According to a guideline regarding the construction of “Internet Plus government services” issued by the State Council, more efforts should be made to facilitate the innovation of online public services and all-around application of high-tech approaches in each sphere of government affairs, in a bid to bring convenience to the masses, People’s Daily reported on Jan 4.

China’s online government affairs services marked three era-defining milestones in 2017, heralding a wide array of further improvements coming to the fore.

Debut of online to-do lists

Last May, the State Council, for the very first time, publicized to-do lists for the construction of “Internet Plus government services” along with specific tasks and schedules, which introduced online public supervision and greatly sped up government work at all levels.

In the northeastern Jilin province in August, people could undergo procedures on 35 items of public services online; 140 items of services could be done through a sole unit. Additionally, a total of 104,174 items of public services could be processed online in Jiangsu province by the end of October. All the upgraded services were available on governments’ online lists.

According to a circular on the guidelines for government website construction released by the State Council in June, scientific categorization, specific layouts, and pertinent demonstration will be further strengthened in governments’ online service lists.

Streamlined service platforms

According to related statistics generated from a full-scale survey on online government services, 30 provincial regions have built integrated online government service platforms by the end of August.

Customs institutions across the board brought into effect a streamlined service platform in June, which enabled users to conclude nine operations covering 60 specific items via the internet. Moreover, a website launched by Hubei provincial government in December, underpinned by multiple platforms, also ushered in convenient online government services.

Cutting-edge technology

Face-scanning technology caught on in the administrative field at the beginning of 2017, and now it is widely available in over 40 cities, covering accumulation funds inquiry, tax collection, and traffic ticket payments. This speedy service boasts 9 million users, with time saved of up to more than 4 million hours.

Additionally, the utilization of artificial intelligence and big data further push forward the upgrading of government services.