At the State Council meeting on March 26, Premier Li Keqiang urged all related departments to streamline administration and cut times on processing approval items.

Difficulties and obstructions affecting market players in tax payment, credit, and, registration, and bankruptcy should be focused on optimizing the business environment, Premier Li stressed.

Like tax and fees reductions, he said, optimization of the business environment also can ease the burden for enterprises.

According to the Premier, there is still room for improvement in tax payment, processing of construction approvals, obtaining credit, and handling enterprise bankruptcy and cancellation.

This year’s Government Work Report has placed optimization of the business environment in an important position, and the government should press ahead with administration streamlining to inspire market vitality and raise competitiveness, the Premier said.

As decided in the meeting, the government will continue to shorten the negative list, simplify construction approvals, cut industrial production permits, and separate the business license from operation permits.

Meanwhile, Premier Li also urged related departments to rectify regulations and laws against any violation of fair competition under market rules.

According to the meeting, any related regulations and laws holding back the development of private enterprises and equal treatment of domestic and foreign enterprises should be fixed or abolished in a timely manner.

A supervision system over market fairness, covering state, provincial, municipal and county levels, will be established at the end of the year. Specifically, enterprise-related regulations and documents will be included under the supervision through reports and third-party appraisal.

In the meantime, any move that impairs fair competition for the sake of protection should be prevented and corrected.

Those at the meeting also required that a huge fine for violations in sectors concerning people’s health and life be established.

To rectify and abolish regulations and laws in violation of improving the business environment will safeguard free trade, promote fairness in competition and send a signal of the wider opening-up of China to the world, the Premier said.