At the meeting, Premier Li listened to briefings about the latest nationwide check on policy implementation. The State Council has sent inspection teams to 14 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps recently to supervise the implementation of policy, sum up local experiences, collect public suggestions and facilitate solutions to problems.
The inspection showed that since the beginning of the year, local governments have effectively implemented the decisions and arrangements made by the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council, according to the meeting.
In doing so, the localities channeled 2 trillion yuan ($302.57 billion) in new fiscal funds to the grassroots level in cities and counties to deliver direct benefits to businesses and individuals.
Policies such as the introduction of 2.5 trillion yuan in tax and fee cuts and exemptions have proved to be effective in supporting market entities and boosting market confidence, and they have played a key role in stabilizing the bedrock of the economy, according to the meeting.
It said supervision and implementation need to be further strengthened to ensure that all policies already decided are implemented thoroughly, and incentives should be granted to places that have taken the lead and achieved remarkable results in policy implementation.
With regard to problems identified by the latest check－such as failures to fulfill some policies and shifting financial burdens to market entities without permission－it is necessary to list them, notify the authorities involved and make rectification in a set time, the meeting decided.
Those who fail to fix problems should be held accountable, the meeting said.
