On May 8, Premier Li Keqiang went to Kaifeng, Henan province, in Central China, where he inspected its manufacturing industry, visited residents in shantytowns and floodplain areas, and inquired about the development of the pilot free trade zone.

As depicted in the Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival, a famous painting by Zhang Zeduan, Kaifeng was once a prosperous capital city in ancient China. However, as an inland city with an underdeveloped traffic system, it faced many difficulties in the contemporary era, such as the heavy burden of shantytowns and backward industries.

With the establishment of the China (Henan) Pilot Free Trade Zone, Kaifeng, as one of the three regions included in the FTZ, is facing great opportunities as well as challenges. So far it has made progress in administrative reform.

Kaifeng created a new model of administrative approval system in commercial registration, investment of construction projects, support measures for invested construction projects, and services for invested construction projects.

In addition, 22 certificates were streamlined to one in accordance with directives from the State Council.

Thanks to the reform, companies’ registration period was reduced by 80 percent. As of May 5, the number of newly registered enterprises in Kaifeng region of the FTZ reached 586, and newly registered capital grew to 26 billion yuan.

“In the past, Kaifeng was renowned for its ‘antiquity’, while now it is set to be brilliant for innovation,” Premier Li said, hailing Kaifeng’s efforts.

The FTZ also created a favorable environment for Kaifeng’s industries. During a visit to Zoomlion’s industrial park, the Premier climbed aboard a domestically produced tractor powered by a 230-horsepower engine, and stood in front of a big screen of an Internet of Things cloud platform for engineering machinery, indicating his profound expectations for China’s manufacturing industry.

Indeed, the extensive application of big data, cloud computing, and Internet of Things can provide tremendous power to upgrade traditional industries with new driving forces.

The Premier also went into a shantytown in the city’s old district, where he stressed the pressing needs to improve living conditions in the old city district.

At a household in the Yellow River beach area, he inquired in detail about the cost of relocation. “How much is the cost and the government subsidy? Can they cover the costs?” The Premier said resettling local residents would bring the benefit of new housing to the people.