Renovation projects this year surpass goal

By the end of October, the rebuilding and renovation of 53,400 old urban residential compounds across China was under way, surpassing the goal of 53,000 set in this year's government work report, according to the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.

The projects, which involve the installation of elevators, accessibility facilities and the replacement of old pipelines, are part of national efforts to advance urbanization and rural revitalization.

Recently, the ministry summarized good practices adopted in 22 provinces and cities to address major problems during the renovation process, including unreasonable renovation plans, lack of coordination and difficulty raising funds through multiple channels.

These practices should be emulated for renovation projects in other places, the ministry said.

Agricultural licensing continues digital move

Starting Dec 1, the examination and approval procedure for 11 more administrative licenses for items related to agriculture, including the introduction of foreign seed resources, will go digital, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said in a recent notice.

This means those seeking the licenses no longer need to submit paper applications, with the whole process－from the submission of applications to the release of results－shifting online.

Since the start of this year, the ministry has stepped up efforts to ease the examination and approval procedure and clarify application requirements in its quest to digitize the process and expand the range of items on the licensing list, the ministry said.

So far, applicants can apply for licenses online for at least half the items on the list.

It is estimated that since digital procedures were introduced in 2019, about 40,000 applications were made online, saving applicants more than 8 million yuan ($1.3 million) as the expense of travel, printing and mailing documents has been negated, the ministry said.

System eases approval for construction work

China's national unified system for the approval of construction projects has reduced the time for approval from the previous average of more than 200 working days to less than 120 working days, according to the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.

The unified engineering construction project approval and management system was created to ease the approval process and facilitate information sharing among government departments at all levels.

According to the ministry, since national efforts to ease construction approval were first launched in 2018, authorities have approved 954,900 building projects.

The ministry estimates that companies have saved over 300 billion yuan ($47 billion) every year thanks to the system.

As a result, China's global ranking among countries where getting construction permits is easiest has risen significantly, from 172nd in 2018 to 33rd last year, according to the World Bank.